New and Looking

[Bionca]

OK you guys are really sweet.. thanks

I graduated with a degree in Social Work, with a minor in Anthropology (don't ask).

The hooker issue is also in part because, well for lots of us it's the best option for money. Hormones aren't cheep and aren't covered by most insurance (particularly for the younger girls), any feminization surgeries are also VERY expensive and not covered. There is little legally that can be done if you get fired after anouncing you are going to transition, and having the appearance of a woman, but the paperwork of a man makes it hard to get a proper job. So, escorting is a way to get by, particularly for poor women. It's a catch 22, we are thought of as hookers and treated as such, we often have to become hookers because we can't get another job that would pay even close.

Science is actually starting to show some physical indications that gender identity is "hard wired" in the brain. A few years ago a doctor did autopsies on some post-op women and looked at their brains. He found that the structure of the brain was identical to genetic women's. The sample size was too small to make anything conclusive (only 6 people), but 100% of them had the same structural differances from male brains. For example, the portion of the brain that deals with language is larger in women than men, and the connections between the right and left sides are more developed in women. Given that the brain is fully developed well before sex organs are developed, this would seem to confirm that many transwomen are correct when we say we "have always been women".

The more this is studied as a medical condition rather than a "disorder", I think the more we will discover. The more we discover, the more comfortable people will be and the more people will understand that some girls are born with an innie and some are born with an outie.

[sesame]

As you say doctor.
In fact I believe that man and woman are not at all different. One is "just a hormone away" from the other. Poetically speaking.

[sesame]

Athena, I mean Bionca, au revoir my friend.
See you again in some 16 hours.

[sesame]

Before I go... Whats that innie outie thing you just enounced?

[Bionca]

Originally Posted by sesame

Before I go... Whats that innie outie thing you just enounced?

Genitalia (innie = vagina/outie = penis)

:D

[Bionca]

Originally Posted by sesame

As you say doctor.
In fact I believe that man and woman are not at all different. One is "just a hormone away" from the other. Poetically speaking.

The theory of "Brain sex" is still pretty new, but it is being backed up with some pretty strong observations. It could be argued that gender is simply the way we are brought up, and there are plenty of men and women who do not conform to typical "male" and "female" behaviors who have no issue with their identity as a man or woman.

However, here is some pretty strong evidence from studying children that there is *something* to the idea that boys and girls relate to the world in a differing way. Not to mention some gendered behaviors that are held across cultures and times.

[sesame]

Athena: goddess of wisdom, Minerva.
Pretty indepth stuff you are broadcasting, Bionca! I think these things should be made known to as many people as possible. But then only a few can digest this stuff.
People in general are happy go nescient. But the odd thing is that most have got an aversion towards knowledge!!!
Still it is a good thing to try and pass on the information.

[sesame]

By the way, I just remembered something. As embryos, all are born the same. Then after some foetal development, the boys and girls genitalia start to segregate into different organs from the same parent organ. And this much is true:
glans of penis=clitoris
testes=ovaries

[sesame]

Also congrats on reaching the magic number of 41. That is of occult significance in this site.

[Bionca]

I didn't really intend to get so "heavy" here, but I'm pleased that it's been so well received. I do agree that most people avoid learning things, particularly things that contradict tradition and time honored beliefs.

One theory as to how a person can have an identity contrary to their sex has to do with hormone levels in the womb after brain development and before sex expression. It is hard to prove because the adults who had been "estrogenated" would have to self-report to the DR conducting the study. It also fails to address transmen, since the same or similar washing of testosterone has not been seen to happen.

so umm... what happens with 41, aside from Life the universe and...everrything?