3 ms·

While a lot of trans people would like it to be the case, quantity doesn't really matter past receptor saturation. Most badly adjusted doses are badly adjusted

While a lot of trans people would like it to be the case, quantity doesn't really matter past receptor saturation. Most badly adjusted doses are badly adjusted because they're not consistent instead (estradiol has a very short half life). If you have gonads producing your hormones you don't usually have this issue. We do however have cases of gender dysphoria when treating cis people with antiandrogens for prostate cancer, so it seems to be a phenomenon not limited to trans people.

bsanr2 6y ago
This assumes that gender dysphoria is exclusively physiological, an impossibility given that gender itself is partially socially- and psychologically-constructed. As mentioned, perhaps hormone treatment could still benefit people who don't have a clinically-indicated deficiency solely because (even in men and women with functional gonads) their application enhances the secondary sexual characteristics (behavioral, psychological, and physical) that a dysphoric individual might find lacking. My personal take is that a good deal of dysphoria is misdiagnosed as dysmorphia. Because those people are left to self-medicate, unfortunately you end up with the kind of abuse that makes people question the legitimacy of such treatment. I think, though, it's dangerous to lump in people who could benefit from hormonal support for their exercise and antidepression goals (which, for some cis men, would be a gender affirmative strategy), with people who inject synthol or silicone without any medically-viable rationale and in so doing radically damage their bodies (which is what happens now). In the end, what I'm hoping to see someday is an understanding of a fundamental similarity between the cis and trans experiences, because it would mean both buy-in from and benefits for both groups.
- sascha_sl 6y ago
  There are definitely social, psychological and neurological factors involved, and none should be discounted. It's just that the social factor is much harder to control when our society is so hostile to gender-nonconformity. And that explicitly includes internalized transphobia. I would not be surprised in the slightest if social rejection accounts for most of the remaining difference to cis controls for transgender suicidality.

bsanr2 6y ago

This assumes that gender dysphoria is exclusively physiological, an impossibility given that gender itself is partially socially- and psychologically-constructed. As mentioned, perhaps hormone treatment could still benefit people who don't have a clinically-indicated deficiency solely because (even in men and women with functional gonads) their application enhances the secondary sexual characteristics (behavioral, psychological, and physical) that a dysphoric individual might find lacking. My personal take is that a good deal of dysphoria is misdiagnosed as dysmorphia. Because those people are left to self-medicate, unfortunately you end up with the kind of abuse that makes people question the legitimacy of such treatment. I think, though, it's dangerous to lump in people who could benefit from hormonal support for their exercise and antidepression goals (which, for some cis men, would be a gender affirmative strategy), with people who inject synthol or silicone without any medically-viable rationale and in so doing radically damage their bodies (which is what happens now). In the end, what I'm hoping to see someday is an understanding of a fundamental similarity between the cis and trans experiences, because it would mean both buy-in from and benefits for both groups.

sascha_sl 6y ago
There are definitely social, psychological and neurological factors involved, and none should be discounted. It's just that the social factor is much harder to control when our society is so hostile to gender-nonconformity. And that explicitly includes internalized transphobia. I would not be surprised in the slightest if social rejection accounts for most of the remaining difference to cis controls for transgender suicidality.