transmascworld:

Debate: Do you need dysphoria to be trans?

Interested in what people have to say on this, and if people could enlighten me to new ideas that would be amazing. I’ve never understood how someone could be trans without dysphoria, I mean someone must feel some level of discomfort to feel like they need to find a more fitting identity? I believe that all trans people have different levels of dysphoria, but I don’t understand how a trans person can be completely without any sort of dysphoria.

Tobias x

I personally don’t believe you need dysphoria to be trans.

Although it is a huge factor for many people, there are those who may feel a different gender identity simply describes them more accurately. Preferring one thing over another doesn’t require you to hate the other, it simply means the other one appeals more. 

There’s also the fact that nonbinary people fall under the category of transgendered as well. For example, some bigender people that partially identify as their assigned gender may not have any dysphoria, but that doesn’t automatically mean they’re cis.

If we’re talking about body dysphoria, then I certainly don’t think it’s a requirement.

Like I said earlier, it definitely is common and often times a big issue for those who have it, but it’s not a universal experience. As we all know, gender and body are two different things. There are plenty of trans people, binary and nonbinary, who don’t feel disgusted with their body. Personally I don’t have an issue with mine. What I do have an issue with is how people perceive me and treat me based on the way I was born along with the way they try to tie gender to certain body types, which is more a problem with society than with myself, and thus I don’t feel like my body is what’s wrong. For me it’s not really a “I wish I had this kind of body” kind of thing but a “wow, people are assholes” kind of thing.