A bit of insight in the topic of gender, pronouns, and dysphoria

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of students.

“For me, dysphoria is when I look at my own body and it’s not what I see in my head. In my head, I see a man. But when I look down, I’m biologically a woman,” John Smith said.

Polls have shown that globally, people are slowly accepting those that belong to the LGBTQ community. With this modern civilization, we don’t have to worry about the things we would have been concerned over centuries before. We have new issues and taboos that we must overcome.

Euphoria is a state of extreme happiness. Dysphoria is a state of unhappiness or discomfort. Gender dysphoria is when a person might feel as if they’re trapped in the wrong body; there is a conflict between the gender they feel that they are and their actual biology.

John Smith is an FTM, which is a form of transgender. Transgender people are people whose gender expression differs from their birth-assigned sex. A person who identifies as an FTM (female-to-male) is someone who was born a female but identifies as male, while an MTF (male-to-female), vice versa.

“For awhile I have always been leaning more towards the masculine side. When I was little, I was considered a tomboy. About last year in December, I finally decided that I could do something to change myself and I decided to start transitioning,” John Smith said.

A transgender person begins transitioning once they begin to identify with the gender that is opposite of their birth-given anatomy.

In order for him to transition, he would need approval from his psychiatrist, verifying that his dysphoria keeps him from living a healthy and productive life and not only that, a psychiatrist would be helpful in order to adjust to these changes. Even though he needs to get this approval, this isn’t the only obstacle that he is going to have to face.

Not only does he need the verification from a professional, but he must also come out in order to make people aware of his new identity.  Transitioning also includes changing their name and gender on legal documents.

At PHU, we can see the differences within the way we dress. When you see a white male student with a polo and khakis, you might assume that he’s the average popular guy that all the girls swoon over, but perhaps he might be the geekiest person ever. We must learn to shove stereotypes aside and to not assume that a person is a specific gender, just by the way they dress. Pronouns are something that transgender people have to struggle with.

Currently, one of the main hurdles for John Smith is dysphoria.

“My upper body is my biggest cause of dysphoria-also my voice because I can’t get it deep enough yet. Mainly what I have to do is I have to sleep or I have to lay down on my stomach-I’d have to try to not feel as feminine,” John Smith said.

Most of the alterations that he would like to go through cannot be acted upon until he is 18, when the state recognizes him as a legal adult. Until then, it is a waiting game.