The understanding of “transsexuality” as a curable illness is only about a century old, a co-product of the discovery of “sex hormones” and the medicalization of sexual orientations. It is no higher truth, and arguably, not the best ground for treating a population that is
already particularly vulnerable. In our society, medical treatment is always given within a framework of power imbalance. This gives plenty of leeway for things that are not exactly medical abuse, but certainly worth criticizing. When you call my true nature pathological
and every anti-trans attack on me the natural response of a “normal” society against “abnormal” me, how can you expect me to confidently assert myself? How can you expect me to be nice, non-confrontational, poised and put together when I enter the doctor’s office?
Imagine living in a nightmare in which you are trying to tell the world a fundamental truth about yourself and everyone is either laughing it off or getting angry at you. This is the premise of the transgender experience in a world in which not just extremist fringe groups,
but the core values of society are at odds with what you are.Even many of those who are earnestly trying to battle misogyny will fall back on the notion that sexism itself has a “natural” basis rather than being the cause and result of societal power relations.
Why are some so eager to insist on this? Even in my detransitioned form, my existence as a transgender person is a problem for society because I am the proof that not only social gender, but bodily sex itself is malleable, temporarily or permanently.
A scary prospect! What if the “sex-based” oppression some consider to be grounded in “natural” attributes isn’t so natural after all?
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