I have seen this crop up so many times on Tumblr my head spins. There's even like this little social mini war around it of people who believe you have to have dysphoria to be trans(they are called truscum) and the ones who don't think you need dysphoria to be transgendered.

What does everyone here think? Do you need dysphoria to be transgendered?

I personally feel you don't necessarily have to have Dysphoria to be trans. I accept them just as those with Dysphoria. I think we are all trans no matter what gets us to that point.

I think what ever you truly believe yourself to be, you are. You are the only person who can truthfully define yourself

Difficult question. I don't think you need physical dysphoria to transition or be transgendered. But at the same time, I think that those suffering physical dysphoria possibly have a different condition or manifestation of the condition. I've had pretty serious dysphoria since childhood. I see a lot of people with mostly social dysphoria and I don't think it's quite the same thing. However, I don't subscribe to any '->-bleeped-<-r than thou' notions. People are different. And if transition is right for someone who doesn't have dysphoria, more power to them.

eh, this is a toughie. dysphoria is just the crippling feeling that one gets due to the chemical imbalance and destruction of mental barriers. there are trans who are stable mentally who do transition without the dysphoric feeling or there are those who are trans but find harmony with themselves and dont have dysphoria, so i would say no, dysphoria isnt necessary in being transgender. 

Eh ... I'm going to go out on a limb and say I personally think one does have to have some level of dysphoria to be transgender just as a matter of logic alone. If I understand, an unhappiness with your assigned gender (which, again if I understand correctly could be either with your gender roll in some way, physical unhappiness, or both, is why one would want to consider going through anything related with the very long, expensive, permanent, difficult to reverse, life altering processes in the first place) is known as gender dysphoria, which is what transgender is called in the DSM now. So ... yeah, it's kinda a requirement, and I certainly think that some people have more dysphoria than others, though I don't think that this makes one more or less transgender.

I guess in my mind, one is either unhappy with their assigned gender to some degree, which makes one transgender unless it's the result of a different psychological or medical issue, or one is not, which makes one cisgender, complex transitions or not.

To not have dysphoria would mean that one is A-OK with ones assigned gender. So ... why would someone transition if they're just peachy with there gender? That implies one is cisgender, and common, and something I think that gets lost in some people's minds is that ... that really is ok!

I have a blog on tumblr and I love it. However, it's ... not always the greatest blog site as far as the community. There's a lot of people looking to find something that makes them special or looking for a reason to be angry, sometimes going to the trouble of creating reasons for both on that site, and it's almost always some 13~20 year old who just hasn't figured out themselves. Some of them most likely do need to see a therapist of some kind and maybe they are transgender maybe they aren't. Others ... they just don't seem to get that there's nothing wrong with being a heterosexual cisgender person.

* I should also mention that I don't think transition, despite how much I talked about it here because that's what I'm doing, isn't a requirement of being transgender either.

** My apologies for taking what I'm pretty sure is an unpopular view, but Hex did ask. I guess I just kinda feel that someone who considers themselves to be transgender but is happy with their assigned gender and without changing a thing may need to ask themselves some tough questions.

Quote
I was born in a male body but my mind and soul tell me I am female...

and this fact of life causes me no pain no unhappiness at all.... everything is just peachy !

Could be that there people who are as described above ? 


Probably yes but albeit a minority !

Are they transgender... ?

Yes, of course, the mind-sexual organ mismatch, which is the root cause of ->-bleeped-<-, remains with or without the dysphoria (unhappiness).

Just my opinion !

It comes down to whether you see being trans as an identity that is held or as a condition that is treated. For it to be a condition, distress/impairment of some form is inherently necessary. Otherwise, why treat something that isn't a problem? That would be verging on unethical.

But identities on the other hand do not need treatment and should not be considered as something "wrong." Distress or impairment would only come from hostility and pressure of external sources. Medical interventions, if used, in this model are seen as ways to facilitate the expression of said identity, rather than as treatment for a problem.

Complicating this further, many of us see it as both a condition and an identity, much as some deaf people regard themselves.

The confusion in many ways stems from the wide array of persons who are included under the label of "trans," and the tendency for many people to assume that other trans people feel the same way as themselves... or worse that people who don't feel as they do are not really trans at all. I.e. creating arbitrary divisions in a label that was specifically developed to be broadly inclusive.

There are some issues on the other side though... if trans is accepted as exclusively an issue of identity, where does that leave provisions for medical or social intervention? How do we argue for public coverage of medical assistance unless a condition that causes serious distress and impairment is present?

Moreover, it is a handful of very specific subgroups of trans people that suffer disproportionately from discrimination, abuse, poverty, suicide, lack of appropriate medical care, lack of access to transition-related treatments, etc. And I worry sometimes that identity politics is clouding... focus.

I guess I would fall on the side of "include everyone, but be aware of our differences." Transitioners have different needs than non-transitioners, non-ops than pre-ops, young than old, etc.

I'm not sure you can be trans without some form of dysphoria, whether it be physical dysphoria or social/mental dysphoria.

It's only recently that I've realised that I suffered quite badly from social/mental dysphoria my entire life, but I've had very little physical dysphoria.

I had been going to gender therapy for a few months and I asked my therapist what dysphoria was (I had read the term here but I never saw a definition). She listed a lot of examples from what I had already shared with her. My comment was wow I have dysphoria pretty bad. She said, yes you do sweetie.

My point is that perhaps some people do not know they have dysphoria or what it means.

I know my life is livable now I have hrt. Without the meds I doubt I would be here now. It took me a long time to reach the point of breaking and I was in self hatred and denial. So what people say, know and feel may be turned off.

I believe any attempt at essentializing gender to that of a physical form is running a dangerous path. This, to me, runs the risk of being highly invalidating to those with non binary identities.

I believe dysphoria is important in some cases, and not so much in others. I believe all trans people are important and equal

If you tell me you're trans, I believe you.

I think we often forget, that transgender is an umbrella term. Therefore dysphoria is not necessary

yeah, i've seen that on tumblr a lot too. personally i can't imagine *not* having dysphoria, but at the same time, it's not my place to decide who is and isn't trans. if someone identifies as trans, i don't think anyone else should question that.

I just don't like the physical dysphoria thing, I mean, it assumes everyone has the same type of body, like what if you don't have the physical characteristics to be dysphoric about? I miss being pre-transition. I had such a great figure, for a girl, living as a boy. I had a body that mostly matched my personality, but neither were able to match my birth sex. Then I went on HRT.. I just got fat. NOW I have physical dysphoria. What I'm saying is, my body was a huge contributor to my decision to transition, if not the central reason, but dysphoria implies I have to hate my body, rather than hate that my social status makes people see my body as wrong and flawed, and tells me I should change it into something it is not, and makes me hate my body when I fundamentally would be fine with it. Ugh. I mean I don't identify as trans or have the same experience but I still think nobody would blame me for having transitioned. I wish I could just live with it that way, unfortunately missing dysphoria also seems to mean not having the same determination to tolerate the pain of transitioning... for me at least. And honestly I don't take tumblr 100% seriously. How many of the FTMs on tumblr are even on T? A lot of people on tumblr just think gender is cool, gender is fun, like personality quizzes. That's what it seems like to me... sorry (I'm really sorry if I'm way off the mark on this, I avoid trans stuff on tumblr cuz I find it triggering)

I don't think there is a good answer to this question. Personally, I don't like labels or boxes much at all. I don't believe in a gender or sexual binary, nor do I believe there is a "one size fits all" approach to any of this (one size never fits all. lol)
Nor do I believe in either case that there is even a linear scale but rather that it is more geometric and unlimited. All those constructs, I think, are just artificial attempts to make some kind of communication and general identification possible.
When it comes to the human brain...well, it is the most complicated single thing in the entire known universe. Simple answers just don't work.
As H.L. Mencke once observed..."For every complicated problem there is a simple answer...and it's wrong."
In each of us there are many levels of complications. Yes, Gender Dysphoria exists, but it is only one factor.
Speaking personally, in conversations with my therapist I have been working to untangle some of my own connected issues...and it isn't easy.
Gender issues can range across a wide gamut from pure sexual fetish to clear cut identity mismatches.
So, how does one answer such a question. I would say no, a dysphoria is not necessary.
There, a long answer to a simple question, tee hee.

I would like to add that even tho I knew what or who I was..... long before I ever heard of the term. I was very acceptable with my junk. Its who I am.  Thot I love my breasts my junk is free to stay.

Someone mentioned DSM V. By definition Transgender and Gender Dysphoria are too different things in it. Transgender is a condition, non-pathological, in which the person's gender is disparate from their sex. Gender Dysphoria is mental anguish caused by difficulty in dealing with being transgender.

Like everything else, I think dysphoria ranges from none or almost non-existant to crippling. Not sure how anyone would convince a doctor to prescribe hormones or do surgery without the dysphoria. Until long after my dysphoria surfaced I didn't even realize I was trans although the signs were obviously there looking back.

Quote from: Autumn Faith on June 29, 2014, 10:14:30 AM
I would like to add that even tho I knew what or who I was..... long before I ever heard of the term. I was very acceptable with my junk. Its who I am.  Thot I love my breasts my junk is free to stay.

That's me in reverse.  Had my tits whacked but cool with the box. lol

Anyway, I can see both sides to this. Because I was dysphoric about secondary sex characteristics I had/didn't have. But really don't have much primary sex dysphoria. So I know what's it's like to just not have genital dysphoria and not really understand when other people talk about it. We're all different.

Quote from: sad panda on June 28, 2014, 01:10:00 AM
I just don't like the physical dysphoria thing, I mean, it assumes everyone has the same type of body, like what if you don't have the physical characteristics to be dysphoric about? I miss being pre-transition. I had such a great figure, for a girl, living as a boy. I had a body that mostly matched my personality, but neither were able to match my birth sex.

Interesting point. Do you think you'd have physical dysphoria if you had masculinized a lot more?

We have interesting paths in this journey.  I am one who had some degree of social and physical dysphoria but made a strong case for that and GID in order to secure HRT and start transition.  We run this course between gatekeepers and our very real sense of self.  I have since met some young people who identify as trans and are in supportive family situations and seem to experience much less dysphoria.  Context, social support and families seem to play a big role in our comfort level of being transgender.

Quote from: FA on June 29, 2014, 12:28:11 PM
Interesting point. Do you think you'd have physical dysphoria if you had masculinized a lot more?

It's really hard to say. I don't really know what it's like, I mean as a boy I was/have always been the little one. I grew up with big dorky cuffs in my jeans and stepped on them anyway. When I was 20 years old, my uncle would still greet me by picking me up and carrying me around like a roll of carpet. I'm either 5 or 6 inches shorter than all the men in my family, I shopped in the boy's department before I transitioned, and people called me cute and patted me on the head. To this day I don't know that anyone in my life ever thought of me as an adult until I transitioned. Masculinity was just never that pressing of a reality, and I spent most of my teenage years disinterested in sex anyway. I guess if I had dysphoria it was over traits that people expected me to develop rather than ones I already had. Dysphoria over how they were treating me... I just wanted to be myself. If I had seen myself as a more masculine, male person, then I'm sure I would have had dysphoria getting patted on the head and called cute, and I was always immune to internalizing shame over being unmasculine because it just felt like it had nothing to do with me. I would laugh with people when they said they knew what my small hands meant. Cuz it was true!!