BobM wrote:Why should a transgender person have to be brainwashed to satisfy the false beliefs of other people?
We are in Backward Land.
de·lu·sion·al
/dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl/
"Characterized by or holding
idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder"
Idiosyncratic? Perhaps.
Contradicted by reality, or rational argument? No.
You are confusing biology with identity.
In other words, you are failing to distinguish between thoughts about one's physical body, and thoughts about one's own mind.
To wit, a transgender person has an internal mental model of themselves that does not match their physical sex traits.
Inside, they view themselves as a different sex. An internal view is subjective, like an emotion, or a preference, or desire. But, I understand how that might be hard to swallow, because we tend to think of sex in terms of physical characteristics, so let me offer the following analogy, to help you understand.
We often hear fat people lamenting, "Inside, I am thin," or some variation thereof. Now, before you protest, hear me out.
Internally, such a fat person view does themselves as thin. That is to say that when they imagine themselves interacting with the physical world, or when they think of themselves, their mental proxy for themselves is that of a thin person,. This view of themselves isn't just restricted to physical characteristics, but to all of the ways that society treats a thin person (they are often seen as more attractive, fashion often caters to them, they are likelier to be offered higher paying jobs, and so on). In other words, they would like to be treated as thin (in addition to actually being thin), in an ideal world. And, in fact, when they look in the mirror, they often experience dissonance--an unease at the mismatch between what they see, and how they view themselves. I should know--I am one of these people, and I suspect other members of this forum are, as well.
Now, such people certainly don't believe they are thin
on the outside. That would be delusional.
Rather, they acknowledge the reality of two things:
1) they view themselves as thin.
2) they aren't thin.
But, in most cases, they want the following to be true instead:
1) they view themselves as thin.
2) they really are thin.
In short, they know that their internal image does not match their external image. On the contrary, to ignore your own state of mind
is to be delusional.
A person who is depressed, but believes they are happy is delusional.
A person who really wants to be a professional artist, but believes they want to be a medical doctor, instead, is delusional.
A person who doesn't understand General Relativity, but believes that they understand gravity, is delusional.
A person who is tone deaf, but believes they are an incredible musician is delusional.
That's because, in each case, their mental state/function/ability directly contradicts what they believe.
Similarly, transgender people acknowledge the following:
1) they view themselves as a certain sex, X.
2) the sexual characteristics of their body do not match the sexual characteristics of X.
And, similar to the fat person,
they would rather have the following be true, instead:
1) they view themselves as a certain sex, X.
2) the sexual characteristics of their body match the sexual characteristics of X.
And, just as a fat person might strive to physically become as close as thin to possible (and remember, most fat people have a incredibly difficult time achieving this goal, and not for lack of trying), a transgender person would strive to physically become as close to their internal sex as possible. In both cases, it simply might not be physically possible to completely achieve this goal.
Now, I have one more thing to say about internal mental states, and that is that denial of your own mental state, without exception, harmful to your mental health. For example, years of suppressing anger can lead to reduced ability to keep, or form intimate relationships.
I hope that I don't need to provide evidence that denying such things can lead to profound states of depression, shame, anxiety, isolation, and so on.
Anyway, I am sure I have said enough about this, now.