I also think that with the recent proliferation of "bathroom bills" floating through state legislatures, many more trans people who have lived relatively stealthy lives have felt compelled to come out and stand up for the community.  Even true-blue Washington is currently fighting against I-1552 that has a goal to repeal Washington's non-discrimination protections for our transgender friends, neighbors, and family members.  I know I have been more vocal in standing up against these injustices that aim to remove my rights as a citizen.  I am also more aware that in doing so, I open myself up to potential harm, but at the same time, I have the chance to educate my neighbors, and others in my neighborhood.  Maybe I can make a difference.  But is it "trendy", I don't think so.  I think it is my responsibility for the next generation to show that a transgender woman can be successful, independent, strong, and fierce.  It is what I do. 

Quote from: jentay1367 on March 11, 2017, 10:42:23 AM
It's worked for the blind, the deaf, the handicapped as well as the gay and lesbian community. It will work for us too.

I think the deaf community is an interesting correlation you make.  The deaf community can definitely be seen as an unique and separate "culture."  They even have their own language.  And many deaf people consider themselves to be separate culturally.  Many deaf people chafe at the idea of having surgery on their children to change them and make them part of the hearing community.  We can learn a lot of lessons here.  I.e., I don't know how many times I've heard repeated on this site and elsewhere among the trans community, "Nobody would ever want to be trans."  I wholly reject this idea.  If prefer the paradigm, "Trans is beautiful."    Also, personally, coming from the gay community, I seldom heard gay people expressing the sentiment, "nobody would ever want to be gay."  Quite the opposite in fact.  That sort of thing came from the other side. People like Anita Bryant.  Gay people didn't win a place at the table by promoting that idea.

Quote from: Dena on March 11, 2017, 09:35:24 AM
1979-1982 . . . In that group we used the term transgender defined as anybody who was uncomfortable with their gender identity.

I didn't know that the word was being used that early.  I  didn't become aware of it until this millennium and after the invention of the internet and from what I have read it didn't have any widespread use in the lexicon until the 1990's.

OP, I really don't think this is a trend thing. I do think that some trans people express value judgement on those who came along later and have had easier times. As we say in science: if we can see far, it's because we stand on the shoulders of giants. 20 years ago transition was too high a bar for me and the requirement that one pass in the binary for a year RLE was simply beyond reach. Now I'm looking at GCS in just a little over six weeks. I've actually enjoyed a year of RLE and I'm looking at a procedure that's advanced considerably from what I'd have had then.

There have been negative sentiments expressed recently on Susan's about non passing women who have GCS like they haven't paid their dues and I certainly remember similar sentiments being debated back in the day and I think it's as ridiculous today as it was then.

There are people who transition in whatever way and then change their minds, detransition etc. To be sure there's good scientific evidence that most trans women have feminine identified brains (the methods of testing the have evolved a lot in 30 years). However there's no definitive diagnostic test and so besides the individual's experience, we don't have certain knowledge of causes. I doubt most trans women or men could categorically identify whether their trans identity is nature or nurture. The research, btw is also pretty clear that some trans women and fewer trans men have the brain structure that matches their birth assignment. I know for certain that I cannot untangle this for myself.

The thing you most remind me of however, could hardly be called a current trend. Back in the late '90s some trans activists were concerned and writing about how easy the track was for young trans people in Europe, while expressing the concern (rooted in personal experiences) that that openness was funneling people who might ultimately be happiest identified outside the binary into a rigid plan for HRT -> GCS.

I don't think of trans people's interactions as a new social construct. I've been involved in trans and lgbt activism, and feminism for 20 years and things have evolved, especially with the shift to a more inclusive feminism. I see trans people having very similar issues amongst ourselves as well as with respect to society at large. I do think we are better understanding of ourselves as well as understood by the cis population.

Quote20 years ago transition was too high a bar for me and the requirement that one pass in the binary for a year RLE was simply beyond reach

I agree.  Also, you needed a psychiatrist to approve it and more.  The medical aspects of transitioning are much easier these days.

The Media makes it trendy like everything else. Who would wish this on anyone else! The Media knows nothing about being Trans!! Today Trans is good and tomorrow it will be Bad!

Trendy with a select few online, I'm sure.  The online world, makes certain things look great, fantastic, and trendy, but outside of there, it is anything but! 

Anything online can be trendy, I could have a collection of beer cans, and have an audience for it I'm sure.  I could make a ten minute video for each beer can I have, detailing the logo, the imagery, the ingredients, and so on.  There would be a following, people sharing their beer cans in turn, an entire community built around beer cans..  But in the real world, most people would just laugh at it.. (I don't have a beer can collection, just an example)

Being transgender is not trendy, nor is being gay, at least not to society at large.

I personally feel as though it is not necessarily trendy, but more acceptable.

In the same ways that there was a large coming out of homosexual people once that became acceptable, it is not strange to see the same thing happening with transgender people.
I have quite a few friends who are younger than me, and they don't view it as a trend but rather just another way that have to express themselves. Many are very respectful of proper pro-noun usage and respect that their friends or acquaintances identify and live their life how they want. 

I have the unique experience of seeing this happen with adoption and being a birth-parent. All of a sudden it is okay to come out as a birth parent and to let the world know that you have placed a child for adoption. It's on TV, in the movies and encouraged that you not hide a major part of your life.

Transgendered people are starting to appear in the same ways, be recognized for being valid, and accepted by large (mostly liberal) groups of people. For the most part the people that are not accepting of transgendered people are those who have little drive to understand outside of their own mind or have little drive to expand their world to include people who are outside of the norm around them.

Trendy no, but the media brought my personal problem into the light. As I have mentioned before I always new something was wrong but chose to, as was the custom of the time "suck it up and live with it". So I lived with the unease all my life and am just now opening up thanks to the spotlight.

Ever since 2012 LGBQT in general started to surface, I've noticed it myself.

First there was the wave of the gay rights era which was around 2012-2013 ... 
This was when I was in high school. I remember our whole table talking about how we could support the cause.

At this time there was none of the Tumblr custom made terms flying around.
or at least none that I knew of. so it was either Bi- or homosexual

then the transgender wave began like in mid 2015 after I graduated..
the transgender thing entered mainstream media. Late 2015
.
that's when I learned of the term transgender, because it was literally everywhere on the internet at the time.
Tumblr also played a role in it too 🤞 with the custom made pronoun thing.  Pretty creative.

Also, there was 2 other trans people that I knew of at my school other than myself.
people were pretty accepting for being so unclassy. I thought of myself as girly until these terms
were introduced to me, now I'm a trans.


Now it's a flat out war, Trans vs Government.
It does seem pretty weird to me actually.
cause Just a few years ago everything was fine.
over here at least.

It could just be a coincidence.

It could be an agenda.

You never know.
No need to get triggered though.
Great minds question everything 🤤🤤🤤

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Valkria, I get what you're saying, but these terms have been around much longer than Tumblr had been. I'm 35, and I remember first hearing the term transgender when I was in elementary school. There does seem to be an influx of new terms, but also think of how society (and psychology) has progressed over the years. There are eplenty of people my age and older (as seen here alone), that are just now finding a voice, because of more media and Internet attention. As the world is exposed to more trans people, the more people that hid away (like myself) are more confident in finally acknowledging our inner selves. There are quite a few pioneers on this site that began their transition either before I was born, or as I was still in diapers. I was completely unaware of how many more people in the world felt the same as I do. I am still in the beginning stages of my journey, and having to take it slow for my wife to adjust as we discuss our next steps, and then how/when do we tell our kids too? So yes, it does appear to be somewhat "trendy", but this is not like buying a pair of pants; this is a life altering decision we all make. If there is anyone doing it because it seems that way, I am sure that they will bear some heavy consequences from within, which will only hurt all of us that much more.

Quote from: Valkria01 on March 12, 2017, 11:36:04 PM
Ever since 2012 LGBQT in general started to surface, I've noticed it myself.

First there was the wave of the gay rights era which was around 2012-2013 ... 
This was when I was in high school. I remember our whole table talking about how we could support the cause.

And here I thought the trans and gay rights wave started in the late 60s at Compton and Stonewall (/humor) ;-)

Here's the prevalence of the terms transexual, transgender by Google ngram.
https://goo.gl/photos/aSARjUtdNjGcg9dr9

Quote from: SadieBlake on March 13, 2017, 04:06:44 AM
And here I thought the trans and gay rights wave started in the late 60s at Compton and Stonewall (/humor) ;-)

Here's the prevalence of the terms transexual, transgender by Google ngram.
https://goo.gl/photos/aSARjUtdNjGcg9dr9

I was speaking on the subject "mass media coverage/Interweb". 

[waves come in many shapes, sizes and durations]

Quote from: Scorpio2Scorpia on March 13, 2017, 01:05:51 AM
Valkria, I get what you're saying, but these terms have been around much longer than Tumblr had been. I'm 35, and I remember first hearing the term transgender when I was in elementary school. There does seem to be an influx of new terms, but also think of how society (and psychology) has progressed over the years.....

~

I never said the terms Transgender/Transsexual didn't exist, maybe something in my comment was misunderstood.

"that's when I learned of the term transgender, because it was literally everywhere on the internet at the time."

I do understand what you mean though. 

While "trans identity" issues have certainly become more trendy, I don't see a similar correlation when it comes to transsexing -- to fully assimilating into female (or male) culture.  But then, how could such a path become trendy, when it's predicated on non-disclosure?

Quote from: Valkria01 on March 13, 2017, 04:41:51 AM
I never said the terms Transgender/Transsexual didn't exist, maybe something in my comment was misunderstood.

"that's when I learned of the term transgender, because it was literally everywhere on the internet at the time."

I do understand what you mean though. 

I apologize. I did misinterpret what you meant (I really shouldn't be reading/commenting when I'm sleepy). I understand what you're saying too; with it being more prominent in the past 5+ years, it does seem to be overwhelming  (to an extent) with so many more people (like myself) bursting out of nowhere lol

Quote from: Sophia Sage on March 13, 2017, 11:03:23 AM
While "trans identity" issues have certainly become more trendy, I don't see a similar correlation when it comes to transsexing -- to fully assimilating into female (or male) culture.  But then, how could such a path become trendy, when it's predicated on non-disclosure?

This. Trans identidies certainly have become more trendy. We can't say the same for transsexing which envolves non-disclosure to the larger part of society, and means you have been fully assimilated in society as a woman (or a man) and everyone who knows you can't imagine you being any other way.

Quote from: CosmicJoke on March 10, 2017, 11:46:16 AM
Hi everyone. I can't help but notice that in today's modern world it's as if it like being transgender has turned into a trend. The problem with this is, there are real people who are in fact transgender that are not getting taken seriously as a result of the "trend" mentality.
It seems as though we went from being a group of people who were for the most part hated and wanted nothing to do with if we were to rewind about 10 or 20 years.
I am in fact a woman who lived with the transgender secret her whole life, so it does kind of disgust me that nowadays it has turned into something that some people may actually fake being or see it as a trend rather than a medical condition.
I guess my point in making this thread is wanting to know what other people's take on this is, particularly transgender people who have been deeply closeted for many years.
I respect the right for everyone to live the kind of life that they wish to live, but I also feel as though some things have just gotten very ridiculous.

The same can be said about almost any social movent or cultural change.  During the civil rights movements, there were plenty crackpot hippies making the left look bad, there are feminist that go to far, and I'm sorry but Bill Maher is mean sometimes when he talks about religion.
Point is don't sweat it.  Personally, I'm actually glad we're at a point where you can be saying that.  People want to be us now? Great, sign me up.

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