Number 50

A Trip To The Woodshed

According to a 19 year old genius that is a part of my daughter's friend group at college, gender dysphoria is a mental illness. Ergo, he thinks I'm nuts. I became aware of this, when my daughter (bless her heart for not keeping me secret), told her friends about me and my transition. Thankfully, he didn't respond, "Eww, Yuck!" But he did indicate that he thought that pursuing various gender confirmation surgeries and procedures was inappropriate. Apparently this Socrates in sneakers thinks the correct treatment is a therapeutic one that will help me realize that my gender dysphoria is not a real thing.

Now, I may very well be mentally ill.  [Insert your own smart-ass comment here]  My choo-choo may have already left the station or I might be a few bricks short of a load. But I don't think so. In fact I feel the exact opposite. I feel as mentally healthy as I've ever felt in my live. Coming to terms with my dysphoria and moving forward with transition fills me with and inner calm and peace of mind that I've never felt before.

Which is why I'm so annoyed by the opinion of this pint-sized Plato. Of course he's not alone in his thinking, and at least he's sympathetic towards me, and not abusive. But this is where the little twerp allows his uneducated, prejudicial opinion get the better of him. He forgets that I'm already pursuing therapeutic and medical treatment. And these alleged "experts" (otherwise known as almost the entirety of both medical and mental health practitioners), think gender dysphoria is a real thing, and that gender confirmation procedures are an appropriate course of action. In my mind, I can (hopefully) hear this generation's answer to Aristotle saying, "Oh, I didn't think about that."

Of course gender dysphoria can cause mental anguish. If a person has been brought up to believe that trans folks are a few slices of bread short of a loaf, it makes sense that this person would be disturbed by their own thoughts of gender incongruency. I'm not one of those people, though. As I stated above, acknowledgement of my dysphoria resulted in a feeling of contentment and calm.

Look. I know I've been a little harsh with a young man I've never met.  But it gets weary after awhile facing the same old misconceptions and prejudices masquerading as informed fact, and sometimes you just need to take someone out to the woodshed for a little paddlin'. Consider it done.