My point (and my only point in fact ) is, whatever your think of surgical gender modification shouldn’t be any different from what you think of voluntary amputation. Because ultimately they’re the same thing, regardless of the consequences to the one who undergoes either: it’s heavy body modification for the purpose of allowing the requestor to fit their own body image. Nothing more, nothing less.
Personally, both make me cringe, but logic dictates that they’re two sides of the same coin.
I beg to differ: I know people who lost a limb, and they’re mighty inconvenienced in their daily lives for sure. Also, they have to deal with chronic pain and shit like that. But they’re functional individuals for the most part.
People who have gender reassignment surgery aren’t just unable to have children, they’re also unable to have an orgasm. That’s a pretty heavy loss too in my book. It might not prevent them from climbing up stairs or pushing a trolley at the supermarket, but I can totally see how this can be a devastating side effect. Not to mention the possible trauma of changing gender and identity, which, even if it’s desired and chosen, I imagine can be quite a shock on someone’s personality.
But crucially, these things are explained to gender reassignment seekers, and discussed up the wazoo with their health care professional before anything can happen. Because it’s legal and there’s a well-defined process that everybody has to follow. People who want to go through with it have to follow months, if not years of psychological counseling and evaluation to obtain what they wish. The doctors have to be convinced the risks of hormone therapy and surgery outweigh the psychological issues created by a person trapped in the wrong body.
Assume for a minute that people who want a limb off are in fact also trapped in the wrong body - only in a different way: why shouldn’t they be allowed to follow the same path? If it was legal, they could follow the exact same process. It would be a pretty sane thing to do, instead of letting them simmer in their misery. In fact, it might even put some of them off their project. If it doesn’t, at least they’d know what to expect, and doctors would have a chance to evaluate how serious their request is, and the consequences denying it. Just like gender reassignment.
Finally, regarding the consequences to society, it’s true that a transgender person will probably incur fewer ongoing medical costs than an amputee. But then, countless people go bungee-jumping, motorcycle racing or off-piste skiing, break their spine, then end up costing a fortune to society. Many, many more than people who want a limb off. Yet nobody bats an eyelid when they decide to engage in dangerous activities. So I think that particular point is moot really.
Yeah okay, slip of the tongue. One can’t always think of weighing each and every one of one’s words all of the time I agree with you actually, just didn’t use the proper term.