RE: Biological underpinnings of Human sexuality(part 2 - bypassing the evolutionary filters)
"I won't call them disorders(I mean the gender dysphoria, not genetic conditions). For it to be a disorder, it should make people unable to function."
"Some studies shows that it is not the gender that people feel they belong that causes the dysfunction, but rather the stress caused by not being accepted. "
Even if that's the case, I would totally call it a disorder. We are social beings. Being accepted by other humans is something we have a natural need for, hence with out it we can't function normally. E.g. a man with a totally disfigured face from birth (but otherwise totally healthy) can theoretically function "normally". The problem is he can't because the majority of people don't want to deal with him because... he is too ugly and humans are assholes! Worst case scenario, he will be ridiculed and made fun of, best case scenario people will feel pity for him and say "oh, the poor thing, it's ugly as fuck, let's keep a distance just in case it's contagious". Unless he has a face transplant or whatever, "normal functioning" is out of the book, regardless of how good they feel with themselves.
And to say it blantly, if somebody needs to have his dick chopped off, his breasts enlarged and his body injected with all kinds of hormones to feel "normal" and function "normally", yeah, I consider that a disorder. Extremely invasive surgery + over the counter drugs sounds to me like something you would give to a patient, not a healthy human being that "functions normally".
Whether it's actually treatable it's something I don't have an opinion for, since I haven't looked up on it. I have heard though that suicide rates on people who have reassigned their gender are quite high. IF (caps for emphasis) that's true it definitely needs further investigation. Is it because they still feel not accepted by other people? Or is it because something is really wrong on their head to begin with (hence a mental disorder)? If it's true, I incline to the latter cause we humans, much like all animals, have a strong inner will to stay alive regardless of how much our life sucks.
But of course I could may well be wrong and I would gladly hear a counter argument.
Makes sense. Was just pointing out the debate. Though on second thoughts, it makes me wonder that in this line of argument - even homosexuality would make an individual dysfunctional. They won't reproduce, if society doesn't accept their behaviour, they would as well fall into the initial description. However, we don't need treatment for it, while in case of gender dysphoria we go ahead and change the biological sex. Should social acceptance be used as measure of calling something a disorder?
PS: I know it's a sensitive topic, but we need a discussion backed by logic and scientific facts on this. If people can avoid getting angry and make logical contributions to the debate, it would be great and progressive.