#also there was a form of hormone therapy that existed back then with transgender women being mentioned in its definition

[theworstcreature]

*gets bored and starts reading Wikipedia articles at you*

#my hobby fr #honestly just reading shit like that I general is fun #I have this really old dictionary from like 1942 #and once I spent like an hour just skimming over the new words section #just like enjoying it and thinking about how maybe once upon a time that WASNT a word everyone and their grandmother knew #I can’t believe that word meant something completely different than it does now #also a little fun fact I learned from that: #transgender folks (or at least trans femmes.. that’s the only entry I remember seeing) existed and were known enough to make it into the #dictionaries back then #also there was a form of hormone therapy that existed back then with transgender women being mentioned in its definition #I don’t remember how it was worded #nor do I feel like going and opening this dictionary rn #but I could probably find it tomorrow

[nerdygaymormon]

what do you think about the new handbook?

In January 2016 I received a calling that gave me access to the Church’s Handbooks and I was surprised at the amount of specific things in there on which I had never considered the Church having an official position. I imagine a lot of people are having that experience this week.

I’m glad the Church made the Handbook available to everyone, it’s a move towards transparency. Before this, people were being held to standards or facing processes that only their leaders could access.

I appreciate that in some areas there’s better framework and clarity, but am sad that it often came in the form of being more restrictive or not in line with modern science.

I’m going to outline the changes and add a few comments. ’ll put my opinion about all of this at the end, so if that’s what you want to see, scroll to the bottom.

————————————————————— 

Miscellaneous

The Handbook covers a lot of information, so I’m certain in the days and weeks ahead more new things will be discovered. But for now, here’s some assorted policies.

Sacrament

We’re supposed to take the Sacrament with our right hands

The wording that young men are encouraged, but not required, to wear a white shirt and tie is gone. All males who pass the Sacrament are asked to be clean and well groomed.

For a long time, which hand to use has been considered a personal choice, and some associated special meaning by using their right hand.

In February 2019, Elder Oaks saw some youth take the Sacrament with the left hand and he gave a short lecture that went viral telling these kids they were wrong, and now it’s official policy in the Handbook.

Dress Standards

The Relief Society Presidency is to teach dress standards to the sisters so their appearance and clothing show reverence and respect at Church and at the temple.

These are adult women!!! They can’t figure this out for themselves? It mentions ostentatious jewelry and casual clothes without any examples of what this means. I’m afraid some leaders will enforce their personal opinions, such as pants are verboten.

Also this section included a comment about ostentatious jewelry. What is that? Having 2 earrings in 1 ear?

—————————————————————

Discipline

Disciplinary councils have been renamed “Membership Councils”

People no longer are disfellowshipped or excommunicated. They have “formal membership restrictions” or “withdrawal of membership”

Does away with the unequal disciplinary structure for adult men vs adult women.

Before, men who were endowed had a disciplinary council at the stake level. Everyone else had a disciplinary council held by their bishopric.

Now anyone who is endowed and likely to have their Church membership withdrawn will have a stake membership council. Everyone else has a ward membership council for serious sins & actions

At the ward level, membership councils still function the same (the bishopric holds a council with the person whose membership is at risk).

At the stake level, the council now is similar to the way it works at the ward level (the stake presidency meets, without the high council also being involved).

The individual’s bishops can sit in on the council. The individual can also choose for the Elders Quorum or Relief Society President to sit in on the council.

Same-sex marriage is no longer apostasy

Apostasy has been removed from a list of reasons to hold a membership council. Instead it is on a case-by-case basis.

The stake president can place informal membership restrictions on the person and the stake president counsels with the Area Presidency (which are Seventy) about anything more than that, such as a membership council

The language is softer but the results are the same.

I like that men & women are treated equally in this new system. It always struck me wrong that most men in the church automatically had a council of 15 men and women had 3 men.

The reversal of the 2015 Policy of Exclusion finally made it to the Handbook. 

————————————————————— 

Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Same-Sex Attracted

Families & members should be sensitive, love and respectful of people who are gay, lesbian & bi

Sexual activity with someone of the same gender is on the same level as an unmarried sex.

Membership councils are optional in these cases, based on the leader’s discretion.

As long as an LGBTQ member is “striving” to live the law of chastity, they’re allowed to hold a calling and temple recommend

“Sexual cohabitation” used to be forbidden, now it’s “cohabitation”. So I guess gay people living together is a problem regardless of whether they have sex. I do know of a few couples who live together, but have given up sex in order to be temple worthy. I guess that’s no longer an option.

The mormonandgay website was done away with and some of the items moved to a new page titled “Same-Sex Attraction.”

Most of the links on this new page don’t work. I’m sure this will get fixed

Most of the “resources” from the old page aren’t on the new page.

The last 4 video stories of members from the former site are on the new site.

Credit for finally making this page available in languages other than English.

I wonder if it will still say it’s okay to identify using the terms gay, bi or lesbian.I know President Oaks prefers the phrase “same-sex attraction” and a lot of his influence is seen in the new Handbook changes. 

The best section of the previous site was a collection of 17 members who are gay, bi and lesbian (well, 2 of them are parents of gay kids). Hearing them tell their story in their own words was powerful. Most of them have asked for their video to be removed.

The only stories remaining are 2 people in a mixed-orientation marriage and 2 parents who have a gay son. Each of those 4 members now has multiple videos (Laurie, Laurie’s husband, Laurie’s bishop, Laurie’s friend). 

The experience of most LGB people in the Church is now absent from this page, which again confirms for me that this has been a site for leaders & family, not actual members who are bisexual, lesbian or gay.

—————————————————————

Transgender

Preferred names can be noted in your membership record and Church leaders are encouraged to use them.

People can also to ask others to use their chosen pronouns

Elective surgical or medical intervention (which I believe means hormone treatment) for the purpose of transitioning, and social transitioning will result in membership restrictions.

These restrictions include not getting to exercise the priesthood, receiving or using a temple recommend, and receiving some Church callings

Even if the hormone therapy is prescribed by a medical professional to ease gender dysphoria or reduce suicidal thoughts, membership restrictions will result

Transgender people who don’t transition can have Church callings & temple recommends

Gender is defined as “biological sex at birth.”

This is recorded on Church records and determines whether someone can receive the priesthood and how they experience the temple ordinances

Transgender people & their family are welcome to attend Sunday church meetings and social events

There is now a page for transgender people, just as there has been for LGB people

This whole section of the Handbook makes me sad because it reduces these members to being a mistake and they need to choose a side. Nevermind they were born this way and have complex lives, they need to look and act like a cishet member.

I’d love if the church leaders could show scriptural backing & the words of the Savior to justify their views on trans folks other than the Family Proclamation.

Credit to the Church for switching from “transsexual” to “transgender

While trans people are welcome to attend the 2nd hour of church, no guidance was given about if they can choose either Relief Society or Elders Quorum

It’s problematic to define gender being as your biological sex at birth. If gender is eternal, why is “at birth” needed? A doctor or nurse assigns a biological sex at birth by taking a look at the newborn’s external genitals. This is only 1 of 5 markers of gender. A doctor or a nurse is not God.

5 components of biological sex

external genitalia

inner reproductive anatomy

sex hormones

chromosomes

gonad differentiation (gonad secretions cause sex-specific patterns in many other tissues & the brain)

This section of the Handbook still speaks of gender as binary–you’re either male or female and trans. Genderfluid, nonbinary, or any acknowledgement of a spectrum doesn’t exist.

To say a trans person will face consequences for social transitioning is really troubling. What does “social transitioning” mean? Do pronouns count as “social transitioning?” Long or short hair? If people must dress according to gender stereotypes, then it seems like leadership is more concerned about the feelings of the 99 and not the health & well being of the 1.

Why is it only transgender members who have a ban on these surgeries? Lots of breast enhancements, reductions and mastectomies take place every month with not a whiff of interest by church leaders, but if it’s done to affirm one’s gender identity, then it’s forbidden, even if it’s life saving.

It did make me feel queasy to read that even if medical or surgical intervention is prescribed by medical professionals to deal with gender dysphoria or suicidal thoughts, too bad, we’re still going to punish you. What kind of monsters came up with this?

————————————————————— 

Intersex, aka People Whose Sex isn’t Clear at Birth

The Handbook says the incident rate of intersex is extremely rare

Questions about membership records, priesthood ordination and temple ordinances for youth or adults who were born with sexual ambiguity should be directed to the Office of the First Presidency.

This is the first I’ve seen Intersex given their own section in the Handbook.

While policies about LGBT people are listed as “moral issues”, the section on intersex people is under “medical and health policies.” That’s a good sign, it means that the medical profession determines what is best, not a church leader.

I appreciate that church takes this out of the hands of local leadership. It’s a complex issue that untrained people shouldn’t get to have say over.

The Church assumes that surgical & medical intervention is needed for this group of people. Unfortunately it implies the default is to do so in infancy or early childhood when current best practices would be delaying, if possible, until the individual can weigh in on their body & identity. 

The idea that intersex is rare, well that depends on what they consider rare.

The rate could be as high as 2% of the population or as low as 1 in 2000.

If we think of that in terms of Church congregations, it suddenly seems not so rare.

In North America, a ward must have 300 members. If 1%-2% are intersex, that’s a couple people in each congregation.

If we go with the lowest rate of 1 in 2000, consider that in the US & Canada a stake requires a minimum of 3000 members. So 1 or 2 members per stake would be intersex.

—————————————————————

I think these changes show that the Church is willing to include queer people up to a point. We can feel & be the person we believe ourselves to be as long as we don’t actually act in a way that affirms who we are.

We are to be loved, respected and welcomed, however these homophobic and transphobic policies remain in place. Love & respect is more than smiling & being nice to someone.

The policies of the Church regarding queer people is out of line with science. As science continues to advance and confirm that gender identities and sexual orientations are real and biological and not changeable by will, the tension for the Church on these topics will continue to grow.

“The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor. Jesus never commanded me to love my religion.” -Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor

Considering Jesus admonishes us again and again to love each other and that we are all alike to God, I can only guess that Jesus wept. Again.

#handbook #tumblrstake #queerstake

[rotationalsymmetry]

The mistakes people make when trying to understand trans people. (Not gonna say cis people, it can take trans people a while to figure this stuff out too.) Not necessarily in this exact order. CW: Discussion of transphobic and transmisogynistic concepts, genitals mentions.

Your gender is determined by your body (genitals/chromosomes/whatever) and is immutable (and also intersex people don’t exist but that’s a whole ‘nother topic.) Anyone who says otherwise is wrong or delusional.

OK, maybe there’s some trans people, but only men and women, and they’re not really men/women until they’ve “fully transitioned” (back to your genitals determining your gender.)

And it’s a very, very, very rare thing and only shows up one way: having a consistent sense of being the other binary gender from a young age, being intensely miserable living as the assigned gender, ending up straight, ending up gender conforming, etc.

Also they’re not really men and women, they’re some sort of in between freak of nature. (Referring to a trans woman as “they”, etc.)

OK, maybe trans people’s genitals aren’t anyone else’s business. But they at least have to look like their gender, otherwise how is anyone supposed to take them seriously? (Also: why do trans people get so angry all the time? It’s a mystery.)

OK, trans men are men and trans women are women. But...that means they’re exactly the same as cis men and women in every meaningful way. (Including, at the absurd extremes, things like who needs pap smears etc. At marginally less absurd extremes, figuring trans men don’t have anything meaningful to say about patriarchy based on lived experience, because apparently gender identity means everybody retroactively knew what your real gender was your whole life.)

Trans men’s experiences and trans women’s experiences have to be mirror images of each other. In particular: if a trans women wants to start using women’s restrooms and not men’s as soon as she starts dressing like a woman, and a trans man wants to keep using women’s bathrooms while he’s transitioning, one of them has to be wrong.

Non-binary people don’t really exist, you can humor them but they’re basically just people of their assigned gender playing around.

Non-binary people exist, but only if they look androgynous.

Non-binary people exist, and are (all) a third in-between or genderless category.

Non-binary people can all be simplified down to “basically men” or “basically women”. (”Woman-aligned” etc.)

All non-binary people can give you an extremely precise explanation of their gender identity, it’s never “well I think I’m not this and I’m pretty sure I’m not that and some days I feel this and other days I feel...”

Trans people can be divided into two categories: real trans people, and “transtrenders” who are just pretending to be trans. Because that’s a normal thing to do.

Real trans status has to be earned through suffering

(Binary) trans people can’t be interested in the same sex

Trans people can’t be gender non-conforming

Trans people have to medically transition or at least want to; medical transition is the only form of transition; if you’re not 100% sure you want to medically transition then doing more easily reversed things like experimenting with hair or clothes or asking people to use different gendered terms for you, is pointless.

Everybody has exactly one gender. Or at most one.

Genders other than “male” and “female” are made up (in a way that “male” and “female” are not)

If I personally can’t imagine being transgender, then it must not be real.

Being non-binary means you have to actively want to destroy the gender binary/identifying as non-binary is inherently a political statement.

More people identifying as trans is bad for gay people, gays/lesbians and trans people have conflicting interests, being trans is more acceptable to the general public than being gay and trans people are mostly actually gay people who get pushed into identifying as trans for greater social acceptance.

Puberty blockers are totally the same thing as HRT and allowing minors access to appropriate medical treatment is pushing an agenda on to them. Doing nothing is neutral and can’t possibly cause harm.

Detransitioning or shifting from a binary trans to a non-binary identity is betraying the cause/is evidence the person made a mistake by transitioning regardless of how they see it/is evidence that there should be more barriers to medical transition.

You have to get your identity right the first time: asking people to use different pronouns for you and then changing to new ones or back to your original pronouns, means you’re not taking this seriously.

In general, asking people to use different pronouns for you should be one of the last steps in the process, after more expensive and less reversible measures like hormone therapy, not one of the earliest.

Unless you’re 100% sure you’re trans, you’re definitely cis.

Real trans people never second guess themselves.

Welp, that’s 18 28 items which is a bunch more than I expected to get to. I’m just kind of playing around with ideas in my head here. Happy to have anyone add on.

(This is meant for trans people mostly, so please don’t be hostile on this thread. If you’re confused and want to know more I'd recommend that questions show up in my ask box off anon so if you accidentally say something hurtful/offensive, I can reply privately. Like, I’m not going to be hurt and I’m not going to judge if it seems to be coming from a place of not knowing rather than overt hostility, and I’d rather you ask than just be confused. Having said that, I’m terrible at actually responding to asks, so you might do better with someone else or seeing what you can come up with from internet searches.)

#transgender #trans #transphobia #cissexism #misconceptions about being trans #transmisogyny #that word that I always forget about nonbinary genders #lgbtq+ #nonbinary

[jackmfvegas777]

What Being Trans Is Like; A Guide For Allies

Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Atom Yorke. I am a 16-year-old transgender and pansexual man, and you should probably get some popcorn ready because I've got a lot to say.

I'll split this up into categories so you can go page by page.

DEFINITION Now to begin this, if you're not sure what transgender means, transgender people are people whose brain does not match their body in gender. For example, I am a man. However I was born in a body most would call "female". I am a transgender man. This may be a radically new concept for some of you, but the truth is that we've been around since the dawn of humanity. Our history has been heavily modified and erased. In fact, any history that's not white, christian, heterosexual & cisgender has been shoved down to the darkest confines of information, where people have to look to find it. The truth is even ancient cultures have records of trans people, of nonbinary people, and of other LGBTQ concepts. This was one of the things they most heavily tried to erase during the ruthless colonization of Christianity.

You may be surprised to learn that yes, you yourself have met a trans person! Chances are you've met a lot of them, actually.

The reason why we're never seen is because until a little ways back, we would be imprisoned, killed or worse just for being out.   Now that we finally have a voice, we're speaking loud. But still, some trans people do not wish to be that way, and they will stay quiet their whole lives and blend in with the rest of society. Because of many people living in hiding, surveys are skewed and we have no real way to quantify just how many transgender people there are in the world. But there are a lot. And we matter, just like you.

MISCONCEPTIONS First off, there are a LOT, and I mean A LOT of misconceptions about transgender people. And it's not an accident. The lack of information and the stereotypes that have been given have been due to not only ignorance, but intentional covering up of the truth of who we are, and blatant propaganda against us. Many people think trans people are "out to get them" like they're some kind of "cross-dressing predators looking to peep in on the other gender". I can assure you, we are nothing of the sort. This falsehood would be laughable, if it didn't hurt so many people. Nearly 60% of trans people in America are outright TERRIFIED to go to the bathroom, (or go anywhere, really) due to them being harassed, assaulted, and worse inside. We are the ones being attacked in bathrooms, not you. We are the ones being attacked out in the streets, not you. We are not predators, we are quite literally the prey for the real predators. And this has to change. And the way it changes is through spread of information, and actual facts.

A trans woman is a woman. She is not a "man in a dress". A trans man is a man. He is not a "woman in disguise". A trans person is a person. They are not "confused".

There have been multiple scientific studies done on transgender people's brains, and they have revealed, every time, that your brain will match your gender, even if your genitalia does not. The reason for this is due to how you develop in the womb. In utero, the brains form one way, and the genitalia develops another way. Most of the time they match, creating what is known as a cisgender person, aka a person who is not trans.   Occasionally, the brain will develop in one gender and the sexual organs will develop in a different way due to an influx of different hormones during pregnancy, causing a trans person to be born.

To restate that; A trans person's brain matches their gender, not their genitalia. It has been scientifically proven. To argue that trans people "do not exist", are "confused", are "pretending" or anything else of the sort is foolish, and a rejection of science and reason altogether.

TERMINOLOGY Also, before you say "Well, if they existed forever, where are all these new terms coming from and why are we only now seeing trans people?" The reason being is you have seen trans people. You haven't seen these words because they are helpful labels we have only created recently for concepts that are ancient. The reason for all this new influx in trans activity is due to the internet and the spread of its information, which causes so many people to feel much safer and begin to come out. Now, let's take a look at the vocabulary of trans people, so you have an easier time understanding the lingo!

LGBTQ - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer. Refers to the community. FTM - Female to Male. A trans man. MTF - Male to Female. A trans woman. T - Testosterone E - Estrogen HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy. The medical procedure of hormone replacement to look more like your actual gender. Binder - A form of undergarment that is like a very tight sports bra that binds the chest of trans men & sometimes nonbinary people so they can appear flat-chested. Packer - A fake penis (or sometimes a rolled up sock, etc.) used to make trans men look like they have a bulge. Tucking - A technique trans women use to make them look like they have no bulge. Top surgery - Surgery on your chest to correct it to your gender. Bottom surgery - Surgery on your genitalia to correct them to your gender. Coming out of the closet - Telling the world and everyone openly that you are LGBTQ, or in this case transgender. Stealth - A term referring to trans people who go completely "undercover", and keep the fact that they're trans hidden so they can just enjoy a normal life. Gender dysphoria - A feeling of heartwrenching, guttwisting wrongness in a trans person's soul when someone calls them by the gender they are not, or sometimes when reminded of their body. Gender euphoria - A feeling of either complete contentedness, or giddy joyful excitement when their gender is affirmed.

HOW IT FEELS; A WATERED DOWN VERSION Now that we got all that out of the way, I wrote a short summary of what it feels like to be trans, from my perspective.

Imagine you're in the womb. It's a clean slate, nothing but peace. Then from the moment you're born, you're immediately categorized by your sexual organs and colour-coded. "It's a girl!" They say. They wrap you in a pink blanket. Your whole life you're told to be a girl, and so that's what you are. It was the first thing someone decided that you are. But the whole time you live in this fake life you feel... empty. Every time you use the girl's bathroom, there's a gnawing part of you that says you shouldn't be there. When kids around you are playing on a bouncy slide, playing a game of boys vs. girls, you always feel like you belong on the other side, for some nagging reason. Your grandmother keeps buying you skirts, bras, dresses, because you ask for them. You think that's what it takes for you to feel normal. You never wear them. "Maybe I'm not girly enough." So you try to be even more of what you are not. And every time, you feel this pit, this twisting gnawing void that aches and only aches more as you grow older. You don't know what it is. It gets worse every time someone says the word "She". "Girl." "Have a nice day, ladies." You tear through your room, looking for anything that doesn't look like the dresses your grandmother buys you. You cry and cry like you've never cried before, and you don't know why you're crying. What is it that's wrong with me? And after a while you decide you want your hair cut. Maybe that's what it is. Then you think, "Maybe it's because I eat a lot. Girls are supposed to be self-conscious of their weight, right?" So you blame your weight. Until you realize that's not the issue at all. Because one day you wake up. It hits you. And you put the pieces together. I'm not what they forced me to be all my life. There was a reason I was always uncomfortable. I'm not a girl... That was an option? That was even an option? I'm not forced to stay in this cell? There's actually NOT something wrong with me?

All I felt was profound relief at first, but soon enough the relief turned to paralyzing fear. This was the beginning, and also the end of my life, and I was only thirteen. But some people don't find out until they're adults, sometimes even until they're in their old age. It doesn't make anyone any less who they are. But man, does it uproot your whole life to fix things. If you realize at a young age it's easier because then you don't have as much paperwork to deal with, but you still no matter what have to deal with it, and people make it as hard as they possibly can for you, because of petty ignorance. I've had multiple cases of people straight-up refusing to give me my legal documents back (such as my insurance card which I need for my literally life-saving medication) because of ignorance or malicious transphobia. I had to actually argue with people to put my insurance card through, something that was common sense, that I had all the legal documentation for, that could be typed in at the push of a button, and costs nothing for them. But they had "never came across this situation before" so they argued with me for a good while about doing it until they finally gave in.

I've had cases of family members, family friends turning on me and calling me "tranny", a "confused girl", I've been told that there was "no masculinity in my eyes" when they looked at me. I was yelled at, screamed at in front of family and friends that I would never be a man. I've been insulted in front of people, I've been ridiculed and humiliated. But I will stand tall. You know why? Because it is A MILLION times better dealing with all this than dealing with not being who I truly am. I'm myself, and if anyone's got a problem with that, they can take it up with me.

The sad truth is, if you're trans, you unfortunately are going to experience horrible, horrible things like this. It's an inescapable reality. But that does not mean it's without hope. Every person can be educated, even if it may not seem so at first. Don't give up hope, because there is so much more beauty than you're seeing right now, and wouldn't you like to get to see it?

If you're an ally, you're here to make sure this feeling they have happens less. So, here is how to treat a trans person, written from the perspective of a trans person.

HOW TO HELP TRANSGENDER PEOPLE (from the perspective of a trans person)

1. Treat them with basic human respect. Aka refer to them how they want to be referred, you know, by their ACTUAL name and pronouns, not the ones you're clinging to desperately. You may think "What's the big deal?" about being misgendered, because as a cis person you've never been forced to live in a body that's not your own. You have ZERO frame of reference for how a trans person feels, or experiences their life, and so the very least you could do, even if you may not understand, is treat them with basic human decency. It literally costs you nothing to just be a civil human being.

2. Ask questions! (to a point. Don't be creepy or disrespectful.) If you are concerned you are not treating a trans person completely right due to not knowing, or you have something you're curious about, or you just don't understand us at all--ask! Please ask! We love it when you consider our needs, it makes us feel more appreciated. And asking questions opens important communication pathways, that lead to higher understanding, empathy, and acceptance of each other, which can only lead to higher growth for everyone involved. However, if you start getting really nosy about it by asking us weird questions when you barely know us like "Have you had the surgery yet? What do your genitalia look like?" Or the much dreaded "What's your original name?" Then you know you've gone too far. I mean, come on, you wouldn't ask a regular person that question, so why would you ask us?!

3. Speak up for them when they have no voice. This is probably by far the most huge thing you can do for a transgender person. A minor example; If they're in a very uncomfortable situation, like say for example they are getting misgendered by the cashier over and over at the grocery store and you can see they're too nervous to correct them, or even if they have corrected them themselves multiple times but the person will not give them that basic respect, the best thing you can do in that moment is step in and correct them for them.  I've had someone do it for me, and it makes me feel euphoric that someone actually stood up for me. Just back us up when we need back up, cause we very rarely have that support. A lot of trans people have no support whatsoever. Any support you can show a transgender person will help them exponentially more than you know. Some allies will post LGBTQ positive things on their social media pages, meanwhile some others take this to extremes by becoming huge supporters of LGBTQ communities, and standing up and giving a voice everywhere for them through words, art, many different forms of media, pride parades & riots.

4. Physical Support If you are very close to a trans person yourself, such as one of your children, your spouse, etc. or even if you just want to go above and beyond by supporting trans people everywhere, giving a roof over their heads, a warm meal, and some kind words would change people's lives. Consider donating to a charity (a charity you research before donating into, a lot of them are fake and will collect the money) that goes towards help for transgender people, or LGBTQ people in general! We really need it, especially in the days of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as our president.

5. Don't out them if they're not ready! This goes for all LGBTQ people, but please, if someone is closeted due to safety reasons or even just because they're not ready, do not under any circumstance out them for who they are. This could potentially throw them into massive danger, or it could just throw a massive wrench into their lives in some way. Please ask first.

6. Give positive, gender-affirming actions toward them! I absolutely LOVE IT when people do this. I have a friend who not only does bro-fistbumps with me, the two-pat hug thing, highfives me, but also always uses gender-affirming language such as calling me "man", "dude", "bro", etc. and it just always makes me feel so good to be around him! It creates a pleasant, safe space for us to be ourselves when you treat us for who we are, and it honestly makes us more happy than you know. So next time you see a really fabulous trans woman, tell her she looks lovely and classy today! When you see a trans man on top of his game, mention that he's handsome. And mention the things you know they feel insecure about in a positive way! It gives us majour gender euphoria. I know I've always been so ashamed of my round baby face due to it being the main reason I don't pass, but my friends on a call once had started all ooh-ing and ah-ing about how nice my cheekbones and jawline were and all that day I was ecstatic! A simple compliment that you might not even remember giving could change someone's life. And that goes for all people, not just trans people.

Now, you might have heard a lot of negative things that happened to me because of my being transgender, but I'm here to tell you there is so much hope. Cut forward to 2019. I've been out and proud for three years, and by God, I am so, SO SO much happier than I was. I am proud to say I was lucky, I have an amazing support system in my mom, dad, siblings & grandmother that have helped me so much through this. I'm about to start T soon, and I am so unbelievably excited. The person who had yelled at me in front of family members? They are now supportive, and make an effort around me. The person who called me a tranny? They apologized profusely and learnt from that experience.

So to fellow trans people out there--Things do get better. And they get better soon. You just have to hold out for a little while longer.

And for the allies who want to do better by trans and LGBTQ people everywhere, thank you. Thank you for showing your support, and thank you for your willingness to learn about those different from you. That shows extreme emotional maturity. On behalf of all LGBTQ people, thank you.

- Atom T. L. Yorke

Atom T. L. Yorke is a visual artist, cosplayer, writer, musician, and comedian that has also dedicated his life to helping LGBTQ people in need, especially the transgender community.

#lgbtqa #lgbtq #lgbt #saga #sexualityandgenderacceptance #transgender #trans #ftm #ftm trans #ftm transgender #trans man #trans guy #trans boy #trans male #lesbian #gay #bisexual #queer #transman #transguy #transboy #article #lgbtarticle #lgbt article

[mothergwendoline-blog]

My Kind of Healthy – Entry 1

Disclaimer: This is a staggeringly homo blog and I will not be offering definitions for the terms used because it would turn my journal entries into a dictionary. If you are unfamiliar with a term you will be able to find a definition online.

This blog contains discussion of suicide and depression. If this makes you feel unsafe, please leave.

 Fat Hides No Sins

 So I turned into a fat bitch. It happened so quickly. I used to be skinny, I used to be underweight but then depression hit me full force. A little background, I’m transgender and I went for full Facial Feminization Surgery in another country. Now, good people in the global trans community will often tell you not to pin all your hopes and dreams on surgery. Especially if you already have a mental illness, it is incredibly dangerous to your mental stability to hold expectations that things will radically improve. Things may get considerably better, they may get worse, or they may not get better at all. For me, it was the latter. As much as I tried not to hope, I had dreams that my ability to “pass” for female would miraculously improve, but they didn’t. Even in the good months after my recovery I would still be misgendered half of the time, about at the same rate as before my surgery to fix my face.

 There are a few reasons this may be the case, most significantly is that I am quite tall, flat chested and have a naturally deep voice. Even with the benefits of a natural looking feminine face, I was still mistaken for a man with considerable regularity. People noticed my femininity and assumed I was a gay man, a common phenomena for trans women. This was heartbreaking for me. Some trans folks are happy and content with not passing. You have your Alok Vaid-Menon’s and your Jacob Tobia’s, wonderful nonbinary folk who find meaning and identity in looking visibly trans. And there are even binary trans people who are content with not passing. I am not one of them, unfortunately. I wish I were but then again, the grass is always greener. But for whatever reason I am born with the condition of being trans, I am also saddled with the need to pass. I’m your stereotyped-to-shit, run of the mill, boring old binary trans woman replete with body dysphoria. I’m just a regular girl who wants to be seen as such, although unfortunately I have trans obstacles in my way. And for me, they are obstacles. There have been people who have encouraged me to embrace my obvious transness but for me it is not so simple. I don’t just want to pass, I need it to live my authentic and true self.

 Now, instead of doing the clever thing and seeing my FFS as one stepping stone in the much larger pursuit of transition happiness, I stopped caring about my body altogether. I drank heavily and regularly, took up vaping and most of all, I binge ate my way to obesity. Now I am severely overweight. My doctor has started to worry for my health, and so have I. A lot of my fat friends talk to me about internalized fatphobia, the societal shame we inherit about our fat bodies. They tell me I have this fatphobia materialized in my desire to be skinny again. After all, as they tell me, there is nothing wrong with being fat. And yes there is truth to this, there is nothing inherently immoral about anyone’s body, be you fat, skinny, average or uncommon weight. I believe this. However, fatness brings with it a form of androgyny. As I’ve gotten fatter I have been more consistently misgendered and this is something I need to remedy with fitness, exercise and weight loss. I have been told that “fat can hide a lot of sins for trans women” through providing us with bigger hips, breasts etc. Well this may be true for some trans women but not for me. Even though I have been on hormones for the better part of a decade, I still carry fat like a man. Huge stomach and arms, less added comfort for my hips, butt and breasts. So weight loss is a must for me. As far as I see it, losing fat to get back to my normal weight is as essential as going for breast augmentation and genital reconstructive surgery.

 So like too many fat bitches I’m making a blog. The key difference between me and most of my fat friends is, unlike them, I actually see fat as a bad problem and wish to remedy this. Obesity is unhealthy. Fatness is a lifestyle choice for some, sure, but not for me. My fatness is a symptom of my depression, and it is putting my wellbeing, physical and mental at serious risk. This blog is my place to post updates about my transition, specifically my journey to a fitter and healthier body. My goals are simple; I want to pass, I want to be fit and I want mental stability. I used to be skinny and fit and I’ll become that way again through hard, steady, constant work. And I can pass too, by paying the same attention to my overall physical wellbeing as I place on exercise and diet. As for mental health, I have depression, anxiety and psychosis; but through consistent medication and therapy I will manage my mental disorders and live a meaningful quality of life. Eventually my hope is to return to the sex industry as an escort. I miss escorting, it was good money and worked well with my life as a writer, allowing me to pick and choose my own hours around my creative work. But the sex industry is stuck in the 90s and you can’t make work as a fat tranny. Sure, there are some curvy cis women who make money in strip clubs or as escorts but they are an exception. I want to be skinny, to get fit and fuckable, I want to buy a pair of banging tits and have a flat stomach. And I want to make men pay to suck my tiny dick before I get rid of that too.

 I exercise six days a week, a mixture of cardio and weight training. I use the elliptical and cycle machines, and rotate my weights from day to day using a mixture of squats, leg press, reverse sit-ups and rows. This will likely change as I get fitter, but for now my main goal is to start building back the fitness I’ve lost. I also use time restricted eating, consuming food only between 11:00 am and 07:00 pm. And the food I eat is different now. No more junk food. No fast food, only dark chocolate (none of the fattier delicious milk chocolate), no candy or soda pop and all vegetarian. And no alcohol. I binge drank and ate my way to this obesity and I am now paying the price.

 My starting weight is 377.43 pounds

My original weight goal is 202.82 pounds

I have had FFS

My surgery goals are BA and GRS

 So join me, if you like, on my journey to a better trans self. The planet is hurtling at an alarming rate towards a climate change induced apocalypse. Most people my age (I am in my late twenties) cannot expect to live to an old age. As the planet dies, so too will human civilization crumble. This journal is as much a saga of my transition and fitness as it is a memoir of my final years on Earth. My plan is, once I have reached my original weight, obtained my surgeries and conquered my mental demons, to revel in my new body, enjoy the pleasures of youth and then end my life on the footsteps of our government who has so callously rejected the cry of nature in her death throes. I cannot yet say when my suicide will be, for I do not intend to be stopped, but I will make it known as the date draws closer. I have no desire to grow old and watch the end of the humanity I so love, rather I shall terminate my life at my peak and pass on with happy sentiments and an existence well spent.

 I encourage anyone reading this to consider the same. As society falls I fear we will see humans grow cruel and turn against each other. Ideally the poor will rise up and viciously devour the rich who have neglected us, but of this I cannot be certain. What I believe is that Suicide Hysteria will sweep the globe. We see it kindling in the memes of youth, gallows humor making light of suicide and depression. The next step is action. When we common people become fully aware that all is lost there will be nothing to lose. I suggested Suicide Carnivals, maddening, beautiful, loving revelry dancing the dance of death together. Direct your violence and hatred to those in power who mock and neglect us. To each other, show unconditional love and bask in the beauty of death as one people. Would you rather endure historically unprecedented suffering as the planet burns us alive, fresh water shortages, crop failure, sea level rise, war for arable land, poverty, famine and death? Or would you rather live gloriously, peacefully and embrace the end before the storm? With the global rise of right wing extremist hatred, it is certain those in power have abandoned us. Many of the masses are either too ignorant, stupid or cruel to realize the peril we face. Use what power you have to convert those around you to recognize the immediate danger threatening all life on Earth. And if this results in you joining me in suicide, so be it.

 Mother Gwendoline

#Apocalypse #Fat #Fatphobia #Fitness #Health #LGBT #LGBTQ #Lifestyle #Queer #Trans #Trans woman #Transgender #Transition #Weight loss

[kill-the-cis]

Discourse Shortcut

Section Headings

**updated: August 7, 2020**

feel free to command + f / control + f to the appropriate heading that relates to the present discussion, scrolling works in a pinch.

Brain Sex - general concept

Brain Sex - the mosaic theory debunked

Brain Sex - transgender brains

Problems With Citing the APA/DSM/WPATH etc

“I’m a Tucute and I Have Sources!!!”

Trans Sexuality

Non Binary Identities - scientific validity

“Trans people should just get therapy!”

I’m Not Policing Anyone’s Gender

I’m Not a Terf

Brain Sex - general concept

Let’s start with the strawman arguments:

No one who understands brain sex thinks there is a definitive female brain and male brain. I am aware, however, of the average differences, the spectrums of sizing and wiring and white-to-grey matter ratios.

Brain sex, in this context, is not the claim that ‘women have female brains and are therefore less capable of most tasks’. It isn’t remotely related to the specifics of gender-related brain function, even, because there’s no definitive evidence on what the differences in the brain actually mean in relation to behaviour.

I do not claim that every brain difference is because of biology. Many are from socialization, the way you’re raised, etc.. I do, however, want to clarify at the present time we have no idea which differences are and are not biological so it would be rash to make definitive claims either way.

Psychology is not relevant to the discussion of neurological physical brain structures in any way, shape, or form. If you are about to bring up a psychology-related source or argument, scratch it out, I am not making any psychology-related claims.

I know you cannot definitively tell 100% of the time if a brain is male or female.

Now onto the actual concepts and information on the subject (fair warning, a lot of them are trans related but the concept is demonstrated effectively):

an intersex trans woman who is a rocket scientist’s explanation (again, containing sources) (archived link)

sex hormones causing female and male brain differences (1) (2) (3) (4)

check the references section here for studies

sex differences through MRIs (1) (2) (3) (fun fact about that third one is it debunks a previous study showing no differences in CCs between males and females, mainly because it had moved the goalposts. Funny how studies tend to do that about data that disagrees with their biases)

Here’s a summary of all that in my own words; men and women show significant differences in sizes of certain regions of the brain, concentration of hormone receptors, type of hormone receptors, etc.. We cannot, at this point, draw any conclusions about the implications of these differences because the brain is still largely a mystery. Even though, for example, we know women contain a different concentration of matter in the ‘language’ regions of the brain, we can’t be sure they’re all better with language as a whole (or even on average) because we aren’t even certain on the specifics of said ‘language’ section.

Women and men’s brains exist on a venn diagram. They share a lot, but if you were to go to the furthest ‘left’ part of the diagram, you’d find only women, and to the furthest ‘right’, only men (visualize with me). We have to acknowledge differences at large instead of individually to understand the scope of neurological sexual dimorphism. Scientists are able to correctly determine the sex of a brain practically 70% of the time - that’s pretty significant.

Here’s another big issue; denying the existence of neurological sexual dimorphism sets back research into mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. The prevalence of the two is different between the sexes and there are indeed biological markings of the two (for example, schizophrenia is often hereditary, as is depression, and both are linked to areas of DNA). Neurologists use their knowledge of the differences within men and women’s brains to help us unravel the causes and potential cures and treatments to these disorders. When the general public releases vast outcries against what, scientifically, is common knowledge, it prevents such progress.

In conclusion, yes, brain sex is real, no, it isn’t sexist, and you are doing harm by denying its existence.

Brain Sex - the mosaic theory debunked

Honestly there’s not much for me to say because this post sums it up beautifully, and here’s a scientific paper that does as well. Check them out and delete all reference to that Joel et al. study because it’s bunk. If you’re interested more in brain sex and why it does exist - as well as what it actually means - check out the previous section, “Brain Sex - general concept”.

Brain Sex - transgender brains

I think trans brains have been debated for about eternity. Tucutes AND radfems come at this from all different angles. Because so many people have gone through this before, I’ll direct you to some of their arguments and sources so you can understand what the deal is.

@myragewillendworlds’ infographic

@myragewillendworlds’ larger summary

@myragewillendworld’s discussion about Blanchard (archived link)

countering “transrace = transgender” assertions

@buzzcutbulldyke’s analysis

@transsexualism’s spreadsheet

@thathighclassbitch’s sources on both brain sex in general and trans brains

post about the genetic ties to transsexualism

Here’s the really, really important stipulating information though, whether or not you believe in trans brains. Trans people are a fraction of 1% of the population. They are in no way taking over. This isn’t meant to negate the problems associated with the current trans movements (as there are many) but instead put into perspective what trans people really are. Being trans is rare. Having a ‘trans brain’ isn’t all about being closer to female/male, it’s about how your brain perceives your body (something called proprioception, which is discussed in above sources I do recall) and cannot be changed. There’s no delusion, no illness that causes this mismatched proprioception, and the only way to “cure” it and make your brain comfortable with your physical sex is to transition. Does it matter that trans people’s chromosomes will never change? No. Does it matter that surgery =/= biological traits? No. All that matters is saving lives and letting people be themselves, regardless with how uncomfortable you are with it.

Feel free to call out toxic trans people, feel free to draw lines in terms of sexual preference, but to tell them as a whole they ‘aren’t valid’ or that ‘there’s nothing different about their brains’ is fundamentally false, dishonest, and unhelpful.

As for brain sex being the definitive be-all end-all of being trans, that’s a simplified view. We point to the brain sex of trans people to prove that, yes, being trans is quantifiable and neurologically noticeable. But they aren’t trans because they ‘think like ___’ or ‘have the brains of ___’. The truth is, there are a lot of cis people with brain structures reminiscent of the opposite sex because, as stated in the brain sex section, it’s a spectrum with a fair amount of variance. What does this mean for trans people then? Where do we draw the line?

Here’s the kicker; the distinguishing feature of a trans person from a cis person is the fact that their brain was abnormally masculinized/feminized and caused the proprioceptive area to recognize a certain body structure. This is different from dysmorphia in the sense that it isn’t psychological; the same way people born without limbs have been found to experience phantom limb syndrome, trans people’s brains expect a body they do not possess, which is only recognizable through a gender dysphoria diagnosis. They cannot erase this from their minds through any form of therapy.

If a person does not possess significant gender dysphoria (not dysmorphia) they, in all likelihood, are not neurologically wired to recognize a body of the opposite sex. Therefore they need not transition as it will in fact CAUSE gender dysphoria, therefore they are not trans. No matter how masculine/feminine your brain is, if your proprioception isn’t wired one way or the other you’re cis.

Problems With Citing the APA/DSM/WPATH etc

A lot of people use the APA’s definition of transgender to mean that, factually speaking, being transgender doesn’t require gender dysphoria. And you’re right!

But that’s only if you buy into the APA definition.

Now, you may have seen the definition before, but assuming you weren’t focusing on the entire thing and only the ‘dysphoria’ part… you may have missed something reeeeally important.

Here’s the definition, which is generally verbatum what other health organizations use as well because they base their knowledge of ‘psychology/psychiatry’ off of the APA:

“Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice or body characteristics. “Trans” is sometimes used as shorthand for “transgender.” While transgender is generally a good term to use, not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-nonconforming will identify as a transgender person.”

Source Archived Source (just in case)

The part I need you to recognize is this:

“gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.”

This definition EXPLICITLY includes, under the identity of transgender, for those who decide to use the identity, anyone who is gender non conforming. If you believe I am misconstruing this definition, drawing impromptu conclusions, may I present you a book written by a trans man who is also a doctor and what HE states the definition to be? Here’s a link to the book on amazon if you want to buy it.

What this has proved, in case you aren’t yet clued in, is that the APA’s definition of transgender, which is shared by the WHO (well, not anymore lol), the WPATH, the DSM (obviously), etc., is far too broad to ‘prove’ anything about gender dysphoria as most of the people who fall under the trans umbrella never want to transition and don’t even have a different gender identity from their agab.

Another important thing to note is that these organizations make this claim without backing it up scientifically, which further shows that it isn’t something that they’ve proved. It’s just a bunch of pretty words that appease a crowd, even though the science doesn’t support it. If you’re going to pose something as an absolute, you need to be able to actually prove why it holds true.

All that without even going into the political alignments of the APA and the complaints medical professionals have with it. So please stop using this definition unless you’re a transphobe who thinks being trans is something you can choose based on your personality and how gender role conforming you are.

“I’m a Tucute and I Have Sources!!!”

Interesting that you say that. I’d love to see them, but first please check the below links to see if your sources have actually already been…. discussed.

a tucute source post (full post is lost)

official transsexual’s post

attempted truscum takedown (archived link)

If you’ve seen this linktree with ‘debunking trumeds’ sources, allow me to explore that briefly right here.

I’m going to ignore a good chunk of the links because I’ve addressed them in the ‘don’t trust these associations’ definitions’ section. We’re trying to look at real, actual hard science instead of organizations making baseless statements to appease the general public.

Let’s start with the spreadsheet called ‘Truscum Sources At A Glance’. First problem is that the author clearly does not know how to read. In the initial studies, they claim gender dysphoria isn’t mentioned when GID (gender identity disorder, which is what gender dysphoria used to be called) is mentioned and even elaborated on. If you just cntrl+F and put in ‘gender dysphoria’, turn up no results, shrug and pretend it’s a win you’re only revealing yourself to be a total idiot.

Their poor reading comprehension is further illustrated in the misconstruing of many of the sources to support what they want it to support. Example: a source saying that being trans isn’t a mental illness and shouldn’t be classified as such is summarized on the spreadsheet as ‘supporting the demedicalization of being transgender’, which just isn’t true. It should still be seen as a neurological anomaly (because it literally is, which all those sources support) and transition should be medically supported.

It gets worse! They claim a study included non dysphorics to prove they followed the same neurological patterns of dysphoric trans people when 1) it wasn’t a study, it was a review of studies and 2) those studies were done on people with gender identity disorder which is… oh right, the other term for dysphoria. The only reason it uses the terminology ‘gender incongruence’ in the first place was to sound inclusive, despite none of the cited studies being in reference to people experiencing only incongruence.

Let’s move past the spreadsheet. It was written by someone with zero scientific literacy, plus the sources themselves weren’t supposed to be in regards to gender dysphoria to begin with; they are to prove that the brains of trans people are different from cis people, therefore being trans isn’t a choice.

Another one of the lintree sources, this essay, is a disjointed opinion piece that reviews the use of the term gender dysphoria as well as the struggles of trans people. It proves literally nothing (plus, I had to open it on my phone’s data because my wifi refused to touch the link. It’s so far from reliable it’s not even funny.)

That’s pretty much all the relevant linktree links. None of them disproved shit, nor did they present any information to the contrary of what I’ve included on this page.

If you have a source that isn’t included above, feel free to send it my way!

Trans Sexuality

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you believe that sexuality is a matter of your chromosomes and the chromosomes of your partner(s). However, this is a gross simplification of a large topic, to which I shall delve into below.

Sexuality isn’t just about your SO’s pretty face and palatable genitals. There are a LOT of contributing factors to why you love who you love; I wasn’t born with a taste for busty blondes, after all. When you feel attraction to a person, your brain assesses a list of things, but namely, primarily, their gender. Gender is often perceived based on face structure, secondary sex characteristics, and the sound of one’s voice. Upon interacting with someone in public, you aren’t immediately privy to their genitals, their chromosomes, or which parts of them are/are not natural.

But none of that stops you from developing an immediate feeling of attraction, indifference, or disgust. You haven’t gotten in their pants, you haven’t tested their DNA, yet you know whether or not you like the look of them. This is because sexuality functions on notions such as 1. if you perceive someone to be a man/woman and 2. if said man/woman has traits you consider attractive.

Factors influencing your attraction are not limited to the hardwiring of your brain (which, of course, does play a big role). Religion, culture, puberty, personality, so on and so forth all contribute to why you like Lucy but not John, or Samuel but not Cynthia. Some people fundamentally dislike plastic surgery and find fake breasts unappealing, other people don’t mind in the slightest. Some people think a big dick is a necessity in a partner, others prefer a comfortably petite member.

Cue the transgender discussion.

If you are, let’s say, a straight woman, and you meet an attractive trans man who passes very well, you’re gonna see him as male and feel attracted to him. If he comes out to her as trans and she still views him as a man, despite knowing the circumstances of his birth, is she suddenly bisexual? Her mentality, if they enter a relationship, is that she’s dating a man. There’s no part of her mind that was suddenly converted to bisexuality because, to her, he is no different from a biological man, even if YOU (or other people in general) disagree. You aren’t in her brain, you aren’t dictating how she views her SO, therefore you cannot tell her that her sexuality has changed.

As for the sexualities of trans people themselves, please refer to the ‘trans brain’ section above to read further on why a straight trans man is not a lesbian (spoiler; it’s because his brain sees itself as male and believes he should have a male body). If you disagree beyond that, that’s your opinion. However, it is NOT your business how trans people (and cis people who date trans people) identify their sexuality, no matter how much you disagree.

Additionally, here’s a post about my viewpoint where I explain it in a different way. Another post here that’s relevant to the discussion somewhat.

Non Binary Identities - scientific validity

You can call yourself whatever but the second you say ‘being non binary is just as scientific as being binary trans’ I’m gonna have to say… no. This isn’t to say research won’t eventually come out (though it’s unlikely), it just means as of the information we have right now, it isn’t logical to claim non binary identities are real and legitimate.

There is no proof of non binary brains existing, firstly, and secondly, that isn’t even how brains work. But, since you can’t just make claims without backing them up, here are some sources, explanations, and deconstructions of non binary identities:

@spill-the-gender-tea’s deconstruction

@myragewillendworld’s evidence   (archived link)

@myragewillendworld’s second summary in case the first didn’t do it for you    (archived link)

Now, my two bits; if you look at the previous sections about brain sex, you’d understand that it isn’t a black and white distinction; there’s a lot of overlap. Men and women have some differences but those differences are on a spectrum; you cannot fall between points on a spectrum.

Not to mention, in reference to proprioception and gender (again, in the brain sex sections) there’s no way for a brain to develop that it doesn't contain a body map for gendered genitalia (plus other sex characteristics). As stated by @myragewillendworlds, it’s entirely illogical.

Therefore, there is no evidence currently that provides an ounce of validity to non binary identities.

“What’s the harm in believing it?” you may ask. “What’s the harm? People are happy just being themselves.”

Another of @myragewillendworld’s great dissections of the situation explains the problem, the harm, the issue with allowing ‘enbies’ to co-opt the transgender label. And, in case you can’t get enough, here’s another.

Bonus: Why biological sex is binary

“Trans People Should Just Get Therapy!”

So I see TERFs say this a lot. The problem is this is conversion therapy. Here’s the deal: Absolutely, trans people should have access to therapy because gender dysphoria is NOT common and can be mistaken for a myriad of other things. It’s incredibly important that a professional works through these possibilities with someone before they begin transitioning. However, if gender dysphoria is, in fact, the diagnosis, then no amount of therapy will make it go away.

This isn’t to say it’s impossible to just live with it; a lot of people do. But for those who are able to transition and fulfill their neurological desire to align their bodies to their brains, they should be free to do so.

1. Gender dysphoria (and being trans as a whole) is not psychological and cannot be “fixed” or “treated” by a therapist or psychologist. See the studies in the trans brain section for further reading on this subject.

2. The mental health of those who are trans and have either medical professionals or religious leaders attempt to talk them out of it experience drastically lower quality of life and higher rates of suicide/depression. (post on the matter w/ sources)

3. If boards of doctors and medical researchers agree that transition is often the best approach, grossed-out radfems and conservatives with nothing to back them up aren’t gonna suddenly change everyone’s minds.

I’m Not Policing Anyone’s Gender

I get told a lot to stop policing peoples’ genders. Problem is, I’m not doing that.

Sharing information that disproves misconceptions surrounding trans people and neurology is one thing. I am doing that. But I will never tell any specific person that they cannot be trans.

If you are non dysphoric and identify as a different gender, I’m not going to stop you. I want everyone to find happiness and confidence in who they are, the most I’ll do is encourage reflection so as you can be sure of your feelings and identity.

It’s none of my business who is and isn’t trans at the end of the day and I don’t deny that; this belief, however, will not prevent me from dispelling misinformation and blatant lying from different parties trying to push biased agendas.

Don’t think I’m sitting here with a list of human beings, checking off which ones have the Trans Pass. I don’t know any of you personally and it isn’t my business to judge.

Please do what’s best for you, consider all your options, do your research. I wish each and every one of you the best.

I’m Not a Terf 

(me being @kiss-the-cis that is, if you’ve been linked here from someone else it probably also applies)

Definition of TERF:

TERF is an acronym that stands for ‘trans exclusionary radical feminist’. It means a radical feminist who does not believe trans women should be included under the label of ‘woman’, allowed into ‘female’ spaces, or allowed to be feminists.

1. I’m not a feminist. Certainly not a radical feminist.

2. I believe trans women are women and trans men are men, I do not call straight trans women ‘gay men’ or trans lesbians ‘straight men’.

“buuuh you use terf rhetoric”

That’s bullshit because whatever you’re calling TERF rhetoric is either a) not specific to TERFs in the slightest and therefore about as much ‘their rhetoric’ as not murdering is ‘catholic rhetoric’ or b) completely irrelevant to what TERFs actually believe.

If you claim anything I say or do is 'terfy’ I will laugh, I will wipe a tear from my eye from busting my gut, and then I will move on and hang out with my trans friends to laugh some more with them.

[invisible-mirror]

Sooo this is normally a thing I would work through in a private journal, but I deleted my LJ not long ago, so I'm gonna post it here. Feel free to engage or not.

I got on the subject of transgenderism the other day, and surprised myself by going into a bit of a rant. Let me preface by saying I support trans people's rights to undergo surgery or hormonal therapy, change their pronouns, choose which bathroom fits them better, etc. It's no skin off my back, and it clearly means a lot to them, so it'd be pretty boorish of me not to let them have it. But this conversation I had recently led me to realize that, on an emotional level, I seem to feel there might be some skin off my back after all. That's okay, though, I can work through my feelings like a rational adult, watch and see.

My rant, once I'd backed off enough to fully analyze it, boiled down to two root causes:

1) My BS meter going off. I'm sorry, I am WORKING on recalibrating the thing, that’s the point of this post. But it’s a process. Telling me that someone who was raised male and looks like a male "is actually a woman" or vice-versa evokes the same instinctive gut reaction as telling me "This Jackson Pollack painting is a masterpiece that represents the human condition." I'm sorry, maybe that's what Pollack was aiming for, but I'm like 90% sure he secretly tripped over a row of paint buckets and then sold the dropcloth. It's a reaction that says on a barely-conscious level "That can't possibly be right, the physical evidence contradicts it" and follows up with "If that's not right, it means you aren't telling me the truth. You're trying to gaslight me and wow that's rude, how stupid do you think I am." In the presence of an actual trans person (I've met a couple), it's easy to take them as an individual and accept that they're not personally trying to gaslight me, they really do simply prefer certain pronouns, and I can apply the directive in my opening paragraph (don't be a boor) without any trouble. But in the abstract, the prospect of nodding along to the statement "If you say you're a woman, then that makes you a woman regardless of any other factors whatsoever" triggers a chorus of How stupid do you think I am​? that only gets louder in self-defense when you try to shout it down.

2) While I can't technically deny the existence of sex-based differences in brain structure and function, I can (and have on occasion been known to) vehemently declare that my "female brain" even if I have one does not in any way control my destiny, these are not the gender stereotypes you're looking for, move along and freaking give me the goddamn STEM job with equal pay already. So it hurts, a little, when I look at someone like Caitlyn Jenner posing in her white corset because her female brain simply couldn't go on without a pair of breasts in a corset, I mean, those female brains and their obsession with body image, what are you gonna do. And I KNOW, I understand that gender dysphoria is much more serious than your run-of-the-mill teenager wishing she had a bigger cup size, and that there are male brains who equally feel they can't go on without flat chests and facial hair, so it's not necessarily a sexism thing. I just really wish there were a way to avoid the implicit message I see in media/dialogue surrounding trans issues, in which the definition of woman = person who wants to look feminine and nothing else matters. Because if that's woman then frankly I don't want to be one, and I was here first so buzz off.

TL;DR My current understanding of transgenderism threatens my self-identification as a Smart Person, first by questioning my perception of reality and then by hinting that perhaps Real Smart People don't actually have the same kind of brain as Real Women, and I can't be both. These are my issues. Interesting.

So I did some reading. And came away with the points summarized below, now with 200% more analogies:

1) Here is a fantastic blog entry on semantic categories:

https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/21/the-categories-were-made-for-man-not-man-for-the-categories/

It's very long, but it stole my heart a few paragraphs in with the mental image of King Solomon and a time-traveling biologist arguing about genetics. The transgenderism bit starts in Part III. And I fully understand the argument. There is no natural law stating that society can't redefine the words "woman" and "man" to mean whatever we darn well want them to. My hangup is actually mentioned in the blog entry's analogy, but glossed over—it's where Solomon says "I understand why you need a word to categorize creatures that are genetically mammalian, but find your own word, because my word already has a definition and it does not include whales." Put less combatively, I'll grant that we have conceptual use for a category that includes both cis women and trans women (the reason that comes to mind being that unfortunately we live in a society where we still have to deal with gender stereotypes, so everybody likes being able to succinctly say “People I stereotype as XYZ”... but someone who's thought about this more than I have can probably come up with a more charitable interpretation). But we also have conceptual use for a category that includes cis women only—for example, doctors determining whether one is at heightened risk for certain diseases, or someone determining whether a conversation partner is likely to be interested in a discussion about their birth control pill side effects. If we wanted to do this semantics thing right, then, we'd invent two separate words. Which I am 100% in favor of. But instead we seem to be taking all the words (woman, female, etc.) that used to mean #2 and decreeing that every one of them now means #1 instead. This doesn't close a lexical gap, it only shifts the gap from #1 to #2, AND it induces confusion (and hostility) because some people use the words to mean #1 but others assume that they still mean #2.

I suppose if "ciswoman" ever enters everyday usage for a majority of the English-speaking population, that could qualify. "Cis" probably isn't used as a slur outside of Tumblr, right? I could get behind that. "Woman" for the fuzzy general category of "people who are similar in some particular ways but not necessarily all of them," kind of like how bowling is a sport even though there’s no running and track is a sport even though there’s no ball. And we can use "ciswoman" for medical forms and also to reassure people like me that nobody's trying to gaslight us into believing that bowling and track are two different names for the same sport.

I went with the sport analogy because it more directly expressed my concern--that I can’t name anything I have in common with Caitlyn Jenner yet we’re supposed to share a category. But I ALMOST used an analogy about how tomatoes are biologically fruit yet we classify them as vegetables, and nobody seems to care. I actually really like this one. Has it been used much? I wonder how it would play with the whole “Men have XY chromosomes and women have XX, end of story” crowd.

2) Someone on Reddit made a compelling point, backed up by others (side note: r/CMV is a great place for intelligent discussion, whodathunk?) that for transgendered people (we'll stick with women as an example) who have decided they want to present as female, gender stereotypes can be used an effective weapon by which to fend off misgendering. They're not thinking "My female brain compels me to wear nail polish because that's how female brains work." It's more like "People keep insisting I'm a man, so I need to prove them wrong by behaving like the femalest female to ever female. What does that even mean? Well luckily, my culture has provided a convenient list of behaviors that it thinks are especially female, so I'll start with those." It's like how I was free to grow my hair long and wear pink glasses frames after I'd been accepted into an engineering school, but not before. You need the signals for your chosen category to outweigh the signals for categories you don't want, and sometimes that means artificially manipulating your own signals.

So from that perspective, it's a survival strategy. Trans women aren't trying to force all women back into the old gender pigeonholes; they're using the pigeonholes as bases to avoid getting tagged out of the game. Which means preventing the rest of us from dismantling the pigeonholes entirely, which is annoying because some of us would rather picnic than play baseball for either side... and this analogy has officially contorted beyond recognition, hasn't it. The upshot is that even when a system could use serious change, sometimes you need to play by the rules of the system in order to achieve a short-term goal that's more urgent to you personally. Lord knows I've used that excuse myself.

I still can't wrap my head around why anyone would care about being called female by others if it's not about the stereotypes/cultural baggage that comes along with the word. Gender dysphoria, yeah yeah, but then I start reading somebody's argument that not all trans people experience dysphoria and I am nowhere near being able to touch that, so I won't try. What I can do is assume that since it's not about stereotypes, there's a good chance that I would not emphatically disapprove of whatever it winds up truly being about. And I can operate under that assumption until proven otherwise.

This concludes my self-assigned transgenderism research project.

#social issues #real life #personal philosophy

[sportsetcterea]

He Said/She Said/They Said: Why We Can’t Minimize the Concept of Trans/Non-Binary Participation in Sports

"It's a relief that next barrier has been knocked down," says Chris Mosier, an All-American duathlete and 5-time member of team USA. In 2015, Mosier became the first transgender man to make the United States men’s national track team. Without a doubt, he is correct about the barrier that his success has broken -- his presence in the cisgender male dominated sphere of track is an astounding and unprecedented affirmation for transgender people, especially athletes. But while his accomplishments prove that trans people in sports can be successfully acclimated into the category of their gender, the politics and policies surrounding trans participation in sports remain` as complex as ever.

The concept of gender is a relevant consideration in countless social and political discussions. Accommodating the needs of transgender people has become an object of contention among politicians, advocates, and otherwise vocal and opinionated individuals.  While discussion about trans bathroom and locker room usage has been the most prominent feature of  transgender politics in the media, trans and other non-binary gendered people also face an even broader question of their ability to participate in sports. The governing bodies that advise and regulate athletes, across all categories and levels of sport, owe athletes a sense of unity that clarifies and commits to a position on trans participation in sports in order to work towards solutions for athletes who feel that their gender holds them back from doing what they love. Change should begin with the International Olympic committee, which represents the highest level of competition and governance, and work from the top-down to reach athletes of all levels.

The International Olympic Committee exists to govern athletes and teams at top level of athletic achievement -- the Olympic Games. The IOC, alongside other sports committees, are accountable for creating a fair environment for competition in the world of athletics, and their standards are upheld by the competitive energy between athletes. No player wants to be left at a disadvantage within their sport, but competitors can only do so much to monitor the behaviors of their peers. Committees do what they can to set and enforce rules about fair play, but ensuring a level playing field for aspiring athletes who don't fit their competitor’s mold of a fair opponent when it comes to gender is historically controversial.

The IOC has tumultuous history with gender and testing for biological sex differences. Amid suspicions that successful Soviet athletes in female categories of competition were men posing as the opposite gender to gain an advantage, “Gender verification” chromosome tests began in 1968 for the Olympic Games in Grenoble to monitor for male participation in female categories. By 1999, growing backlash about the practice caused a shift from its previous form begin a new method which targets specific individuals in question, as opposed to subjecting all female athletes to testing. The most recent addition to evaluating sex is testosterone testing, which appeared in 2009. These methods have faced criticism over time for being inconsistent, inaccurate, and humiliating to athletes who are selected for the tests. The newest methods work to support and enforce the IOC stance on transgender participation, which says that Female-to-Male competitors can compete “without restriction” and that Male-to-Female individuals must undergo a process of hormone therapy and meet a standard for testosterone levels.

The IOC’s policies, over time, has largely been informed by public opinion alongside scientific study. The organization’s most recent stance, which was developed in 2016 and allows transgender people to compete, hits a vein for some athletes who feel that they may be cheated by letting those with an opposite assigned gender into their field of competitors. On the other hand, trans activists believe denying trans athletes full access to the team category that aligns with their gender is a violation of discrimination laws, as well as principles of equality and civil rights. The continual failure to commit to a concrete designation of what the “male” and “female” categories of sport entail has always been at the root of the debate of gender in sports, and while scientific studies have sought to bring clarity to this issue, the IOC’s ever-changing policies illustrate that defining gender and sex using these two categories is not a simple task. This ambiguity often leaves trans and intersex people without a space to compete in the Olympics, among other other levels of competition, and in some instances, stripped of their former accomplishments.

Intersex is a term used to describe individuals who possess physical characteristics associated with the characteristics of both “male” and “female”, and the volatile sense of placement of intersex athletes within sports is often discussed alongside transgender politics. There are a number of ways in which the sense of biological androgyny can occur for intersex people, including differences in chromosomes makeup and resistance to hormones. The question of IOC’s stance on intersex participation in sports has caused controversy, and some even believe that intersex people should be barred from sport. One athlete who fell in the middle of this tension was track star Caster Semenya, an athlete who identifies as a woman, but has faced criticism after revelations that her testosterone levels are three times higher than expected in women. Semenya’s track career took off when she competed at her first Junior World Championships, taking the gold medal in the 800m at age 17. She went on take numerous first place titles in the 800m race, including two at the Olympic level in the 2012 and 2016 games. Her success drew criticism and tension from her competitors, as other active individuals in the world of sports politics -- including the secretary of The International Association of Athletic Federations, which governs track and field at the world championship level, Pierre Weiss, who stated “She is a woman, but maybe not 100%”.

The IAAF formally reacted to Semenya’s success by introducing a policy that requires women with higher than normal testosterone levels to take a pill that reduces and maintains a lower level of testosterone. This move has been subject to criticism from those who believe other physical advantages that occur naturally, like height, are not subject any outside interference.  Policies, like the one introduced in the light of Semenya’s career, create a dubious place for intersex people in sport which contribute to more confusion around the question of how we dictate gender regulations when gender does not fit squarely into the two categories.

An essential piece of security for trans and intersex athletes is unifying policies not only within professional organizations like the IOC, but between pro-level committees and groups that foster the success of young and growing athletes, including the high school level.  Currently there is no nationwide policy for trans participation in high school sports. States and school districts are tasked with forming their own policies, which leads to variation in opportunities for those who are working to develop skills in their sport and create the foundation for the rest of their athletic careers. At the high school level, many states do not require testosterone therapy or sex reassignment surgery for trans athletes to compete in the category of the sex they identify with. While incorporating medical procedures, like hormone therapy, into one’s like can be a long and costly costly process, some consider a medical barrier to entry for switching sex categories as a measure that would ensure less exploitation of an open system. One state that requires no medical intervention before entering a highschool sport is Connecticut. Rahsaan Yearwood, the father of a young, successful transgender track athlete from Connecticut, Andraya Yearwood, believes that the young athletes in question should be able to compete in their chosen category, but perhaps not be allowed to medal. He believes this option gives everyone, including his daughter who did not undergo hormone therapy before joining the high school track team, a fair chance to compete comfortably in the sport they love. "I wouldn't care if transgender athletes who are not on estrogen or testosterone don't get to medal but get to compete. That's a sports story. I'm interested in the human side of this. For people being comfortable and having the space to be who they are wherever they are in whatever fashion they chose. That's what life is really about." Yearwood is not alone in concept of inclusion as a main point in his vision for an ideal solution as other look towards a future with more options for non-binary people to compete in their own categories.

One possible solution that accounts for differences in gender is to create a separate category for athletes who do not fit squarely into the category of “male” or “female”. The proposal has seen strong support from doctors who work closely with gender issues in the sports world. But this potential policy change does not come without fear of social repercussions for athletes who face criticism based on their gender.  Dr. Stephane Bermone from International Association of Athletics Federations supports the addition but believes that the proposal may face backlash from both sides of the issue. “My feeling is also the public is not ready for this. We don’t want to stigmatise athletes. We also have to take into account religious and cultural sensitivities. So basically I am in favour but there needs [to be] some changes in public opinion,”. While creating a single separate category for athletes outside the current guidelines has the potential to create a dynamic of isolation and otherness for athletes competing in traditional categories, some see it as a solution to creating a fair space for those who feel hormone regulation constrains their the chance to compete.

As the public eye continues to turn its attention towards individuals whose genders lie outside of binary constraints, there is no easy approach to creating a space for athletes who do not fit into the categories of “male” or “female. No matter what decision governing bodies make, its likely to be the wrong decision in the eyes of someone. Ideally, a uniform and universal agreement could be made across the different committees in the sports worlds, which could be updated as science continues to inform us of the potential athletic advantages and disadvantages associated with gender. Perhaps the issue is not how we can alter people’s bodies in order to make them fit into one of the two gender categories, but rather how we can expand the existing categories to include more types of gender than the constricting and overgeneral “male” and “female” classifications. The direction of policy surrounding transgender participation in sports will be best suited for everyone when it decides to take a step away from the ruthlessness of competition to establish empathy for people who want to work hard and succeed at something that they, like millions of other athletes throughout the world, love to do.

[steroid-raw-powder]

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1. Buy Finasteride powder 

Finasteride powder used to make Finasteride 5mg tablet or Finasteride 1mg tablet...Finasteride brand name include Proscar, Propecia and others. Finasteride powder is a white crystalline powder with a melting point near 250°C. Cas No. is 98319-26-7. It is freely soluble in chloroform and in lower alcohol solvents, but is practically insoluble in water.

Finasteride tablets (Proscar, Propecia)for oral administration are film-coated tablets that contain 5 mg of finasteride and the following inactive ingredients: hydrous lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, pregelatinized starch, sodium starch glycolate, hydroxypropyl cellulose LF, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, titanium dioxide, magnesium stearate, talc, docusate sodium, FD&C Blue 2 aluminum lake and yellow iron oxide. Buy Finasteride powder from AASraw company. 

Finasteride powder Cas No. 98319-26-7NameFiansteride 

Cas 98319-26-7

AppearWhite powder

Molecular FormulaC23H36N2O2

Molecular Weight372.54

Melt Point 253 °C

Storage TempRT

Brand nameProscar, Propecia

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DescriptionFinasteride sold under the brand names Proscar and Propecia among others, is a medication used mainly to treat an enlarged prostate or scalp hair loss in men.It can also be used to treat excessive hair growth in women and as a part of hormone therapy for transgender women.It is taken by mouth

Package Foil bag or Customization 

Delivery timeWithin 12 hours after payment

2. History of Finasteride 

Finasteride (Proscar) is a very potent type II 5a-reductase inhibitor(finasteride classification), which prevents conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is a sex hormone. In addition, it is used for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is the enlargement of the prostate. Bodybuilders use it to help protect their head hair, better known as hair loss prevention. Finasteride was developed under the code name MK-906.In 1992, finasteride 5 mg was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of BPH, which Merck marketed under the brand name Proscar.In 1997, Merck was successful in obtaining FDA approval for a second indication of finasteride 1mg for treatment of MPB, which was marketed under the brand name Propecia.

3. Finasteride mechanism of action丨How does Finasteride work?

The development and enlargement of the prostate gland is dependent on the potent androgen, 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Type II 5α-reductase metabolizes testosterone to DHT in the prostate gland, liver and skin. DHT induces androgenic effects by binding to androgen receptors in the cell nuclei of these organs.

Finasteride mechanism of action: Finasteride is a competitive and specific inhibitor of Type II 5α-reductase with which it slowly forms a stable enzyme complex. Turnover from this complex is extremely slow (t½ ~ 30 days). This has been demonstrated both in vivo and in vitro. Finasteride has no affinity for the androgen receptor. In man, the 5α-reduced steroid metabolites in blood and urine are decreased after administration of Finasteride.

4. What is the drug finasteride used for-Finasteride for hair

Finasteride is a common drug used in the treatment of hair loss or pattern baldness in men(Finasteride for hair). Finasteride is the generic version of the active medicine used in Propecia, which works by decreasing the amount of the sex hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone) in the male body.

DHT is a hormone that can cause the hair follicles on your scalp to shrink, making it difficult for healthy hair to grow or regrow. By blocking the production of DHT in the body, finasteride helps normal hair growth to resume. Your hair loss should reduce or stop within three months of regular use. 

-Finasteride bodybuilding gains

When search finasteride bodybuilding gains, finasteride bodybuilding forum, or finasteride forum , you will find that finasteride has a very good comment in bodybuilding use丨proscar bodybuilding。

Normally, in males around 5% of testosterone converts to DHT. When a bodybuilder runs a DHT derivative such as winstrol, masteron or proviron, the amount of DHT will skyrocket. DHT is the enemy of head hair and will shrink hair follicles causing hair to shed.

It's important to remember, if testosterone levels rise from extra hormones, then you will already have more DHT in the body from the conversion of test to dht. In essence, all anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS)丨anabolic steorids will shed hair over time or speed hair loss up.

Finasteride and bodybuilding, will it hurt your muscle gains? Bodybuilders will want to inhibit this conversion as much as possible to preserve hair loss, which is why finasteride is used丨proscar bodybuilding.This is especially true when using DHT derivative anabolic steroids. Finasteride does a good job at keeping existing hair, and in almost half of men it will help grow more hair. However, as you will see below, this may come at a cost as inhibiting sex hormone (DHT), which isn't the wisest decision(finasteride side effects bodybuilding). Finasteride bodybuilding reddit, some people share their experience about use finasteride bodybuidling gains. According to some finasteride bodybuilding user's comment, finasteride won't effect mass or strength, but it can effect the visual appearance of your muscles aka you muscles may not look as 'jacked'. 

-Finasteride enlarged prostate treatment 

Finasteride is used to shrink an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH) in adult men. It may be used alone or taken in combination with other medications to reduce symptoms of BPH and may also reduce the need for surgery.

Finasteride may improve symptoms of BPH and provide benefits such as decreased urge to urinate, better urine flow with less straining, less of a feeling that the bladder is not completely emptied, and decreased nighttime urination. This medication works by decreasing the amount of a natural body hormone (DHT) that causes growth of the prostate.

Finasteride is not approved for prevention of prostate cancer. It may slightly increase the risk of developing a very serious form of prostate cancer. Talk to your doctor about the benefits and risks.

Women and children should not use this medication.

5. Finasteride 5mg(Proscar) VS Finasteride 1mg(Propecia)

What is finasteride 5mg used for and what does finasteride 1mg do? Finasteride sold under the brand name of Propeica and Proscar. But what are the difference between them? Both versions contain finasteride powder, and both are 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors, which do the same job of preventing testosterone from converting into DHT. The difference is that proscar is FDA approved for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and Propecia for treatment of male pattern hair loss. Essentially, Merck was able to profit from the same drug by giving it different brand names.So, about what is finasteride 5mg used for, or what does finasteride 1mg do, they are all contain finasteride powder. 

6. How to use finasteride powder?

Finasteride classification is a very potent type II 5a-reductase inhibitor,indicated for the treatment of male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) in men only. Propecia is available in generic form. How to use finasteride? 

Finasteride comes as a tablet to take by mouth. It is usually taken once a day with or without food. Take finasteride at around the same time every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take finasteride exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

If you are taking finasteride to treat BPH, you should know that finasteride may control your condition, but will not cure it. It may take at least 6 months before your symptoms improve. Continue to take finasteride even if you feel well. Do not stop taking finasteride without talking to your doctor.

If you are taking finasteride to treat male pattern hair loss, it may take at least 3 months before you see any improvement because hair loss and growth happen slowly over time. However, you should expect to see improvement during the first 12 months of your treatment. If you have taken finasteride for 12 months and have not noticed any improvement, further treatment probably will not help. Talk to your doctor about whether you should continue your treatment.

Finasteride will only slow hair loss while you are taking the medication. Continue to take finasteride even if you have already noticed an improvement. Do not stop taking finasteride without talking to your doctor. You will probably lose any hair that grew back while you were taking finasteride during the first 12 months after you stop taking the medication..

Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer's information for the patient.

7. Finasteride warning 

Finasteride should never be taken by a woman or a child. Finasteride can be absorbed through the skin, and women or children should not be permitted to handle finasteride tablets.

To make sure you can safely take finasteride, tell your doctor if you have any of these other conditions:

liver disease, or abnormal liver enzyme tests; -prostate cancer; -a bladder muscle disorder; -stricture of your urethra; -if you are unable to urinate; or -if you have ever had an allergic reaction to a similar medicine called dutasteride (Avodart). Using finasteride may increase your risk of developing prostate cancer. Your doctor will perform tests to make sure you do not have other conditions that would prevent you from safely using finasteride.

Although finasteride is not for use by women, this medication can cause birth defects if a woman is exposed to it during pregnancy. Finasteride tablets should not be handled by a woman who is pregnant or who may become pregnant.

If a woman accidentally comes into contact with this medication from a broken or crushed tablet, wash the area with soap and water right away.

8. Finasteride dosage 

The dose of finasteride will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of finasteride丨finasteride dosage. If your finasteride dose is different, do not change finasteride dose unless your doctor tells you to do so.

The doses of finasteride that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.

For oral finasteride dosage form (tablets): For benign prostatic hyperplasia: Adults—5 milligrams (mg) once a day. Children—Use is not recommended.

For male pattern hair loss: Adults—1 milligram (mg) once a day. Children—Use is not recommended.

9. What happen if I miss a finasteride dosage 

Take the missed finasteride dose as soon as you remember. Skip the missed finasteride dose if it is almost time for your next scheduled dose. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

10. What happen if I overdose  

Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line 

11. What should I avoid while taking finasteride 

Avoid getting up too fast from a sitting or lying position, or you may feel dizzy. Get up slowly and steady yourself to prevent a fall.

12. What other drugs will affect finasteride

There may be other drugs that can interact with finasteride. Tell your doctor about all medications you use. This includes prescription, over-the-counter, vitamin, and herbal products. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.

13. Finasteride side effects丨side effects of finasteride

As with all medicines, it is possible that you will experience some side effects as a result of taking finasteride丨finasteride side effects bodybuilding. Your prescribing doctor will have judged the benefits of using the drug against these potential side effects.

-Common side effects (more than 1 in 100 men):

impotence, or difficulty gaining and keeping an erection a low libido, or sex drive a decrease in the amount of semen produced during sex ejaculation problems If you experience any side effects during your treatment, speak to your prescribing doctor.

-Uncommon side effects (less than 1 in 100 patients)

sore, swollen or tender breasts

-Other side effects - frequency unknown

The frequency of the following side effects is not known, as there isn’t enough data available to confirm how common they are. 

palpitations painful testicles changes in the way your liver is working allergic reactions Speak to your prescribing doctor if you experience any of these side effects as they could be an indication of a serious reaction to the drug.

There have been cases of male breast cancer in men who took finasteride. If you notice any changes such as lumps, pain or discharge speak to your doctor without delay

-Side effects of finasteride in women

Finasteride is only safe for use by adult men in the treatment of male pattern baldness. Women and children must not take this medication, and pregnant women must avoid coming into contact with it especially.

Finasteride can affect the genital growth of an unborn male foetus. For this reason, pregnant women mustn’t handle the drug. A trace amount of the drug can also be passed via semen, so pregnant women should also avoid having unprotected sex with men who are taking it and use a condom for protection. What are the side 

14. How long does finasteride side effects last 

Side effects of finasteride may clear with continued use of the drug after the first few months. Always keep your prescribing doctor informed of any side effects, especially if they are long-lasting or become serious.

After stopping use of finasteride, any side effects or trace of the drug should leave your system within a year. If any side effects persist, consult your doctor.

15. Where can I buy high quality finasteride powder 

Finasteride is a very common ancillary drug in the bodybuilding and athletic circle, and is therefore very common and widely available on the market in most areas of the world. It can be found commonly under its brand names of Proscar (5mg tablets) and Propecia (1mg tablets). Several other generic (as well as brand name) pharmaceutical forms of the drug can be found. Additionally, several research chemical companies have been offering Finasteride in their line of products as a research chemical for research purposes only.

Finasteride powder for sale online,finasteride powder is popular, which means it is big business. there are many finasteride powder online source(finasteride powder source) you can buy finasteride powder online convenient(finasteride powder for sale online). One popular website is called AASraw, website is www.aasraw.com,which has an entire process that walks you safely through the process. With AASraw you can buy finasteride powder to your home, get shipping notifications, and updates, and have the product delivered to your doorstep.

If you are going to buy finasteride powder online from another finasteride powder oneline source(finasteride powder source), make sure that the finasteride powder source is reliable and can provide high qualtiy finasteride powder. 

16. Finasteride reviews

Finasteride is a popular 5-alpha reductase inhibitor best known by the trade names Proscar and Propecia. Both of which are manufactured by Merck. While similar in action, the two Finasteride products were developed for different reasons. Proscar first hit the market in 1992 in an effort to treat hyperplasia or prostate enlargement. The Finasteride compound would then be released in 1997 under the Propecia brand name in an effort to combat male pattern baldness. While the two common Finasteride products are similar, Proscar is much stronger and contains nearly five times the amount of Finasteride than Propecia.

Why Bodybuilders Take Finasteride: The most common reason someone would take finasteride is to fight against hair loss during or after a cycle. 

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[omg-profoundcheesecakecolle-blog]

Adam and Eve Never Existed

How often do we sit and question our gender or sexual identity? Is it always the same as the biological sex that we are born in? Can it be independent entity, irrespective of our biological sex? Most of us assume, for lack of further information that our overall sexuality that includes our sex, gender, sexual orientation and sexual behavior are all determined at some point through some ‘natural’ genetic intervention during our birth and there is nothing one can do about it. We are taught to believe in strict binaries of male and female and the separate social roles associated with both. Today when we see a television advertisement, where our hero denies a young pretty woman’s courtship, just as he realized that this attractive woman used to be a man. Oh! And everyone chuckles. Well, it’s not that funny. Transsexuality as a phenomenon has gained very little visibility or knowledge in our society – precisely why is it so easy for us to distance ourselves and laugh at it. Our society in fact contains one of the most visible transgender cultures in the world – the ‘Eunuch’ (Hijra) Community. Eunuchs might have an accepted place in Indian society, but it is a place pretty much at the bottom of the social heap – making them not just a sexual but also a highly deprived social minority. Transgender communities have existed in most parts of the world with their own local identities, customs and rituals. They are called baklas in the Philippines, berdaches among American Indian tribes, serrers in Africa and hijras, jogappas, jogtas, shiv-shaktis and aravanis in South Asia. The hijra community in India, which has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, was considered to have special powers because of its third-gender status. It was part of a well-established `eunuch culture’ in many societies, especially in West Asia, and its members held sanctioned positions in royal courts. Hijras trace their origins to myths in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Rama, while leaving for the forest upon being banished from the kingdom for 14 years, turns around to his followers and asks all the `men and women’ to return to the city. Among his followers the hijras alone do not feel bound by this direction and decide to stay with him. Impressed with their devotion, Rama sanctions them the power to confer blessings on people on auspicious occasions like childbirth and marriage, and also at inaugural functions. This set the stage for the custom of badhai in which hijras sing, dance and confer blessings. But today, keeping in mind the pathetic condition of them one can say that this community actually needs the blessings of Lord Rama more than anyone so that at least they can subsist in the society with proper dignity, respect and most of the most important identity. Hijras (Eunuchs) in India have virtually no safe spaces, not even in their families, where they are protected from prejudice and abuse. The PUCL(K) Report on Human Rights Violations against the Transgender Community has documented the kind of prejudice that hijras face in Bangalore. The report shows that this prejudice is translated into violence, often of a brutal nature, in public spaces, police stations, prisons and even in their homes. The main factor behind the violence is that society is not able to come to terms with the fact that hijras do not conform to the accepted gender divisions. In addition to this, most hijras have a lower middle-class background, which makes them susceptible to harassment by the police. The discrimination based on their class and gender makes the hijra community one of the most disempowered groups in Indian society. The systematic violence that hijras face is reinforced by the institutions such as the family, media and the medical establishments and is given legitimacy by the legal system. The hijras face many sorts of state and societal harassments such as Harassment by the police in public places Harassment at home Police entrapment Abuse/harassment at police stations Rape in jails The roots of contemporary violence against the hijra community can in fact be traced back to the historical form that modern law in colonial India has taken. It took the form of the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 which was an extraordinary legislation that even departed from the principles on which the Indian Penal Code was based. To establish an offence under the India Penal Code, the accusations against the accused has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt in court of law. But certain tribes and communities were perceived to be criminals by birth, with criminality being passed on from generation to generation. It fitted in well with the hierarchical Indian social order, in which some communities were perceived as unclean and polluted from birth. The link between criminality and sexual non-conformity was made more explicit in the 1897 amendment to the Criminal Tribes Act on 1871, which was sub-titled, ‘An act for the Registration of Criminal Tribes and Eunuchs’. Under this law, the local government was required to keep a register of the names and residences of all eunuchs who were “reasonably suspected of kidnapping or castrating children or committing offences under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code”. Any eunuch so registered could be arrested without warrant and punished with imprisonment of up to two years or with a fine or both. check out here The law also decreed eunuchs as incapable of acting as a guardian, making a gift, drawing up a will or adopting a son. Regarding Civil law they are also not spared here. The hijra community is deprived of several rights under civil law because Indian law recognizes only two sexes. This means that hijras do not have the rights to vote, marry and own a ration card, a passport or a driving license or claim employment and health benefits. In north and central India, hijras, who have contested and won elections to local and State bodies, are now facing legal challenges. In February 2003, the Madhya Pradesh High Court struck down the election of Kamala Jaan as the Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Katni. The court’s logic was that since Kamala Jaan was not a woman, she could not contest the seat, which was reserved for women. Lawyer Pratul Shandilya, who is arguing Kamala Jaan’s case, said: “I have already filed the Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, and the court has also granted leave in the petition.” The High Court verdict came despite a direction from the Election Commission (E.C.) in September 1994 that hijras can be registered in the electoral roles either as male or female depending on their statement at the time of enrolment. This direction was given by the E.C. after Shabnam, a hijra candidate from the Sihagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner enquiring about which category hijras were classified under. The law that is used most to threaten the hijra and kothi communities, as well as the homosexual community in India, is Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” even if it is voluntary. In effect, it criminalizes certain kinds of sexual acts that are perceived to be `unnatural’. The law, which has its origin in colonial ideas of morality, in effect presumes that a hijra or a homosexual person is engaging in `carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, thus making this entire lot of marginalized communities vulnerable to police harassment and arrest. The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) of 1956 (amended in 1986), whose stated objective is to criminalize brothel-keeping, trafficking, pimping and soliciting, in reality targets the visible figure of the sex worker and enables the police to arrest and intimidate the transgender sex-worker population. According to the two main diagnostic systems used in the Indian medical establishment, transsexualism is defined as a `gender identity disorder’. The doctors usually prescribe a sexual reassignment surgery (SRS), which currently resorts to hormone therapy and surgical reconstruction and may include electrolysis, speech therapy and counseling. Surgical construction could include the removal of male sex organs and the construction of female ones. Since government hospitals and qualified private practitioners do not usually perform SRS, many hijras go to quacks, thus placing themselves at serious risk. Neither the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) nor the Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated any guidelines to be followed in SRS. The attitude of the medical establishment has only reinforced the low sense of self-worth that many hijras have at various moments in their lives. With every single thing going against the Eunuchs; a notable amount of awareness has also been seen all over the world. Around the world, countries are beginning to recognize the rights of transgender people. In a landmark judgment (Christine Goodwin vs. the United Kingdom, 2002) the European Court of Human Rights declared that the U.K. government’s failure to alter the birth certificates of transsexual people or to allow them to marry in their new gender role was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It said that a test of biological factors could no longer be used to deny recognition legally to the change of gender that a transsexual had undergone. In New Zealand, in New Zealand Attorney General vs. the Family Court at Otahuhu (1994), the court upheld the principle that for purposes of marriage, transsexual people should be legally recognized in their re-assigned sex. OF late the Indian hijra community has begun to mobilize themselves through the formation of a collective. Sangama, an organization working with hijras, kothis and sex workers in Bangalore, has played an important role by helping them organize and fight for their rights. Its services include organizing a drop-in centre for hijras and kothis, conducting a series of public rallies and marches, using legal assistance in case of police harassment, and establishing links with other social movements. The organizations of the hijra community can be seen as constituting a larger movement of sexual minority groups in India. They are challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 and are organizing a campaign questioning the government’s stand that the law should remain. The discrimination and violence that hijras face show that it is high time that both the government and the human rights movement in the country begin to take this issue with the seriousness it deserves. About the Author Author’s Name: – ABHINAV SINHA Author’s Address: – C/o M.Kudare, 66/621, Near Sainath Mandir, Gokhalenagar, Pune -411016, Maharashtra, India Author’s Ph No: – [phone], 020-32315046 About the Author: – I am a Vth year student studying in the esteemed college of Symbiosis Law School. I am pursuing the course of BBA.LLB. from this college. Atheist: adam and eve never existed Share and Enjoy:

[mredwinsmith]

My Experience as a Transgender Woman in the Ultimate Community

My name is Ashleigh Buch, and I am a transgender woman who plays ultimate for the up and coming women’s club team, Kansas City Wicked. I am writing this piece with the hope of adding my voice to a very small minority of ultimate athletes who are trans or non-binary, and to increase awareness of our experiences as players. My journey as a trans female ultimate player is one that has been fraught with difficulty and heartbreak and, at one time, took me away from the sport, but it is also one that has seen me grow into a strong and confident woman who is unashamed to be her true self.

While ultimate is a large part of my life, I am also a Mandarin-Chinese linguist in the Air Force. I have served in the Air Force for eight and a half years. I am extremely passionate about fighting for trans rights and trans representation across all fields, but my focus has primarily been on the military. It was that fight for my right to exist in the military that ultimately gave me the courage to return to the sport as myself.

Beginnings

Like many, I began playing ultimate in college, and I joined Iowa State Ultimate Club (ISUC) during my junior year of school. I had played the sport a little bit after a few summer cross country practices, and I quickly fell in love with it, but I had absolutely no technical skills, and I could barely throw a disc. The two things I did have going for me were that I could run fast and run almost nonstop.

I was nervous about joining the team for many reasons, but at its heart, it was because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to be my true self. I also knew from my previous experiences with team sports that I was going to end up on the periphery. In the past, I was closed off from everyone because if someone were to discover the real me, I was afraid that I would face negative treatment from those in my life. Not opening up and forming real relationships with my teammates was the only way I knew how to protect myself.

While I learned a lot about ultimate and improved my game immensely during my time playing for ISUC, so many of my fears came to the forefront of my experience. It was an incredibly dysphoric experience trying to keep up this image of somebody I wasn’t. I tried desperately to put forth a masculine presentation, but I failed miserably. I was pretty sure most everyone on the men’s and women’s team at ISU either thought I was gay or just super metrosexual.

Having to hide behind a mask not only hurt my heart, but looking back on it, it stunted my growth as a player. Because I was so distant and often struggled with being around my teammates, it became difficult for me to ask for help regarding different parts of my game or understanding more advanced aspects of the sport. Unless we were at practice or a tournament, I rarely, if ever, spent time with my teammates. It was a suffocating and lonely experience.

Paralleling many of my experiences as a child and teenage athlete, I found myself desperately wanting to be a part of the women’s team at ISU, Woman Scorned. I fit in with many of the women so much more naturally than I did with any of the men. While there wasn’t a shortage of great players on ISUC, I found myself admiring and respecting the games of many of the women much more. When you are surrounded by incredible players like Rachel Derscheid, Melissa Gibbs, Taiwo Misra, Magon Liu, Sarah Hoistad, Jasmine Draper, and so many more, it is easy to be star struck.

They played each game with so much passion, and they fostered an incredibly empowering and supportive environment where they could be themselves unabashedly, something I deeply desired. I loved how they talked to each other on the field from the sideline and encouraged each other on the field. The cold reality was that I would never be a part of that team, and I struggled with that almost daily. It hurt my heart and further increased my dysphoria.

I know it sounds like I am coming down hard on the men’s team, but it is more that I didn’t fit in with those guys and the culture of the team. I am still friends with most of them, but if you were to ask them how I fit in with the team, they would almost certainly tell you that I was this incredibly quiet and shy individual who was almost always closed off from them. Looking back, I think that if I had come out about being trans while playing for the team, I have no doubt they would have supported me. At the time though, the thought of that terrified me. Because of the negative way in which society views and treats trans people, closing myself off was the safe thing to do.

Joining a Women’s Team

A few years later, I quit ultimate because I was in the midst of my transition, and I faced some bullying at the local summer league. This spring, I made the decision to return to the sport. Only this time, I was going to return to the sport as my genuine self, as the woman that I am. I didn’t want the fact that I am trans to be a hindrance to living my life any longer. Because of my proximity of Kansas City and what seemed like a team with great chemistry, I decided to reach out to Wicked to gauge their interest in letting me participate in their upcoming open tryouts.

I ended up sending a super awkward message to their Facebook page basically regaling them with my life story. Thankfully, the person in charge of their page is Steph Rupp, one of the most amazing people I have ever met and who is now one of my dearest friends. She was totally cool about it all, and after talking it over with the captains, she let me know that I would be welcomed with open arms.

Over the following weeks, I fought an internal battle of deciding whether I should try out. Indecision and fear almost overcame me the day of the first try out when I was about 40 miles away from Omaha on the road to Kansas City. I was at the point of turning around, but I made the decision to press on. The thought of returning to the sport as myself and being surrounded by so many incredible female ultimate players was something I deeply desired. Despite my fear, the decision to try out was the right decision. After a good showing at the invite-only tryouts, I was notified that I made the team, and I was overcome with emotion. It was something that I thought would never be possible, yet there was the confirmation right there. I was officially part of Wicked.

I struggled a lot throughout this past season. It was filled with many ups and downs, and there were a lot of tears. I am pretty sure I cried at every other practice, every power weekend, and most tournaments. Estrogen-based puberty is no joke. I struggled mightily with my confidence to the point where I was afraid to throw anything other than a quick dump or a quick give and go.

I was so afraid of letting my team down, and I was afraid that if I happened to do anything well, it would be because I was trans and not because I was a good player. It wasn’t until toward the end of the season did I break free of my funk. After a few in-depth conversations with my frisbee role models, Clare Frantz, Steph Rupp, and Amanda “Coffee” Borders, they helped me get out of my head, and I finally began to blossom as a player. The culture of our team is one of empowerment and support of each other through all the ups and downs.

Common Misconceptions

Many of the misconceptions and questions of fairness surrounding trans female athletes scared me about opening up about my experience as a trans woman playing for Wicked. So often as a trans woman, my identity is boiled down to one part of my identity, the fact that I was designated male at birth. Because of that designation, there are a lot of assumptions made about me such as having an innate biological advantage over my cisgender female counterparts. Not only is that an unfair assumption about me, but it is also insulting to all of the incredible cisgender female athletes out there who will accomplish more than I can ever dream of. I was afraid that anything that I was to achieve in ultimate would be credited to me being trans rather than to the all of the hard work and effort I put into growing as a player. More importantly, I am afraid that people will downplay Wicked’s accomplishment because of my trans status. We are some of the hardest working individuals you will ever meet, and if anybody took anything away from what we have accomplished because I am trans, it would tear my heart out.

One of the common misconceptions about transgender female athletes when it comes to women’s sports is that we are doing it so that we can dominate the sport in a way that we couldn’t in the men’s division. It pains my heart to hear that so often repeated. Aside from the extensive changes your body undergoes with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the overwhelming majority of trans female athletes simply want to compete in an environment where they fit, somewhere where they don’t have to be somebody other than themselves. Team sports are a communal environment, and if you don’t fit for whatever reason, they can become a lonely place.

Another aspect to the question of fairness for trans athletes is how HRT affects the body. My athletic capabilities underwent a dramatic change. I dropped to nonexistent levels of testosterone while my estrogen was cycled in a way that matched those of an average cisgender woman. I went from having what now seems like endless energy that I used to balance a busy schedule with a heavy workout load to being constantly tired.

Despite the same level of exertion, after HRT, my strength decreased sharply and my running pace slowed. It became difficult to not only put on muscle mass, but to maintain any previous muscle mass. While at the same time, that lovely hormone, estrogen, made it easy to put on fat and in turn gain weight. That is exactly what happened. My body began changing rapidly and it never looked back. I basically went from being perceived as a high-level male athlete to being a high-level female athlete.

Finding a Home

Transitioning and playing for Wicked are the two best experiences of my life. Everything that I had desired in my life and in sports fell into place. I had reached the point where my mental, emotional, and physical health were finally at peace with one another, and for the first time in my life, I began to live. My participation on Wicked opened a new aspect to my being. I had finally found a place where I could be myself and play a sport I loved. I was surrounded by and lifted up by some of the most incredible people I have ever met, a group of women who supported one another. While these women are not Scorned, they are Wicked, and they make my heart sing. My journey is most certainly not over, but for now, I am home. #wickedlove

  Ashleigh Buch can be reached at [email protected], on Instagram at ashleigh.kathryn, or on Twitter @AshKatRyn. Interested to learn more about her fight for trans acceptance in the military? Check out articles about her in the Omaha World Herald and on the Offutt Air Force Base news page.

The post My Experience as a Transgender Woman in the Ultimate Community appeared first on Skyd Magazine.

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New Post has been published on Biology Dictionary

New Post has been published on https://biologydictionary.net/prosthesis/

Prosthesis

Prosthesis Definition

A prosthesis is an artificial device that can aid or even replace an impaired or missing limb. The field of prosthetics has experienced a rich and storied evolution, dating back to Ancient Egyptian peg legs and hand hooks (circa 1500 BC). Though prosthetics have come a long way since, what remains is their impact.

The word “prosthesis” itself is rooted in the Greek words “pros” (in addition) and “tithenai” (to place). Prostheses are either placed externally or are implanted within the defective body part. Typically, a team of healthcare professionals chooses the “right” prosthesis and guides their patient through a rehabilitative phase of learning how to live with their new artificial device. Each patient’s reason for needing a prosthetic may vary, but it could involve:

Birth defects

Trauma (i.e. auto accidents, military combat)

Cancer

Circulatory problems from diabetes or atherosclerosis that culminate in an amputation

Modern Prosthetics

The process of building a customized prosthetic limb has become increasingly refined over the years. Tailoring a prosthetic device calls for careful consideration of the patient’s body measurements, muscle / bone remnant (if any), lifestyle and activity levels, and the overall level of impairment. Since prosthetic limbs are often left to assume the complex roles left by missing muscle and nerve, scientists are tasked with creating more innovative prosthetics.

New prostheses have become so advanced that we are now able to implant a tiny device into the brain of a paralyzed patient that sends thoughts and messages via email. It is no surprise that brain-computer interface (BCI) has become an area of interest for creators and patients, alike. A recent neuro study involving rhesus macaques inserted microelectrodes into the primary somatosensory cortex of their brain. The microelectrodes were able to record the activity pattern of their neurons and transmit to prosthetic sensors that guided the motion of the prosthetic hand. Studies with human subjects take a longer road, but with the announcement in May 2017 of a bionic hand that “sees and grabs” objects automatically it seems we are headed in a very positive direction.

Finely-tuned sensors are the new field of interest within prosthetics. Much of the research in this area has focused on using EEG signaling to perfect sensory feedback in BCI technology. For example, its goal is to not only send a signal from the brain to the robotic arm but also from the arm back to the brain.

Prosthesis Materials

A variety of materials can be used in the making of artificial limbs. Much of this depends on their destined function(s) and placement. Wood is the most popularly used material, globally, as it is accessible, light and resilient, and easily shaped. Aluminum alloy is used when lightness is desired, metals for reinforcement and control, and plastic is valued for its flexibility. Silicone and polyurethane are also commonly used.

When crafting prostheses that will be placed near a patient’s joints (i.e. knee), another consideration to make is the effect surface, shape, and geometry will have on the coefficient of friction of the artificial implant. This is an important element to account for because joint mobility (the space where two bones meet) relies on smooth, frictionless movement to protect our highly-innervated bones.

Depicted in the picture is an AP view of a total knee prosthesis.

Powering the Artificial Limb

There are several ways to power artificial limbs. Most are powered by the muscles remaining on the residual limb, which are strengthened through physical therapy. Strength training may include springs, straps, gears, locks, levers, and hydraulic mechanisms. Other times, prosthetic limbs can be externally powered with motors. The patient can move his or her prosthetic device around by toggling switches. Alternatively, a more advanced way to control a prosthetic limb is through myoelectric control. Because muscles generate small electric signals each time they contract, their contractions can be detected by electrodes that then control the prosthetic limb. When a prosthetic arm has several joints, each might need to be controlled by the same switch or muscle. This can be accomplished with sequential control methods that allow one joint to be positioned at a time (i.e. a patient may need to contract a muscle or use a switch for the prosthetic limb to bend the elbow joint, that then signals the prosthetic hand to close and grip the object).

Examples of Prostheses

Prostheses come in all forms and are really customized to meet each patient’s needs. While neural prostheses may be indicated for patients with spinal injuries or paraplegia, others may need prosthetic knee systems or feet. We will discuss a few topical examples of prostheses.

Penile Prosthesis

Penile prostheses are indicated for patients with erectile dysfunction. The simplest type contains malleable rods that are implanted within the erection chambers to assist with penile erection. Newer options include hydraulic inflatable prosthesis that allow an erection that is more natural and easier to conceal.

Breast Prosthesis

Breast prostheses are commonly used by patients who have had mastectomies. Unlike penile prosthesis, breast options can be less technical. External breast prostheses can be as simple as using cotton or silicone gel padding in mastectomy bras. Transgender patients that are pre-hormonal are also known to create the illusion of breasts with skin fleshed padding/prosthesis. Likewise, women with asymmetric breasts or tubular breasts may incorporate teardrop prostheses into their wardrobe. Of course, a common type of “prosthesis” are the saline and silicone breast implants that are used for cosmetic enhancement.

Ocular Prosthesis

An ocular prosthesis, or “artificial eye,” is a type of implant that is recommended following evisceration (the “jelly like” contents of the eye and cornea are removed) or enucleation (removal of the entire eye). Though it is traditionally referred to as a glass eye, ocular prostheses have a convex shape. Some reasons for why an eye may be removed is due to injury, glaucoma, severe eye infection, or eye tumors. Unfortunately, prosthetic eyes do not restore vision so they are mainly used to improve the appearance of the affected eye socket. They are generally made of hard plastic acrylic.

Quiz

1. Which of the following is the best definition of a prosthesis? A. A device meant to provide electrical input to move existing limbs B. A device meant to reduce swelling in infected limbs C. A device meant to replace missing or impaired limbs D. A device that can only replace missing limb

Answer to Question #1

C is correct. Prostheses are designed to either replace or improve the function of impaired limbs. In essence, they are custom built to supplement whatever remnant of a limb is available, if any.

2. The transition to using a prosthetic device is closely supplemented by which medical field per the article? A. Emergency medicine B. Rehabilitative Medicine C. Radiology D. Nuclear medicine

Answer to Question #2

B is correct. Rehabilitation is a very big part of the transition into using prosthetics in a daily capacity. Learning to use a prosthetic as a limb after injury takes time and effort, and an entire team of health care staff.

3. Define enucleation? A. removal of the skin of surrounding the eye B. removal of the “jelly like” contents of the eye C. removal of the entire eye

Answer to Question #3

C is correct. Enucleation refers to the removal of the entire eye. It differs from evisceration, which removes the “jelly like” contents of the eye. Both of these processes precede the use of an artificial eye.

References

Australian Government Cancer Australia. “External breast prostheses.” Affected by Cancer. Retrieved 2017-05-12 from https://canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-types/breast-cancer/treatment/breast-reconstruction/external-prostheses

Bollinger CT (1999). “Prosthesis: indications, contraindications and follow-up.” Rev Mal Respir. 16: 665-72.

Botelho A (2013). “Monkey feels touch with prosthetic hand.” News Scientist. Retrieved 2017-05-14 from https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24401-monkey-feels-touch-with-prosthetic-hand/

Medicine Net (2017). “Erectile Dysfunction: Penile Prosthesis.” Medicine Net Sexual Health. Retrieved 2017-05-12 from http://www.medicinenet.com/penile_implants/article.htm

Norton, Kim M (2007). “A Brief History of Prosthetics.” Amputee Coalition. Retrieved from 2017-05-13 from http://www.amputee-coalition.org/resources/a-brief-history-of-prosthetics/#.WRnreVPys1g

WebMd (2017). “Prosthetic Eye.” WebMD Eye Health. Retrieved 2017-05-12 from http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/prosthetic-eye-ocular-prosthesis#1

#2k #term

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Transgender Prison Experience and It’s Representation on TV: A Critical Analysis of Orange is the New Black

Transgender Prison Experience and It’s Representation on TV: A Critical Analysis of Orange is the New Black

Introduction

     Orange is the New Black is a Netflix original series focused around the life of Piper Chapman and her prison experience. The four time Emmy winning series addresses multiple LGBT topics. Sophia Burset, played by Laverne Cox who is transgender in real life, is a transgender inmate in the series. Throughout the series, viewers are exposed to Sophia’s prison experience as a transgender woman, as well as get a glimpse of her life before prison. This paper will examine the transgender prison experience and how it is represented on tv, specifically analyzing Orange is the New Black in terms of this subject.

The Gender Binary and It’s Influence on the Prison System and Experience

     Prison operations exist around the assumption of a gender binary. They are institutions simply segregated by male and female, unwelcoming and unaccepting of anything in between (Jenness, 2013). Conflicts arise when inmates personally identify themselves as one, but are biologically or genetically representative of the other. The prison experience for transgender inmates is often lacking compassion, support, and allies. In many cases, transgender people are placed into correctional facilities that coincide with the gender they were assigned at birth, rather than the gender they identify with. Prison guards see transgender individuals as a threat that disrupts the prison order (Agbemenu, 2015), as they are perceived as a possible source of attendant management problems (Jenness, 2013), and in many cases, officials routinely prevent transgender prisoners from receiving access to transition-related health care, like hormone therapy or sex-reassignment surgery (Agbemenu, 2015). Additionally, transgender individuals in prison often face much sexual harassment and assault in regards to their gender presentation and identity.

The Most Sex Segregated of Institutions

Prisoners are typically separated based on their sex assigned at birth, and many other factors central to the prison context--the presence of guards, strip searches, medical care, and interactions between prisoners-are addressed in terms of sex and the gender binary. Sex segregation and discrimination are rampant, and indeed central to the prison context, leading advocates and scholars to describe prison as "arguably the most sex segregated of institutions” (Agbemenu, 2015, p.43).

     For a transgender inmate serving sentences in a prison they don’t identify with, their time can be very difficult compared to that of their non-transgender counterparts. All aspects of their prison lives are determined by their assumed, biological gender. The situation becomes all the more complicated when thinking about gender authenticity and the pursuit of being the “real deal” or a “real girl” (Jenness, 2013). Being in a men’s prison means that transgender women inmates are immediately understood as male, and thus “passing” is no longer an issue. However, these inmates  must make a constant commitment to being feminine, or “acting like a lady,” in order to be perceived as female (Jenness, 2103). In many cases, transgender women serving in men’s prisons find themselves in competition with other transgender women inmates for the attention and affection of their male counterparts, or “real men,” and use this attention to measure gender status among themselves.

Medical Transgressions

     Though transgender inmates make up only a small portion of American prisoners, nearly one in six transgender Americans has been incarcerated in a state or federal prison (Agbemenu, 2015). Access to comprehensive medical care is difficult for transgender individuals to begin with, yet these difficulties are emphasized for transgender people in the prison system. While many transgender inmates try to gain access to proper health care on the basis of the Eighth Amendment and its protection against “cruel and unusual punishment,” and argue that gender dysmorphia is a serious medical need, there is no consensus among the courts that supports that claim. Furthermore, in most court cases, gender dysmorphia is not deemed a serious medical condition unless the plaintiff has gone to serious and life-threatening lengths, such as attempted suicide and self-genital mutilation.

Sexual Assault

     Aside from the opposition transgender inmates face from the justice system in regards to comprehensive medical care, they’re usually met with hostility from fellow inmates and guards, often through sexual harassment and assault in the form of insults and physical abuse. In fact, transgender prisoners are 13 times more likely than their non-transgender counterparts to be sexually assaulted in prison (Jenness, 2013). Transgender inmates are often victims of cruel words, death threats, and physical abuse at the hands of inmates and prison staff alike. Furthermore, transgender inmates find themselves with no one to turn to for help, and are often left to deal with the abuse and harassment on their own.

Protection or Punishment?

     Unfortunately, transgender inmates are met with few, if any, allies amongst the prison staff and faculty. Additionally, they are met with little protection from their harassers. Upon filing formal complaints against their assailants, transgender prisoners are often ignored. Left to fend for themselves, sometimes solitary confinement, or the Special Housing Unit (SHU), is the only escape from their abuse. However, serving time in the SHU leads to being more of a punishment than protection. As a matter of fact, transgender inmates are disproportionately punished in prison, most commonly through isolation (Stahl, 2014).

     While spending time in solitary confinement may possibly save transgender inmates from the abuse of their peers, the 23 hours a day spent alone in the confines of a windowless room can certainly take a toll on their mental health. Inmates in the SHU have no telephone access, few to no personal possessions, and no access to activities, programs, or class. Upon mealtimes, prisoners in the SHU are served through a slot in the door, eliminating possible contact with the facility’s guards (Stahl, 2014.

     Many prisons across the country recognize that transgender inmates are particularly vulnerable to abuse and harassment from the general prison population. Therefore, they’ve begun placing transgender inmates in involuntary protective custody (IPC). Inmates in IPC are expected to receive a minimum of three hours per day outside of their cells, participate daily in at least two group meals, and have regular access to library and counseling services, telephone calls, visits and their personal property (Stahl, 2014).  Though these certain distinctions are supposed to exist to differentiate IPC from the SHU, prisoners report that in many cases, being in IPC is comparable to being in the SHU.

     Furthermore, while being place in IPC or the SHU is often seen as a method of protection from harassment and sexual assault, nearly half of the alleged instances of sexual violence in prisons and jails across America are actually committed by prison staff and faculty, according to a recent statistical data report by the Bureau of Justice (Stahl, 2014). Thus, attempts at protecting transgender inmate could potentially be placing them in more danger of sexual harassment, abuse, and assault.

Orange is the New Black’s Portrayal

     There are a few accuracies in the transgender prison experience as portrayed in Orange is the New Black. When the prison transgender inmate, Sophia Burset, is serving receives new staff members, as well as when other inmates discover she still poses male genitalia, Sophia faces sexual harassment and abuse from staff and inmates alike. Upon filing formal complaints against the harassment and abuse, she is left to fend for herself and ultimately ends up in solitary confinement, or in the Special Housing Unit (SHU). The prison warden claims she was placed there to protect her against further attacks. However, the SHU is more of a punishment rather than a protection method (Kohan, 2013). Overall, the entire storyline is short lived, and upon being discharged from the SHU, Sophia’s life in prison essentially goes back to normal.

     While somewhat accurate, Orange is the New Black’s representation shows a fantasy that is very much unreal for many unlucky transgender women in prison. First and foremost, transgender inmate, Sophia Burset, is serving her sentence at a women’s facility, despite still having male genitalia, where she is allowed to continue her hormone therapy. However, this is not the case for most transgender women, who are usually placed into men’s facilities, regardless of genitalia and previous hormone therapy. In addition to receiving comprehensive health care, including hormone therapy with virtually no hurdles, she’s also surrounded by rather compassionate prison staff and faculty, at least those working directly in the prison. She is shown to have the support of her wife, whom she married while still identifying as a male. Sophia has the respect of her fellow inmates, and has never really face any threat of having to prove her femininity thus far in the series.

The Solution

     Although television shows don’t necessarily need to be completely accurate, it’s imperative that minority groups are accurately being represented. Afterall, television acts as a key source of information about the world (Gross, 2001). Including a transgender inmate, Sophia Burset, in the Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, as a recurring character isn’t the source of funny or comic relief (Rigney, 2003), is a big step in the right direction, and offers a great opportunity to show support and give representation to the transgender community. However, while Sophia struggles with some real issues that many transgender inmates face, such as lack of support from family, possible funding cuts for hormone replacement therapy, and harassment from guards and fellow inmates, ultimately leading to her spending some time in solitary confinement “for her own good,” Sophia’s prison experience is rather luxurious than that of many real transgender inmates in America. Though she still has male genitalia, she is an inmate in a women’s facility, where she continues her hormone therapy. She is well liked by her fellow inmates, and is treated well by the prison staff.

     While Orange is the New Black has done a decent job representing transgender inmates, there is some work to go. It would be beneficial to offer some portion of the series to Sophia Burset spending time in a men’s facility, where she has a difficult time receiving hormone therapy, and is exposed to the competition of being “the real girl” amongst fellow transgender inmates. Ultimately, the series is lacking interactions between transgender inmates, as well as unsympathetic prison staff and faculty.

Conclusion

     While media such as Orange is the New Black offer a somewhat accurate depiction of the transgender prison experience, it is imperative to recognize that much of the inhuman mistreatment and abuse real transgender inmates face is neglected for the sake of entertainment and viewership. Furthermore, it is also important to acknowledge the flaws in the gender binary-based prison system. Transgender inmates are often subjects of sexual harassment and assault, denied comprehensive and necessary medical care, and are placed in situations that lead to conflict and competition with each other. Through Sophia Burset, the Netflix original series’ sole transgender inmate, Orange is the New Black offers a glimpse into the struggles of real transgender inmates. However, her story always has a happy ending, and her conflicts are typically short lived. Orange is the New Black portrays a prison experience that is unfortunately an untrue narrative for the majority of transgender prisoners.

Works Cited Agbemenu, E. (2015). Medical transgressions in America's prisons: defending transgender prisoners' access to transition-related care. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law

Gross, Larry. (2001). Up from invisibility: Lesbians, Gay men, and the Media in America, Chapter 1, pp. 1-20.

Jenness, V., & Fenstermaker, S. (2013). Agnes Goes to Prison Gender Authenticity, Transgender Inmates in Prisons for Men, and Pursuit of “The Real Deal”. Sage Journals

Kohan, Jenji, prod. (2013).  Orange Is the New Black. Netflix.

Rigney, M. (2003). Brandon goes to Hollywood (1): Boys Don't Cry and the transgender body in film. Film Criticism

Stahl, Aviva. (2014). The Horrors Endured by Transgender Women in Prison.Alternet.

#OrangeistheNewBlack transgenderprisonexperience

[sportsetcterea]

He Said/She Said/They Said: Why We Can’t Minimize the Concept of Transgender Participation in Sports

"It's a relief that next barrier has been knocked down," says Chris Mosier, the first transgender man to make the United States national track team. He’s right about barrier that his success has broken -- his presence in the cisgender male dominated sphere of track is an astounding and unprecedented affirmation for transgender people, especially athletes. But while his accomplishments prove that trans people in sports can be successfully acclimated into the category of their gender, the politics and policies surrounding trans participation in sports remain as complex as ever.

The concept of gender is a relevant consideration in countless social and political discussions. Accommodating the needs of transgender people has become an object of contention among politicians, advocates, and otherwise vocal and opinionated individuals.  While discussion about trans bathroom and locker room usage has been the most prominent feature of  transgender politics in the media, trans and other non-binary gendered people also face an even broader question of their ability to participate in sports. The governing bodies that advise and regulate athletes, across all categories and levels of sport, owe athletes a sense of unity that clarifies and commits to a position on trans participation in sports in order to work towards solutions for athletes who feel that their gender holds them back from doing what they love.

The International Olympic Committee exists to govern athletes and teams at the highest level of athletic achievement -- the Olympic Games. The IOC, alongside other sports committees, are accountable for creating a fair environment for competition in the world of athletics, and their standards are upheld by the competitive energy between athletes. No player wants to be left at a disadvantage within their sport, but competitors can only do so much to monitor the behaviors of their peers. Committees do what they can to set and enforce rules about fair play, but ensuring a level playing field for aspiring athletes who don't fit their competitor’s mold of a fair opponent when it comes to gender is historically controversial.

The IOC has tumultuous history with gender and testing for biological sex differences. “Gender verification” chromosome tests began in 1968 for the Olympic Games in Grenoble to monitor for male participation in female categories. By 1999, growing backlash about the practice caused a shift from its previous form that subjects all female athletes to testing to begin a method target specific individuals in question. The most recent addition to evaluating sex is testosterone testing, which appeared in 2009. These methods have faced criticism over time for being inconsistent, inaccurate, and humiliating to athletes who are selected for the tests. These methods work to support and enforce the IOC stance on transgender participation, which says that Female-to-Male competitors can compete “without restriction” and that Male-to-Female individuals must undergo a process of hormone therapy and meet a standard for testosterone levels.

The IOC’s stance, over time, has largely been informed by public opinion alongside scientific study. The IOC’s most recent stance, which was developed in 2016 and allows transgender people to compete, hits a vein for some athletes who feel that they may be cheated by letting those with an opposite assigned gender into their field of competitors. On the other hand, trans activists believe denying trans athletes full access to the team category that aligns with their gender is a violation of discrimination laws, as well as principles of equality and civil rights. Ambiguity and the failure to create a concrete meaning of what “male” and “female” really mean have always been at the root of the debate of gender in sports. While scientific studies have sought to bring clarity to this issue, the IOC’s ever-changing policy’s illustrate that defining gender and sex is not a simple task. This confusion leaves is what can leave trans and intersex people without a space to compete in some athletic contexts outside of the Olympics, and in some instances, stripped of their former accomplishments.

Intersex is a term used to describe individuals who possess physical characteristics associated with the characteristics of both “male” and “female”, and the volatile sense of placement of intersex athletes within sports is often discussed alongside transgender politics. There are a number of ways in which the sense of biological androgyny can occur for intersex people, including differences in chromosomes makeup and resistance to hormones. The question of IOC’s stance on intersex participation in sports has caused controversy, and some even believe that intersex people should be barred from sport. One athlete who fell in the middle of this tension was track star Caster Semenya, an athlete who identifies as a woman, but has faced criticism after revelations that her testosterone levels are three times higher than expected in women. Semya’s success in track encouraged the IAAF to introduce a policy that requires women with higher than normal testosterone levels to take a pill that reduces and maintains a lower level of testosterone. This move has been subject to criticism from those who believe other physical advantages that occur naturally, like height, are not subject any outside interference.  The dubious place for intersex people in sport contributes to more confusion around the question of how we dictate gender regulations when gender does not fit squarely into the two categories.

An essential piece of security for trans and intersex athletes is unifying policies not only within professional organizations like the IOC, but between pro-level committees and groups that foster the success of young and growing athletes, including the high school level.  Currently there is no nationwide policy for trans participation in high school sports. States and school districts are tasked with forming their own policies, which leads to variation in opportunities for those who are working to develop skills in their sport and create the foundation for the rest of their athletic careers. At the high school level, many states do not require testosterone therapy or sex reassignment surgery for trans athletes to compete in the category of the sex they identify with. While incorporating medical procedures, like hormone therapy, into one’s like can be a long and costly costly process, some consider a medical barrier to entry for switching sex categories as a measure that would ensure less exploitation of an open system. One state that requires no medical intervention before entering a highschool sport is Connecticut. Rahsaan Yearwood, the father of a young, successful transgender track athlete from Connecticut, Andraya Yearwood, believes that the young athletes in question should be able to compete in their chosen category, but perhaps not be allowed to medal. He believes this option gives everyone, including his daughter who did not undergo hormone therapy before joining the high school track team, a fair chance to compete comfortably in the sport they love. "I wouldn't care if transgender athletes who are not on estrogen or testosterone don't get to medal but get to compete. That's a sports story. I'm interested in the human side of this. For people being comfortable and having the space to be who they are wherever they are in whatever fashion they chose. That's what life is really about." Yearwood is not alone in concept of inclusion as a main point in his vision for an ideal solution as other look towards a future with more options for non-binary people to compete in their own categories.

One possible solution that accounts for differences in gender is to create a separate category for athletes who do not fit squarely into the category of “male” or “female”. The proposal has seen strong support from doctors who work closely with gender issues in the sports world. But this potential policy change does not come without fear to social repercussions for athletes who face criticism based on their gender.  Dr. Stephane Bermone from International Association of Athletics Federations supports the addition but believes that the proposal may face backlash from both sides of the issue. “My feeling is also the public is not ready for this. We don’t want to stigmatise athletes. We also have to take into account religious and cultural sensitivities. So basically I am in favour but there needs [to be] some changes in public opinion,”. While incorporating another category into the sports world could be difficult, it may be the solution that gives athletes who feel constrained by hormone regulation the chance to compete.

As the public eye continues to turn its attention towards individuals whose genders lie outside of binary constraints, there is no easy approach to creating a space for athletes who do not fit into the categories of “male” or “female. No matter what decision governing bodies make, its likely to be the wrong decision in the eyes of someone. Ideally, a uniform and universal agreement could be made across the different committees in the sports worlds, which could be updated as science continues to inform us of the potential athletic advantages and disadvantages associated with gender. Perhaps the issue is not how we can alter people’s bodies in order to make them fit into one of the two gender categories, but rather how we can expand the existing categories to include more types of gender than the constricting and overgeneral “male” and “female” classifications. The direction of policy surrounding transgender participation in sports will be best suited for everyone when it decides to take a step away from the ruthlessness of competition to establish empathy for people who want to work hard and succeed at something that they, like millions of other athletes throughout the world, love to do.