Kristen Gyles | When did gender become so confusing?

Suppose you are anorexic. Even though you are only 100 pounds, you feel like a hippo. Further, you have a chronic fear of getting any fatter, so you put yourself on a really restrictive diet and start working out constantly. You cry sometimes because of how fat you think you look and it is distressing for you to even see yourself in the mirror.

What if your concerned family members and friends arrange for you to see a doctor, who listens to you offload your distress about being ‘too fat’ and then assures you that even though you are underweight, if you feel like you are too fat, she will do what she can to help you lose a few more pounds until you feel comfortable? Would this doctor be helping you?

Some people suffer from anorexia and face this type of distress. And some people suffer from gender dysphoria and face a similar type of distress. Gender dysphoria is “psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity” according to the American Psychiatric Association.

So, a woman suffering from gender dysphoria might feel very distressed because even though she is being told that she is female, she feels like she really should be male. In today’s silly world, the doctor won’t actually try to help her overcome the feelings she has, but might instead try to put a penis on her to help reinforce her feelings of being truly male.

Would the doctor have helped her?

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Although both anorexia and gender dysphoria are psychological disorders, the treatment for both differ widely. The anorexic patient undergoes psychotherapy to help them overcome their delusional belief of being too fat. The patient might also undergo a process of supervised weight gain. On the other hand, any attempt to change or challenge the beliefs a sufferer of gender dysphoria has about themselves is about the most inhumane and unethical thing a doctor could do, apparently.

The American Psychiatric Association explores the question, “Can a person have gender dysphoria and not seek gender affirming treatments?” on their website. Here’s the response:

“Not all individuals with gender dysphoria choose to undergo medical or surgical treatment. For one, gender affirming surgeries are very expensive ... People with gender dysphoria decide which treatment options are right for them. Some are satisfied with taking hormones alone. Some are satisfied with no medical or surgical treatment but prefer to dress as the felt gender in public. Some people make use of Trans affirming social networks online … People who are denied or have no access to gender affirming treatments can become anxious, depressed, socially withdrawn and suicidal.”

It seems a lot like the American Psychiatric Association has all the advice to give on why someone suffering from gender dysphoria should undergo treatment to have their desired gender affirmed. There seems to be no room for treatments aimed at addressing the problematic and delusive feelings of the sufferer.

So, a man who feels like a woman is given hardly any choice but to make his eventual transition into becoming a woman and both during and after his transition, he must be affirmed as a woman. To put things in perspective, roughly 16 countries have instituted either a full or partial ban on ‘conversion therapy’ which includes treatments aimed at altering an individual’s perceived gender.

PROBLEMATIC DISTINCTION

Some transgender men and women are said to suffer from gender dysphoria. I read with interest Dr Garth Rattray’s column ‘The problem with sex vs gender’ published on December 10, and share the view that there is a problematic distinction suddenly being made between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’, and it accounts for much of the confusion that has blanketed discussions surrounding gender and sexuality.

I grew up hearing that the words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ were synonymous with no distinction ever being made between the two, so I was somewhat taken aback the first time I heard someone assert that ‘sex’ is a biological matter, while ‘gender’ is only a social construct.

I can appreciate that words change in meaning over time. For example, the word ‘awful’ is no longer used to describe something that inspires awe or wonder, and the word ‘gay’ is hardly used any more to connote happiness. Sure, what I have a problem with is being gaslighted into believing that this new meaning for the word ‘gender’ has always existed when in fact the distinction between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ is relatively new, much like the profusion of new concepts that have been introduced, almost overnight, to explain the infinitely many new dimensions of gender.

In a country like Jamaica, men carry a typical type of appearance and women carry another. But in some other spaces, there is an expectation that a bearded man in high heels and a miniskirt should be referred to by his preferred pronouns, which, of course, you wouldn’t know without him communicating them to you. As a result, he might ask that you refer to him as ‘she/her’ or ‘ze/zir’ or ‘they/them’. It can become very difficult for some people to keep up with such a complex framework, especially since it is inherently not logical.

People should be free to live in their desired manner, however unique, without chastisement or abuse, but where people have distorted views of reality, others shouldn’t have to feel forced to reinforce or support their views.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com