What is sexual identity dysphoria? When does it show symptoms? We researched the subject in detail…
Some things in life don’t have a reason, they just are. It is necessary to look at the issue of sexual preference and sexual identity from this perspective. Just because your son plays with dolls or your daughter dresses like a boy does not mean that she will be a transgender person in the future. Or if the boy does not have a father whom he can take as a role model and grew up with his mother… The mother is effective in the formation of the sexual identity of the girl and the father is effective in the formation of the sexual identity of the boy, but it is not a determining factor.
In fact, the cause of sexual identity dysphoria is not fully known. Researchers argue that this may be a result of the interaction of biological, genetic, familial, social and cultural factors. This condition, which is rare in society, is a difficult and long journey that tests both the individual and the family, leads to depression and suicide, and extends to gender reassignment surgery…
BODY AND SOUL ARE IN CONFLICT
So, how does “gender identity dysphoria” emerge? If people who experience this dissatisfaction feel like a woman, they define themselves as trapped in a male body; if they feel like a man, they define themselves as trapped in a female body. President of the Sexual Health Institute Association (CİSED), Dr. When we asked Cem Keçe to define it medically, he explains: “Gender identity means being aware of one’s gender, perceiving one’s body and self within a certain gender, and having one’s emotions and behaviors conform to this. In short, it is defined as a person’s acceptance of himself as male or female. However, being born a girl or a boy is not enough for a person to gain their sexual identity. Although the sexual identity of the majority of people is compatible with their biological gender, some people may feel that they belong to the opposite gender rather than their biological gender. This situation, in which a person’s sexual identity and biological sex do not match, is called “transsexuality”. In other words, if there is a significant incompatibility between the person’s lived and expressed sexual identity and their primary or secondary sexual characteristics, if they very much want to get rid of the sexual characteristics that cause this incompatibility, if they desire to be of the other gender, and if this situation leads to a decrease in social, professional or other areas of functionality, the diagnosis of transsexuality is made. “It can be placed.”
EARLY LIFE
The gender determined by our anatomical, genetic and biological characteristics at birth is our “biological gender”. We begin to gain the awareness that we are a girl or a boy when we turn three years old. The feeling of “I am a girl” or “I am a boy” is felt between the ages of three and six, called the “phallic period”. Thus, the foundations of sexual identity are laid.
Psychiatrist Prof. from Memorial Şişli Hospital. Dr. Sedat Özkan says that parents can notice behaviors that resemble sexual identity conflict in children in the early stages as follows: “Wanting to be of the opposite sex and insisting on this, the desire to dress appropriately for the opposite sex, playing with games and toys belonging to the gender they feel, playing with playmates of the opposite sex, that is, the feeling that they are of the opposite sex.” Choosing from the opposite sex, disliking the sexual anatomy, and wanting the sexual characteristics of the opposite sex can be observed. Opposite gender-specific behavior in childhood does not always mean that gender identity dysphoria will be experienced in adulthood. “When such behaviors are noticed in early childhood and adolescence, what parents need to do is to put aside punitive and judgmental attitudes, try to understand the process, and consult a mental health professional who is an expert in the subject and can get support.”
PUBERTY
Sexual identity, which begins to form at an early age, becomes stronger in adolescence. To elaborate on the subject a little more, gender dysphoria manifests itself, especially in adolescence, with the dissatisfaction felt by the person towards the development of secondary sexual characters in his body. Secondary sex characters; In a biological girl, it manifests itself as breast development or menstrual bleeding, and in a biological boy, it manifests itself as beard development, growing taller or deepening his voice. The person feels some kind of uneasiness about these. Sexual Education Treatment and Research Association (CETAD) Board Member Specialist stated that the person experiencing these processes should consult a mental health specialist. Dr. Seven Kaptan said, “When a person going through these processes consults a mental health specialist, they go through an evaluation process. The evaluation made is not an approval of her identity as a girl or a boy; It aims to make it easier for him to get to know himself in this process and to make sense of the unrest he experiences. In other words, when you go to a mental health specialist, you are not given an answer like a notary or a notary saying that your gender identity does not match your physical gender, you are a trans person and you should get treatment. “This may require observation for different periods of time for each individual,” he says.
IT’S NOT THE SAME AS HOMOSEXUALITY
Transsexuality is often confused with homosexuality, which is a sexual orientation. Prof. explains this confusion caused by reasons such as social prejudices, homophobia and transphobia. Dr. Sedat Özkan clarifies: “When we say homosexuality, we are talking about a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is about which gender a person is sexually and emotionally attracted to. Homosexuality means that a person’s sexual and emotional attraction is towards people of the same gender. “Here, there is no dissatisfaction with one’s own biological sex. He may be satisfied with his own body and gender, but he is sexually and emotionally attracted to his fellow men.”
GENDER CHANGE
The greatest desire of individuals experiencing sexual identity dissatisfaction is to change their gender… Expert. Dr. Seven Kaptan says that in many countries, the legal limit for gender change is 18 years of age, and hormone treatments can be started at earlier ages with family approval. However, he adds that it would not be correct to specify a certain age: “It would not be correct to say that gender change should be at this age; “It can be shaped by many variables such as the person’s physical health, family and social support, and quality of life.”
A person with sexual identity dissatisfaction goes on a long and difficult journey after deciding on gender reassignment surgery. Expert explains that the person should be followed by a psychiatrist for at least three to six months according to international standards. Dr. Kaptan states that if the psychiatrist deems it appropriate, hormone treatment can be started in the first place: “With an average of one year of hormone treatment, the person gains real-life experience in the appearance of the gender he or she feels like. He continues his supportive meetings with a mental health specialist on issues such as adaptation difficulties he may experience during this period, coming out to his family, expressing himself in education and work. At the end of this process, he applies to the court with a committee report stating that he is trans, requesting a gender change. He completes his surgical treatments after receiving legal approval. “After the surgical treatments, he applies to the court again and requests a change of identity and name.”
THE REAL LIFE STORY OF A PAINTER
“The Danish Girl”, adapted to the cinema from a real life story, tells exactly this subject. The film tells the story of painter Einar Wegener, who is described as one of the first known gender change operations in history.
Einar Wegener, like his wife Gerda Wegener, is a painter… When the “desire to be a woman” he suppressed within himself becomes uncontrollable, a great struggle begins for him and his wife, both personally and in terms of their relationship. The important part of the movie for us is that the couple lives in an intellectual environment. But even this is not enough for transsexuality to be considered normal. The situation is even worse if we consider that the movie takes place in the 20s. Because according to the understanding of those times, even in the “intellectual” circle, transsexuality was a kind of perversion, a personality disorder… Considering how society still looks at transsexuals today, it sounds normal for this to happen in those years.
Transsexuality is often confused with homosexuality, which is a sexual orientation. Prof. explains this confusion caused by reasons such as social prejudices, homophobia and transphobia. Dr. Sedat Özkan clarifies: “When we say homosexuality, we are talking about a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is about which gender a person is sexually and emotionally attracted to. Homosexuality means that a person’s sexual and emotional attraction is towards people of the same gender. “Here, there is no dissatisfaction with one’s own biological sex. He may be satisfied with his own body and gender, but he is sexually and emotionally attracted to his fellow men.”
Neslihan Böle/Formsanté 2016 – April issue