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But for some people, transition is a regrettable outcome, even in the very literal sense that they do regret it. "affirmation-only" would mean affirming even pe

But for some people, transition is a regrettable outcome, even in the very literal sense that they do regret it. "affirmation-only" would mean affirming even people who actually would end up regretting a transition. The technology does not exist to actually make a man into a woman or a woman into a man.

howinteresting 6y ago
That's not what affirmation-only means. It means supporting people as they come to terms with whatever the discrepancy between their phenotypical and subconscious sex characteristics.
- axguscbklp 6y ago
  Ah, got you. But then "affirmation-only" seems like a misleading name. Cause it's not really "affirmation-only", it's more like "be supportive and nice". Edit: maybe I'm just not being charitable enough to jargon. I guess I can see how "affirmation-only" might be understood to mean "affirmation-only of felt gender identity" in the context of certain communities.
  - howinteresting 6y ago
    Thank you. I want to provide concrete examples of what an affirming approach is. Here is an approach that is not affirming: https://mobile.twitter.com/caitlinmoriah/status/1374157498832154628 https://mobile.twitter.com/caitlinmoriah/status/137415749883... If a young boy wants to play with dolls, an affirming approach would let them. If they later decide they'd like to be perceived in the world as a girl and change their pronouns, you support them through that. If they later decide they want to keep playing with dolls, be perceived in the world as a boy and not change their pronouns, you support that as well. If they want to play with trucks and be perceived as a girl, you support them through that as well. The point is that how you are perceived, how you look at yourself and what you do are all different but correlated. You just support them through their journey of growing up and discovering themselves. Personally I've been uncomfortable at my endogenous sex characteristics from the moment puberty hit. That is why I've changed them (many years afterwards), and I couldn't be happier about that.

howinteresting 6y ago

That's not what affirmation-only means. It means supporting people as they come to terms with whatever the discrepancy between their phenotypical and subconscious sex characteristics.

axguscbklp 6y ago
Ah, got you. But then "affirmation-only" seems like a misleading name. Cause it's not really "affirmation-only", it's more like "be supportive and nice". Edit: maybe I'm just not being charitable enough to jargon. I guess I can see how "affirmation-only" might be understood to mean "affirmation-only of felt gender identity" in the context of certain communities.
- howinteresting 6y ago
  Thank you. I want to provide concrete examples of what an affirming approach is. Here is an approach that is not affirming: https://mobile.twitter.com/caitlinmoriah/status/1374157498832154628 https://mobile.twitter.com/caitlinmoriah/status/137415749883... If a young boy wants to play with dolls, an affirming approach would let them. If they later decide they'd like to be perceived in the world as a girl and change their pronouns, you support them through that. If they later decide they want to keep playing with dolls, be perceived in the world as a boy and not change their pronouns, you support that as well. If they want to play with trucks and be perceived as a girl, you support them through that as well. The point is that how you are perceived, how you look at yourself and what you do are all different but correlated. You just support them through their journey of growing up and discovering themselves. Personally I've been uncomfortable at my endogenous sex characteristics from the moment puberty hit. That is why I've changed them (many years afterwards), and I couldn't be happier about that.