To get things started I’ll state my most controversial views.
- I think J.K. Rowling is alright. And that by definition I’m what some would call a “TERF”.
I think there are fundamental differences between men and women, and how one feels doesn’t really change that. Personality traits and mental illness do not change biology.
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I’m an atheist. I’m not convinced of any deities, but that’d be pretty cool to find out if there were any, or any deep answer to the universe for that matter.
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Climate change is a real and present danger, But there’s fuck all I can do about it from an individual standpoint right now.
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Aliens seem like a very real possibility with all the seemingly credible sources lately but I’m not convinced. My best guess is that it’s an intentional thing to mess with other countries.
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I’m nearly a free speech absolutist. I think one should not be afraid to voice their views. And that censorship only hurts human progress.
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The main controversy surrounding this instance, lolis. I don’t care what people beat it to as long as no one is being harmed. Drawings don’t have emotions, bodies, or rights.
I appreciate the level of detail you’ve brought into this. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to discuss this with someone who’s actually done their research on sex.
To answer your questions. Casually disliking being overweight or underweight is not an illness. Being severely obese or severely underweight are illnesses that can be treated by proper exercise and proper nutrition.
To compare it to gender dysphoria though, you’d have to be severely obese, or severely underweight, and believe you are the other one that you physically aren’t. If I weighed 400 lbs but believed I was actually a starving person that’s underweight, for example.
For the prosthetic limb example. Wanting an object to assist oneself isn’t an illness.
For the voice training one. Wanting to improve oneself through training, diet, exercise aren’t illnesses.
You’re right that changing the body does seem easier.
This… isn’t analogous. Being aware of and unhappy about the mismatch is specifically what makes it a dysphoria.
The questions were less about me getting your answer but more about pointing out how general the definition you gave was, and probing if your actual intended meaning was that vague. From looking at other comments, though, it looks like you did give someone else a more specific definition of what you meant:
Firstly, I’d like to point out that just HRT is both not surgery and sufficient for many trans individuals.
But, let’s say someone is extremely overweight, and they’ve been prevented from using regular methods (i.e. dieting and exercise), so their only option is surgery. If prevented from undergoing the surgery, don’t you think that depression and potentially even suicide are possible outcomes. Would this scenario, hypothetical though it may be, not also meet those requirements?
Now, let me tell you about Lipedema, a condition where large amounts of fat builds up on the legs. Regular diet and exercise methods can help with some symptoms, but cannot stop or reverse the condition. Liposuction (a fat-removal surgery), however, works—although it’s not a permanent fix yet and still can damage the body in the process. It fairly commonly can result in depression.
In a more general sense, “feeling uncomfortable in one’s own skin” is such a vague descriptor that it plausibly covers basically any nonlethal condition that can negatively affect an individual’s quality of life.
Can you elaborate on how feeling oneself is different than one actually is, is different than oneself feeling different than one actually is?
I might be misunderstanding you.