I have to say honestly that I don't completely understand being transgender, whether it be how I was raised or lack of education in the subject or simply because I am not (this doesn't mean I am in opposition to people that identify different to their assigned gender, just that I don't understand)
Something really interesting stated here is "The findings revealed that the boys with GID showed hypothalamic responses very much like those of girls and girls with GID showed hypothalamic responses similar to those of boy’s." which shows/leads me to think that it is physiological and not just psychological, as many sources would lead you to believe.
Like its all luck of the draw, or some might say lack thereof based upon societal acceptance, that causes is it potentially.
My apologies if this is going off and seemingly weird but I find this to be extremely intriguing and it honestly kind of changes some of the things that I knew, or thought I knew, about the entire subject. Thanks for sharing this, honestly I like being able to learn new things and considering this is a subject is, well, lets just say that my health teacher essentially said that people whom claim to be transgender are just looking for attention and will not be getting into heaven (though not in so nice of words) so I kind of have a skewed education on the subject to start, not that I agree with what I was taught but... My apologies, I am digressing.
Hello @kryzsec :)
Thank you so much for taking a few minutes of your busy schedule to read and contribute to this debate with your comment. I really respect people - like you - who are open to explore new topics; particularly when they are as controversial as this; and when they already have come across preconceptions about it such as that of your teacher! Oh my ... :/
Nowadays, it is well established that most of our features are a product of the interplay among biological, psychological and social factors. And our sexuality is one of them. For children like Camille the question that remains is: which of these factors weighed heavier in her feeling as a girl? While as for the teenagers who underwent the hypothalamic response exam it is quite clear that their biology plays a bigger role in their gender dysphoria. Each case is a different one and this is why the whole topic becomes even more delicate.
It is completely understandable why you find tricky to grasp what entails being a transgender (my brother says the same thing). But, in a nutshell, it is basically what we have discussed here : when a person's sense of self and sex/gender identity goes against that they have been assigned to when they were born. It must be a very overwhelming feeling for those who go through it. And, not only do they have to face their internal conflict but also a society that mostly holds prejudice against them. But I put society's reaction down to lack of understanding.
If more people were open-minded as you are; and first, admitted to themselves they don't fully grasp this topic; and second, had the courage to face it despite all the stigma surrounding it, there wouldn't be so much discrimination and harmful stereotyping out there towards transgenders.
So, thank you once again for your honesty and open-mind approach!
All the best to you :)