Why do people get sex change operations?
Is it really because there are "men trapped in women's bodies" and "women trapped in mens bodies" (that's what the Nazis said when they invented the sex change operation at Auchwitz during World War II)?
Or is it because there are deeply disturbed people who don't fit society's narrow gender stereotypes, and want to have their bodies transformed into the other gender, so they can fit in?
Is getting a sex change operation an extreme form of internalized homophobia?
2006-11-23 04:53:37 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
As a gross generalization: yes to all three (well, three if you count 'autogynophilia'. 4 if 'internalized homophobia' is distinct from 'adapting body to fit gender stereotypes')
More accurately, the reasons vary as much as the person and could include pieces of any of the four answers or even none of them. For me, it's many things. I'm more comfortable being addressed and treated as a girl; I'm completely awkward and uncomfortable trying to have sex as a man - it just feels "wrong" to me, regardless of whether my partner is a man or a woman or whether I'm 'topping' or 'bottoming.' Trying to be a man just slowly pushes drives me into depression; I stop caring about how I look or my personal hygiene, I sleep in and wind up avoiding people and responsibilities entirely. But when I can go out to face the world as girl (even partially) I feel alive and energized.
Plus (and yeah this is a bit shallow,) IMO the clothes are way, way better for girls.
Some of it is also a bit of conforming to gender-role stereotypes. Romantically and sexually I tend to be more passive and submissive, which just doesn't work as a guy but is somewhat expected as a girl. I prefer 'cute' things over 'tough' things, which is seen as natural for a girl but a sign of weakness in a man. And although the feminist in me gets annoyed by some of it, I can't really help the fact that this is what I like.
I've given up worrying about whether or not it's a mental condition (biological or otherwise), a case of having a female spirit in a male body, or something else entirely. It's just who I am, and trying to 'cure' any of it at this point would be the same as just erasing me and replacing me with someone that looks kinda like me.
2006-11-23 09:21:33 · answer #1 · answered by angiekaos 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well i don't thin it is a form of homophobia i sleep with both men and woman
it is partly to do with the society's stereotypes
but it is mainly the mind / soul of a person seeing them self's as the other gender to what their bodies are
there are man test done on transgenders /transsexuals one shows that the normally female mind is bigger then the normal male
in transsexuals m2f for eg. the mind is the same size as the normal female
the sex change is only a very small part in the changing of the gender roles every thing a man and a woman do they do it slightly different like walking talking standing sitting etc
a person undergoing a sex/gender change must go though an lot of tests and be willing to do so with out looking back or ever going back
2006-11-23 05:17:17 · answer #2 · answered by Zara3 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Deep question. I think our sexual identities are something of a mystery. I believe it is perfectly possible for the genders to get "switched" in the way our brains are wired. So a woman in a guy's body really is a woman. Same for a man in a woman's body. It can happen. So I would vote that we just be compassionate as a society and let these folks do what they feel they need to do to be whole and happy human beings.
2006-11-23 05:02:31 · answer #3 · answered by Isis 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
There are people who truly feel that they were born of the wrong sex and are uncomfortable with their birth sex.
From what I have studied, the Nazi's hated everyone that didn't fit the mold regardless of transsexuality. They hated you, you went to the showers.
The feeling that one was born of the wrong sex is open to much discussion and theory. But what is certain, these people have demonstrated that they live 'in pain in their natural sex' and once they undergo SRS, they fair much better off. Of course there are exceptions to the rule as well.
Many do under go sex reassignment surgery to complete their transition.
2006-11-23 05:04:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Some of them say it is because they are ____ trapped in the body of a ___(WOW something the Nazis were actually right about?They weren't right about anything else)It could be any of the three, but the first sounds most likely.
2006-11-23 05:00:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
i've always felt like a gay guy in a girls body! when i was 14 i realized i was a bi man lol. its cool, i dont really get a kick out of myself for some reason tho. who needs boobs.
2006-11-23 05:14:07 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋