[Lenneth]

Gender identity is one's subjective sense of one's own sex. Like pain, it is unambiguously felt but one is unable to prove or display it to others. If gender identity does not match one's physical gender, the individual is termed Gender Dysphoric.

This statement by Dr. Carl Bushong is not altogether correct, imho. It implies that I will be GD until I'm satisfied that my physical body is sufficiently aligned with my gender identity. But my GD was relieved, for all intents and purposes, by sex hormone rebalancing (HRT) months ago. I no longer feel the constant anxiety and tension, and the need to defuse it. Also, having come out to important people in my life, lately, another source of apprehension concerning my trans nature has largely been put to rest. But despite my new found peace of mind, I still want to alter my physical body to match my gender identity. That desire is driven by the demands of our society on what constitutes acceptable behavior for men and women. Those behaviors are often tied to physical differences between men and women, but arbitrarily, I'd say.

I tend to accept the view of Dr. Anne Vitale. Gender dysphoria stems from being deprived of a means to express one's innate gender freely in a society that is invested in the binary gender-sex model, and insists that gender expression conform to rules governing one's birth gender. There's no inherent requirement that one be dysphoric because of a gender-sex mismatch, is there?

In a world where freedom of gender expression is allowed, treating GD becomes simply a matter of shifting one hormonal balance to satisfy the needs of the cross-gendered brain.

Clara

Both have things Partly right, but IMHO neither have the full picture.

greetins all ;

i have known since i think i was old enough to think. i knew 'something' was just not right. i can remember one day at my cousins house playing with her barbie dolls with her. my mother who was a devout christian gave me the what-for-and-how. how little "boys" were not to play with girl toys. i cried inside. i was deflated. i have always been sensitive and less masculine than most. i have learned to perserver and push on . for those girls who are i crisis, please find someone to talk to. dont shoulder the burden alone

here is a good crisis website (its free) for those girls whohave no one to talk to or anyone and need an ear to listen to . mental health is of utmost priortity ladies... to many of us girls die without anyone knowing because we suffer alone (does not have to be)

http://www.lauras-playground.com/chat/ this is a free chat site for the prevention of suicide of gender dysphoric/transgender/transexual persons. it is not adult-entertainment orientated as well there are minors present as well who also suffer from gender dysphoria. caring councillors will speak to you i private rooms if needed. there is also a main chat room where u can speak to other like-minded individuals. please be respectful as it is a crisis-related chatroom/suicide prevention chat.

i know personally how painful i can be to emerge like a butterfly out of a dark cocoon. i am sure many of you have seen the movie "normal". it broke my heart and brought me to tears. no one like rejection nor shoud they have to endure it. so please dear sisters of mine, save that link for when needed or even visit and get to know other girls like us....

GD is one of those things that is nearly impossible to get people without it to understand anything about it, most of it is due to Nonsensical stereotypes & flat out made up (yet popular) BS about it.
(downright sad when you think about it)

Nice to see you back btw Squirrel.