People who suffer from anorexia see themselves in the mirror and believe that they are overweight, even though they are not. They do not accurately perceive external reality.
People who suffer from gender dysphoria look in the mirror and accurately perceives external reality; it is that accurate perception which causes distress. They don't look at themselves and think "I have a female body." They look at themselves and think "I have the wrong body."
That is not what people with anorexia think. Yes, both look at the mirror and don't like what they see, but a person with anorexia doesn't like what they see because they see something that is untrue. A person with gender dysphoria doesn't like what they see because they see things accurately and feel a disconnect with what they are seeing.
Whether they perceive a reality that isn't true, or they feel that the reality they perceive isn't true....ultimately the same difference. Their mind is the one in error.
We take measures to help the anorexic person understand that they aren't overweight. What they are seeing is normal and healthy. That their mind is not aligned with what their body needs. That they are loved and valued.
Why don't we take the measures to help the transgender person to understand that the gender they see is correct? That they are that gender. That their body is correct, and instead it is their mind that is not aligned with their body, and that they are loved and valued.
Why the disparity between the two? Why are we willing to help one person become mentally healthy and gain weight back, but we are not telling the other person to become mentally healthy and see their body as being correct? And in fact, we are taking the direct opposite pathway....
~Jeordam
Saving the Princess, Humanity, or the World-Entire since 1985
- 08/03/2017 07:13:32 PM
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