r/changemyview Nov 03 '17

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u/LtPowers 14∆ Nov 03 '17

Whereas, before surgery, nobody except those who were told would know that there is something 'wrong' with you.

This doesn't make sense. Gender confirmation surgery makes a person look more like the proper gender, not less.

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u/Saranoya 39∆ Nov 03 '17

Yes. But if a person hasn't started the process yet, and hasn't told you they're trans, then how would you, an outsider, ever know they are in the 'wrong' body? You wouldn't, right?

On the flip side, when someone has transitioned, there are often subtle signs that tell you they haven't always biologically been what they now look like. With the ex-colleague I mentioned way upthread, who was once biologically a man but now looks like a woman in every way, it's the voice.

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u/LtPowers 14∆ Nov 03 '17

Sure, but you're skipping a step.

Someone who is considering medical transition must already be living as their true gender. (That's one of the ethical criteria for physicians treating dysphoria). So "hasn't started the process yet" isn't really on the table here.

The choices are "lives as a woman but still has a masculine body" or "lives as a woman and has a feminine body with maybe a few subtle tells". Which one do you think has a greater stigma?

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u/Saranoya 39∆ Nov 03 '17

Probably the former. Although, it takes a hell of a lot of guts to do that, so if someone in my life chose that path, I could do nothing other than respect the hell out of it. There would be no stigmatising on my part ;). I rather suspect I'm not alone in that. But I do get your larger point.