How will the left ever recover?

https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1535733409083011073

  • MeatfuckerDidNothing [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Part of what youre describing sure sounds passingly similar to the experiences of cis people seeking out surgery. Or HRT.

    Don't get me wrong, trans experiences of dsyphoria are different than cis ones, especially because of the intensified scrutiny society places on us.

    But,,,

    I think it is a mistake to conceptualize gender dsyphoria as a unique experience of trans people because

    a) IME it is not, I've had cis people describe similar feelings and experiences

    b) on a larger level, it others trans people. Dont get me wrong. There are many ways that our lives are different than the lives of cis people. But when it comes to dysphoria like you're describing, the variation is on how and to what degree we experience it, not that we experience it.

    And when it comes to the Musk thing

    c) rhetoric against cis cosmetic surgery is inevitably turned against us

    • silent_water [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      gender dysphoria is unique to trans people but not because cis people can't experience dysphoria -- but rather that if you experience gender dysphoria, you have a place somewhere under the trans umbrella. there are certainly other kinds of dysphoria but I'm not aware of any attempt to unify those experiences under a single tent. that is, I don't think anyone is trying to find commonality of cause between the various dysphorias.

      But when it comes to dysphoria like you’re describing, the variation is on how and to what degree we experience it, not that we experience it.

      this is actually a really fraught position within the trans community. there are a sizable minority of trans people who report that they do not experience any kind of dysphoria and I think we just have to take them at their word. some people try to square this circle by redefining their experiences to show that they must include dysphoria but I think fundamentally we just need to accept what people say about themselves - they'd know best, after all.

      c) rhetoric against cis cosmetic surgery is inevitably turned against us

      yeah, the only position available to us is that people should be able to modify their bodies how they please and without justification to anyone.

      • MeatfuckerDidNothing [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        gender dysphoria is unique to trans people but not because cis people can’t experience dysphoria – but rather that if you experience gender dysphoria, you have a place somewhere under the trans umbrella.

        I think it is reasonable to define a lot of cis body dsyphoria as gender dysphoria. I think the distinction between some cis body dysphoria and trans gender dysphoria absolutely is in how society categorizes it and not because the experiences are sufficiently distinct to warrant the separation.

        this is actually a really fraught position within the trans community. there are a sizable minority of trans people who report that they do not experience any kind of dysphoria and I think we just have to take them at their word.

        Let me clarify, I meant the distinction between cis people and trans people who experience gender dsyphoria is how and to what degree they experience it, Im not saying all trans people have gender dsyphoria.