Transsexualism: Any thoughts?

[mcb]

Hi Megan. The link to the transadvocate didn't come up with any information...it said "Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here." ??

Is there a specific search on the site to look for whatever you wanted to share?

Be careful not to include anything that isn't "URL," such as the period at the end of the sentence. Here it is again (still with _ in front):

_http://transadvocate.com/autumnsandeen/archives/2448

Many in the trans community are appalled at the behavior of certain profiessionals, authorities in their fields, that seem to inhabit a sort of parallel world where the proof of a statement lies in "the fact that I said it." It would not matter so much if the word of these authorities didn't lead to so much suffering in other people's lives, but it does.

It took me a few years to make the connection with psychopathy, but when I did it became clear what was happening. I don't care to publicly name anyone that I suspect, but the suspects should become apparent to anyone with a reasonably good understanding about psychpaths. For an overview of the damage being done, the notes near the beginning of Lynn Conway's "Trans News Updates" at _http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/News/News.html can be useful.

 

[mcb]

<snip>
Seems to me that most of the "problems" that gay, bisexual, and transgendered people have are directly related to the lack of acceptance and understanding from their families and society as a whole. Having lived a lot of my life within a community of opnely gay and generally accepted gay people, I found them to be psychologically healthier than your average person, probably because of all the crap they'd had to deal with in their life, and the kind of courage, self-acceptance, and self-awareness they had to develop in order to be "themselves" in this world.
<snip>

For me, this goes to the heart of the matter, and it's not inherently a trans issue. A lot of people are not allowed to grow up and be "themselves," leading to a lot of problems. Three books I learned about from this forum helped me to see this much more clearly, The Myth of Sanity, Trapped in the Mirror, and The Narcissistic Family.

With transkids, things can be especially rough. There is something about crossing gender lines that can trigger disproportionate hostility. It can be a terrific learning experience, though, for those who survive it. I occasionally talk with tranwomen that are just starting to come out, and they are usually full of all sorts of fears about what people (especially family) are going to think and how they are going to be treated. I was in much the same place just a few years ago. Now, I am not sure what I was so worried about. The dangers I imagined in my head were far greater than the dangers I have encountered on the streets.

I don't mean to minimize the real risks, but a lot of what people worry about isn't real. When I transitioned, I found found myself literally facing my worst fears, and some of them proved to be quite real. But I am still here, and I have become more far more independent and assertive.

One of the strangest outcomes, for me, has been discovering abilities I didn't know I had. I think I first noticed this when I found that my sense of color was starting to develop when I was about 54 years old, about a year after I started coming out. There is a language of color that I had never been aware of until then. Other abilities have "turned on" since then, the most recent being that I am starting to hear music in ways that I never did before. I had a lot of difficulty in school, growing up, and I see why now--some of my more important abilities were missing at the time.

This leads me to wonder, although it is a bit of a leap, if in fact the "two gender system" imposed upon humans might be one way of keeping us down. I suspect, as others here have suggested, that people are really all over the place relative to gender, and that hardly anyone (if anyone at all) fits the "gender ideal" for men or women. To survive well in a society where people are expected to be one or the other, it seems necessary to force-fit oneself into one of the roles--the one in which you appear to others to fit.

I think everybody does this, and I would think that everybody pays a price for it, but it can be especially hard for transpeople to do it, and some of them pay an especially big price. So big, in fact, that some of us decide to go against the system rather than continue to pay it. And then we are diagnosed as having a serious mental disorder. For sure.

 

[PepperFritz]

For me, this goes to the heart of the matter, and it's not inherently a trans issue. A lot of people are not allowed to grow up and be "themselves," leading to a lot of problems....

For sure. This world was designed to work like a machine, for the benefit of STS forces. We're taught that the better you fit into one of the prefabricated "holes" of that machine, the "smoother" your life will be, and the more likely you are to be "rewarded" with one of the prefabricated "prizes" we're all conditioned to hanker after. Being one's self, being authentic, being REAL, causes all kinds of complications, screws up the mechanisms, and therefore is fiercely discouraged.

This leads me to wonder, although it is a bit of a leap, if in fact the "two gender system" imposed upon humans might be one way of keeping us down.

I don't think that's "a leap" at all, I think it is spot on. Look how hard the STS forces have worked to keep us thinking and acting within either/or dualities -- Good and Evil, God and the Devil, Man and Woman, Black and White, Rich and Poor, Humans and Animals, Jews and Gentiles, Christians and Heathens, Liberals and Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, Bosses and Workers, Us and Them -- and the colossal suffering they have reaped from such thinking and behaviour. Think of how different the world would be if people could actually see all the colours in the spectrum, not just the black and white at either pole. The most subversive thing you can do in this world is to step outside of polarized thinking and muck around in the middle; to see and respond to connections and overlaps instead of divisions and separations.

There is something about crossing gender lines that can trigger disproportionate hostility.

Yes, absolutely. Threatening on so many levels -- personal, familial, communal, societal. And that's true of all "line crossing". Most people feel comfortable and "safe" within the predictability of predetermined "roles" and "categories", and the greatest scorn and hostility is heaped upon those who refuse to be categorized and stay "in their place". Because when everyone plays a predetermined role, and follows faithfully the script they're given, no one has to think very hard, everyone can just sleepwalk their way through life without the disruption of non-predictability.

People are not simple black-and-white roles and categories, they're incredibly complex, multi-coloured human beings. But the Matrix works hard to keep us from realizing that.

Imagine if everyone lived freely and openly the full spectrums of their beings. Imagine.

 

[jamie]

I am also wondering what are the probable consequences of a person's surgical alteration of their genitals, e.g. their sex change operation.

Could you be more specific about the kind of "consequences" you are talking about?

Additionally, most people I talk to find transsexuals delusional to some degree. Its almost in the same sense if I were talk to people about most of the stuff talked about in this site...

Well, what "most people" think is not really relevant to truth and reality, is it?

I'm wondering if transsexuality is a karmic effect....

Not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?

...or perhaps rebellion of sorts against STS manipulation or really an aspect of STS manipulation itself?

Not sure what you mean there either. Can you elaborate on that as well?

Hi Pepperfritz,

I apologize not making myself clear. I'm still trying to get used to thinking properly and asking things in a more constructive manner so I do apologize if I do not connect

I was thinking consequences of a physical conversion as opposed to being merely "comfortable" with one's biologically determined gender.

To elaborate, feeling incongruent in the socially assigned gender is the mental aspect but going one step further to obtain "surgical" procedures to change things is another huge leap. I am wondering about this since one aspect concentrates on coming to terms with the situation from the mental point of view, and another extends to a sense of physicality - would there be a difference in the 2?

A difference in the sense why some transsexuals transition and undergo a physical gender conversion - and some do not. I understand there's a whole spectrum of things but many of these individuals who go through a physical conversion process are more than often labelled as selfish and self serving. Yet in many instances, going through the physical transitional process awakens many things as Megan describes, as the experiences gone throught are markedly different from the mainstream.

With respect to karma, some cultures I've interacted with, like those in thailand view transsexuality as a totally different aspect and as a consequence of karma. They are are viewed as a "third gender". Its very different from western perspectives and apparently this isn't totally alien to shamanistic cultures or hindu cultures who have similar perspectives to a "third gender". Its still something very taboo though among most societies today - and karmic effects in the sense, these individuals are almost made to go through a process and path that is filled with revulsion from the mainstream. With respect to Karma, I do wonder if I'm dealing with things the "correct" way, if there is correct or incorrect in the first place.

I posted these because I am transsexual myself. and have experienced guilt and pain alot due to family. My family still accuses me of being self serving and I wonder if I've been manipulated by STS forces to pursue this transitional process in terms of a self serving nature. Or this process could very well be my rebellion against the laws set by the STS machine. I probably shouldn't be thinking about things in that way but it confuses me still.

I do feel the pain felt by my family still despite all these years (they are fundamentalist christian). There's alot I wish I could talk to them about especially the things I've pondered about life - since things have gotten slightly better over the years (have not stepped home for 8 years). But for the sake of not seeming even being more delusional I dumb things down alot (I remember being totally embarrassed and rebuked when I asked them about aliens when I was very young).

For that note, I have probably given up alot of things and I sometimes thinking of "what if" situations since I've lived almost a third of my life as female, since my middle teenhood, I've never grown up fully as a guy, yet I've never grown up as a female as well - I feel almost "genderless" these days? But yet the life path I've taken has definitely opened up many different perspectives - even though I've fit in well to society, I still have the proverbial "where do I fit in" question running through my mind...

Its something that I've been asking myself since after a few years since college that I've been pursuing the corporate ladder and still feeling "empty" despite achieving alot - there's really no end to it and feels almost tiresome. Hence, I find myself wanting to "throw things away" again to pursue a different path, not entirely new to me but one that I actually considered and somehow rationalized to be overly absurd in the past.

I'm not sure if I'm putting it across properly so I hope it makes sense. :( (I do sometimes feel intimidated making posts that might seem half baked since most folks here have much more developed insights). On the whole, I've felt liberated by the contents on the cassiopaean site since it has opened alot of perspectives for me and I'm still in the midst of completing the "wave" and adventure series... I'm still thinking of how to purchase the secret history book since my cards here in asia don't seem to process through. :)

 

[Hildegarda]

What did you find interesting about it?

Sorry for not elaborating. Specifically, the change in the society's perception of trans-gender and the change in people's average individual experiences -- all to the better:

In breakout sessions at the conference, transgender men and women in their 50s and 60s described lives of heartache and rejection [..] Those in their 20s and 30s conveyed a dedicated militancy[..]But the kids treated the conference like a family trip to Disneyland. They ran around with parents chasing after them, fussing over twisted bathing-suit straps or wiping crumbs from their lips. They looked effortlessly androgynous, and years away from sex, politics, or any form of rebellion.

and also the part about the new drugs that can make it easy for a growing person to change his\her body into one in which he\she naturally fits.

I am sorry that the article has generated hard feelings in the community. Fwiw, as a reader not familiar with the topic, I didn't see it that way at all. I also saw no contradiction\confusion that this quote from the transadvocate points out:

And now, a few months after the family talked to this reporter, the child profiled in the story is living full time as a girl and is doing very well at both home and at school. So, it was especially frustrating to Kim that the article gives a wrong impression how the child is actually doing; the child in question’s full time public expression of her affirmed, female gender actually resolved the conflict the child was feeling about being a girl. The impression Rosin left was that the child was presenting as gender confused, and that’s just not the case — The child has known who she is, and is comfortable about being a girl

This is not the impression I got on reading the last part of the article. The child clearly has adjusted and is continuing to adjust and to learn, catching up to her female peers. It the people around him, the extended family and the community, who have things to work through. That's sad, but unfortunately expected in a small conservative town, more so than elsewhere perhaps. Best wishes to the kid and the family.

 

[BassMann22]

Re: Transsexualism: Any thoughts?

Well first of all, I truly enjoyed reading some excellently written personal experiences which for me surmounts to the fact that we all have been brainwashed to believe and accept holy matrimony as the only and right way. I am not Sigmund Freud but I would like to salute those kindred spirits who follow and strive to express their individual soul's leading. This is the spirit of true progress! Each 'individual' person is at the same time ONE with the "World" and it's spinning and moving in some direction towards a certain destination. There is an old saying, He/she is an accident going somewhere to happen and if there is any truth to that then we are in the 'mist' of seeing an accident being repaired in the garage.

Bm

 

[knowledge_of_self]

So your 'personal connection' is based what gender they are???? How does someone's gender change who they are inside? If you truly have a 'personal connection' with someone then you should honor, love and accept them for exactly who they are - inside - not for what gender they happen to be or become. These statements of yours really shine a light on how very alone Ashley is if you are one of the 'only friends' who "accepts her situation"...

Anart, your statement above really made me think.

Ideally speaking, one’s gender, race, religion, beliefs, etc etc… shouldn’t matter to anyone, when they are observing those around them. Especially when it comes to family members and friends. However, seeing as how we live in an STS world and we are by default STS, I think that at some level our personal connection becomes an expectance. We expect people to conform and behave in certain ways, and if they do not, we become disappointed as if they have let us down.
But they are just living their lives, being who they are inside.

This notion can be given to many people and not just transgenders. For example, a father who becomes disappointed at his son who doesn’t want to follow his father’s foot-steps of becoming a doctor. Or a mother who teaches her daughter about being a good Christian and to love Jesus only to realise her daughter doesn’t believe in ways of Christianity or Jesus but in Buddha instead.

I think that our selfishness reflects on people and wants them to conform to our ways of life or what is more familiar to us. So that we do not go out of our comfort bubble and learn to extend ourselves and our beliefs.

This leads me to wonder, although it is a bit of a leap, if in fact the "two gender system" imposed upon humans might be one way of keeping us down. I suspect, as others here have suggested, that people are really all over the place relative to gender, and that hardly anyone (if anyone at all) fits the "gender ideal" for men or women. To survive well in a society where people are expected to be one or the other, it seems necessary to force-fit oneself into one of the roles--the one in which you appear to others to fit.

Fwiw, I think you’re on the mark as well.

I personally recall being a “tom-boy” in elementary school because it was more ‘cool’ to hang out with the guys than the girls. Than I went to high school and it was vice versa. Being a “girly girl” doing your nails, wearing girly clothes, etc was ‘cool’ so I conformed to it so I wouldn’t be teased.

I'm not sure if I'm putting it across properly so I hope it makes sense. (I do sometimes feel intimidated making posts that might seem half baked since most folks here have much more developed insights).

Jamie, this is a forum for networking, learning and understanding. So please don’t feel intimidated at all making posts on here, because in the end whether we’ve been here long time or a short time doesn’t matter. What matters is that you want to learn, and network which is why we’re all here. And if you make a post which seems ‘half baked’ than someone will ask you to elaborate, which in turn will lead to more learning and networking. So don’t worry, you’re in the right place for it, as the C’s say “learning is fun!” :P

 

[anart]

This notion can be given to many people and not just transgenders. For example, a father who becomes disappointed at his son who doesn’t want to follow his father’s foot-steps of becoming a doctor. Or a mother who teaches her daughter about being a good Christian and to love Jesus only to realise her daughter doesn’t believe in ways of Christianity or Jesus but in Buddha instead.

I think that our selfishness reflects on people and wants them to conform to our ways of life or what is more familiar to us. So that we do not go out of our comfort bubble and learn to extend ourselves and our beliefs.

This is narcissism, pure and simple and human beings do NOT have to be this way. I don't even think it is our natural state, as STS as we are. The recommended reading list is invaluable in this regard:

The Myth of Sanity
Trapped in the Mirror
Unholy Hungers
The Narcissistic Family

 

[PepperFritz]

With respect to Karma, I do wonder if I'm dealing with things the "correct" way, if there is correct or incorrect in the first place.

On some level you chose to be born into the circumstances you did, in order to learn specific lessons. The past life experiences and "karmic debts" that may be involved are really not that important. As the C's keep reminding us: All there is is Lessons. The most relevant questions are "Have I learned, and am I continuing to learn, from this experience of being Jamie the transexual? And "How do I learn even more about myself?"

My family still accuses me of being self serving and I wonder if I've been manipulated by STS forces to pursue this transitional process in terms of a self serving nature.

Surely you are not equating what your parents call "self-serving" with what the C's call "service to self"? Are they not being "self-serving" in expecting you to conform to something that you are not, in order to maintain their personal comfort level? The opposite to "service to self" -- i.e. "service to others" -- does not translate into an obligation to meet everyone's expectations and demands, no matter how unreasonable and damaging they may be. We can only begin to truly serve others if we really know OURSELVES, if we have learned how to authentically and unflinchingly be WHO WE ARE in the world, rather what others expect us to be. If becoming transgendered has helped you to KNOW and BE who you are -- who you really are -- there is nothing "selfish" about that. Self-knowledge is vitally necessary to spiritual growth.

I do feel the pain felt by my family still despite all these years (they are fundamentalist christian). There's alot I wish I could talk to them about especially the things I've pondered about life - since things have gotten slightly better over the years (have not stepped home for 8 years).

I also had to walk away from my family when I was very young, and have been estranged from them for most of my life. It has been unbearably painful at times. But I now know that I would never have learned the true value of truth and authenticity if it had not be fought for and won at such a great price.

 

[Gimpy]

Got it this time. :) And I agree with you, some of those 'doctor's' are scary customers. Their interests are in their own perceived notions of control, it has nothing to do with the patients.

Hubby and I were watching a POV show on Little People with different kinds of dwarfism, and the discussions about genetic testing and screening to end dwarfism was interesting. It reminds me of the controversy the transgender children and their families face...the pressure to 'conform to normal'...which doesn't exist. Reading the first article about the young boy and finding people who were supportive of his life as a girl was great. The author, in trying to show all sides of the issue, appeared to make it more confusing.

I don't agree with doctors forcing children into a mold that doesn't fit their souls.

Thank you Megan, for the links re transadvocate, I'll see if some of my other friends know about it, and if not, pass it along.


Gimpy
a bit tired to make
sense

 

[spyraal]

Hello to all,

The thoughts of other members have sufficiently covered a lot of my own on this subject . I will only try to make a point that i have in mind.
In my opinion, transsexuality (like homosexuality) has one part that has to deal with society and one part that has to deal with the "inside" of the person who experiences it...

We are all "different" in a sense, and every person has to give a similar "fight" (though i guess milder that in cases of TS!) to become what he truly feels like and escape the norms and expectations of family and society. Isn't it more or less the same with being overweight in a world that promotes starving models? Or with being a bald male, having a big nose, or a disfigured body? Or with having to become a "successful businessman" etc.? There so many artificial standards that we are forced to live with and spend our lives trying to conform to. All in all, i think that it is worth trying for all of us to stand up and defend our individual differences, our right to be special and choose for ourselves in the open, since this could potentially promote a greater understanding in society. And maybe society has made a few little steps because of that anonymous effort of people. For example, single οr divorced mothers were "unacceptable" in my country some years ago but now some social understanding has grown. But...

What is most important in my view, is first of all for us to reconcile with ourselves and our true nature -whatever that is- so as to be able to have the inner peace and the time and energy to try to be of true service to ourselves and then by expansion to others. For example, I have met many gay persons that are so attached and consumed in defending what they "are", that i cannot consider them "functional" persons. They seem to be only identified with a futile reaction to society, one that takes all their energy and focus. Being gay has become their major defining quality to the extend that sometimes it seems that most people care less about their being gay that they do. IMO, it takes some balance of thought so as to distinguish the more important from the lesser. Isn't it a waste to come to the point where all our time and effort is spend defending ourselves against some prejudice, no matter how well justified we might be in our cause? IMO, one should do what he has to do so as to feel "good in his shoes" and try to accept and self-acknowledge himself, because that is only the start of what we have to do here and the Work. Our main attribute is being 3rd density STS humans, and all others (nationality, color, sexuality etc.) are secondary in nature. Having that bigger perspective in mind, we may be "closer" to each other that we might even wish so, because at the end, we all like to feel that we are somehow different from our fellow men. But in a bigger scale, how different are we? So, these artificial norms and dividing lines in our societies, might just serve the purpose of distacting us from that realizations... My point is that one of our greatest responsibilities in this life is distinguishing what bears importance and what is a distraction, deciding where we "invest" our intent and energy, and the proper reference for that should be that we are all STS humans in a 3rd density Earth. Which of our other potential "differences" is more important that this one great thing we share? (take out psychopathy here!) None, in my humble opinion.

Just some thoughts. I hope i was not way of topic here! Thank you.
:)

 

[PepperFritz]

I have met many gay persons that are so attached and consumed in defending what they "are", that i cannot consider them "functional" persons. They seem to be only identified with a futile reaction to society, one that takes all their energy and focus.... Isn't it a waste to come to the point where all our time and effort is spend defending ourselves against some prejudice, no matter how well justified we might be in our cause? .... My point is that one of our greatest responsibilities in this life is distinguishing what bears importance and what is a distraction....

I understand what you're saying. However, I would suggest that such people are not simply "distracted" by their overriding defence of being gay, they are psychologically "stuck" in an early stage of Self-Knowledge. In a psychologically healthy person, Self-Knowledge leads to recognition and fusion of all of one's Little I's, and ultimately Self-Acceptance. To invest that much energy into "fighting" an outside enemy signifies an unresolved inner battle. I would suggest that such a person has "internalized" the rejection of his parents, peers, society, etc, and that on some level is self-hating and self-punishing. He is divided against himself, fighting inner demons that he projects outwards and fights as enemies.

My point is that one of our greatest responsibilities in this life is distinguishing what bears importance and what is a distraction, deciding where we "invest" our intent and energy....

Again, I think the kind of person you describe is more than just "distracted". I think it would be more accurate to say that one of our greatest responsibilities is to gain Self-Knowledge and psychological health -- a wholly integrated, undivided Self that is not so consumed with fighting and projecting inner conflicts that he cannot attend to "more important" matters....

 

[Adaryn]

It seems that gender switch is quite normal in 4th Density - it seems obvious, as 4th D (and above) is characterized by variation of physicality.

Q: (L) Now if, theoretically, an individual was to develop in a natural way by making all the proper choices, and was to arrive at the point in time when the major transition is to be made, would that individual's body pass through into that heightened dimension in a physical state?
A: Of course.
Q: (L) Now suppose this theoretical person were to pass through this transition to the other side, what state would they find their body in? Would it be exactly as it is now in terms of solidity? What would be the experience?
A: The key concept here is variability of physicality.
Q: (L) Does this mean that everybody will be different or that an individual will have greater control over the substance and constitution of the body?
A: Not exactly either. Your physicality will be variable according to need and circumstance.
Q: (L) Okay, does this mean that sometimes we will be more of a light body?
A: Close.
Q: (L) Does this mean that sometimes we will be more of a firm body as we have now?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) Will our bodies age differently?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) What will be the median lifespan?
A: 400 years
Q: (L) And will those who pass through this transition as, say, 50 year olds, will they have an equal opportunity to live an additional 400 years?
A: Will regenerate in youthful appearance.

So, this is a sort of fascinating idea that the alchemical transmutation is an interaction with another density. And, there was another comment made about this regarding the seeming "androgyny."

A: Picture driving down a highway, suddenly you notice auras surrounding everything.... Being able to see around corners, going inside little cottages which become mansions, when viewed from inside... Going inside a building in Albuquerque and going out the back door into Las Vegas, going to sleep as a female, and waking up male... Flying in a plane for half an hour and landing at the same place 5 weeks later... 4th density frees one from the illusion of "time" as you WILL to perceive it. ...Picture driving to reach New Mexico by car and "skipping" over and arriving in San Diego instead, or... driving to the grocery store in Santa Fe, and winding up in Moscow, instead.
And it would certainly not be a stretch, in such a reality, to transmute lead into gold! The key seems to be, accessing the 4th density reality, and that requires the transmutation of the alchemist!

Another extract :

The only person who claimed to have seen Fulcanelli since was Canseliet, his pupil. He said that he met the Master in Spain in 1954 under highly unusual circumstances. The late Gerard Heym, founder member of the Society for the Study of Alchemy and Early Chemistry and editor of Ambix, its journal, acclaimed as Europe's formost occult scholar of his day, made friends with Canseliet's daughter and through her, had a look at Canseliet's passport. It DID carry a Spanish entry-visa stamp for 1954.

One friend of Canseliet, who wished to remain anonymous, said that this meeting was "in another dimension... a point where such meetings are possible." The story was that Canseliet "received a summons," of some sort; perhaps telepathic, and traveled to Seville where he was met and taken by a long, roundabout route, to a large mountain chateau which proved to be an enclave of alchemists - a colony! He said that Fulcanelli appeared to have undergone a curious form of transformation so that he had characteristics of both male and female - he was androgynous. At one point, Canseliet said, Fulcanelli actually had the complete characteristics of a woman. Some of the more obscure alchemical literature does point to this androgyny. The adept going through the transformation supposedly loses all hair, teeth and nails and grows new ones. The skin becomes younger, smoother and the face takes on asexual characteristics.

http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/grail_5e.htm

 

[go2]

i personally believe the whole gender thing is more of a sliding scale than a black and white one or the other thing and i consider myself just 'borderline' female

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml

Some researchers say that men can have 'women's brains' and that women can think more like men.
Find out more about 'brain sex' differences by taking the Sex ID test, a series of visual challenges and questions used by psychologists in the BBC One television series Secrets of the Sexes:

This leads me to wonder, although it is a bit of a leap, if in fact the "two gender system" imposed upon humans might be one way of keeping us down. I suspect, as others here have suggested, that people are really all over the place relative to gender, and that hardly anyone (if anyone at all) fits the "gender ideal" for men or women. To survive well in a society where people are expected to be one or the other, it seems necessary to force-fit oneself into one of the roles--the one in which you appear to others to fit.

Thanks for the interesting topic, Megan. I am a man with three grown children. However, I have few of the interests of men in our patriarchal society. I took the sliding scale Sex I. D. test yesterday after reading this thread. The average man scores 50 on the scale of brain sex identity. I scored 25 indicating a more feminine perspective and function of the brain. I wasn’t surprised given, that I would rather prepare Thanksgiving dinner than set in the living room watching football. The levels and ratios of testosterone/estrogen have a profound affect on human behavior and phenotype. These levels and ratios are genetic and affected by the mother’s testosterone level at six weeks of gestation. The sex hormones also affect maturation, lower testosterone levels in men lead to delayed maturation. This possibly allows the brain to develop more complex connections. Could this be a factor in occurrence of the higher centers necessary for spiritual evolution of the individual and society? Human maturation has been accelerated by about four years in the last hundred years. Is humanity sliding back on the evolutionary potential scale? There is a website which has a collection of research and theory of sexual selection and variation at the following link.

http://serpentfd.org/3-neuropsychology.html

This link theorizes the sex hormone ratios vary over evolutionary time and determine and are determined by the patriarchal or matriarchal orientation of a society in a feedback loop. I hope these sources and comments are useful to exploring this extensive topic.

 

[mcb]

Thanks for the interesting topic, Megan.

Actually, Jamie started it. I just used it as a good excuse to end my "lurking" streak. Like many TSs, I lost my job within a year after I transitioned, and given a choice between spending my time here and finding another job, I went job hunting. Things looked bleak at first--there seemed to be a lot of things NOT in my favor, in terms of my age, my health, the job market, and discrimination. The TS unemployment rate is rumored to be very high. I worked through it bit by bit for over 9 months, and when I was really ready to go back to work, I had a job within a few weeks. The forum and the "reading list" I mentioned earlier were very, very helpful.

I am a man with three grown children. However, I have few of the interests of men in our patriarchal society. I took the sliding scale Sex I. D. test yesterday after reading this thread. The average man scores 50 on the scale of brain sex identity. I scored 25 indicating a more feminine perspective and function of the brain. I wasn’t surprised given, that I would rather prepare Thanksgiving dinner than set in the living room watching football.

It's an interesting test. It will make more sense if you can watch the TV program that it goes with. I don't remember the all the details of my score now, but while I generally generally scored toward the female side, I did very well with one of the "male-oriented" tests and that put my score exactly in the middle. The irony of that is that I found that particular test impossibly difficult (I think it was one with shapes turned in different orientations?) and I gave up and just made intuition-guided guesses because otherwise I couldn't do it in the time allowed. For things like reading facial expressions, that makes sense. But solving those rotation problems with intuition really surprised me.

The levels and ratios of testosterone/estrogen have a profound affect on human behavior and phenotype. These levels and ratios are genetic and affected by the mother’s testosterone level at six weeks of gestation. The sex hormones also affect maturation, lower testosterone levels in men lead to delayed maturation. This possibly allows the brain to develop more complex connections. Could this be a factor in occurrence of the higher centers necessary for spiritual evolution of the individual and society?

Profound indeed. I don't know for sure, but I think I was exposed prenatally to DES, an endocrine disrupter. My bloodstream level of the precursor hormone pregnenolone is very low, which causes my other hormones to be low as well. It seems to have affected my brain development, although in terms of the female/parallel -- male/serial thinking model, I think I am in the middle--balanced serial/parallel. Unfortunately, though, the synapses need pregenolone to function, and when it's low there are negative mental effects. I have tried to learn more, but apparently it is an under-researched area. I keep running into "no one knows."

I never did fully mature, physically, as a male, no doubt because of the low hormone levels. It turns out that low testosterone can also create a risk of testicular cancer and guess what I was diagnosed with at 56 years old, while I was transitioning. Lessons, lessons, and more lessons. It wan one of the most important learning experiences I have ever had, although I can only say that because I happened to survive. I don't really recommend it to anyone else.

By the way, I don't think that hypgonadism leads to transsexualism. I haven't seen any evidence of that. I do think that I may have both as a result of something else such as prenatal exposure to an endocrine disrupter.

I seem to be predisposed to "search," which is an important part of "spiritual evolution," but until recently there were so many things about my brain that didn't seem to be working that all I did was search, not evolve. I can't say that my "different" brain has given me any advantage. I think that different people face different challenges and lessons. My brain organization probably helped determine my "major" but I have to study like anyone else, and often I have to work harder at learning than many other people do. I always have. Even that, though, simply changes the lessons somewhat.

Human maturation has been accelerated by about four years in the last hundred years. Is humanity sliding back on the evolutionary potential scale? There is a website which has a collection of research and theory of sexual selection and variation at the following link.

http://serpentfd.org/3-neuropsychology.html

This link theorizes the sex hormone ratios vary over evolutionary time and determine and are determined by the patriarchal or matriarchal orientation of a society in a feedback loop. I hope these sources and comments are useful to exploring this extensive topic.

Perhaps. I am finding some very interesting reading in the book Reinventing the Sacred - A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion by Stuart A. Kaffman. I am only about 1/4 of the way through, and I can't say anything yet about the book as a whole. "Coincidentally," I had just finished reading "In Search of the Double Helix" when I found this one. Without that background from a book published 20 years ago, I wouldn't understand this brand new one. Also "coincidentally," the best way for me to commute to my new job is on light rail, which gives me an hour and a half a day of reading time; otherwise I never would have read the first book which has been sitting on the shelf for 5 years since I learned about it from the Cass website. Interesting, these coincidences.

The new book hasn't had anything much to say about gender so far, but it says a lot about emergent phenomena, of which gender would seem to be one. I think I was raised to believe that gender and sex were fundamental--as in "male and female He created them." I don't believe that any more. I think they are "useful" in the evolutionary sense. Perhaps gender is the visible aspect of something deeper that we don't understand yet. It might be interesting to see what that would be.