Why Many Trans People Are Still Unhappy

method. Foucault was particularly skeptical of the scientific truth of the Western medicine. He even believed that mental illness was a social construct! When one adopts a Foucauldian worldview, one can easily justify ignoring the many scientific facts around things like biology, and simply declare it all a social construct.

Why Many Trans People Are Still Unhappy

While postmodern feminists have a fundamentally antiscience worldview, it is true that they are generally supportive of trans people, and sometimes even help advocate for trans rights. Still, many trans people are far from happy with their influence on the public discourse around trans people. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, many trans people know acutely that what postmodern feminists say about trans people is simply not true. Every time a postmodern feminist speaks up about trans issues, there is great potential that they will misrepresent the trans condition, and further mislead the public about the trans condition. Many trans people know too well that gender isn't a social construct, having experienced gender dysphoria starting at an early age before they were socialized into the expectations of mainstream society. Trans people also know that gender isn't a social construct because they experience gender dysphoria as a very real medical condition, one that they suffer even in

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private, even when society's expectations is not an issue. To hear the postmodernist distortions about the trans condition and say nothing about it, is essentially to be willing to be misrepresented, something that many people simply cannot tolerate.

Secondly, the postmodern discourse around the trans condition essentially refuses to recognize the struggle and pain that is an important part of the trans experience. The postmodernist account downplays the severe distress associated with gender dysphoria, the actual reason that leads trans people to undergo gender transition, while it 'celebrates' the non-conformity of trans people, as if it were all a game. It leaves no room for trans people to speak up about the struggles they go through, and for these struggles to be recognized by other people. It is sort of like living in an authoritarian society where everyone has to pretend that things are fine, even when they are not.

Finally, the misrepresentation of trans people by postmodern feminists has consequences. The postmodernist account downplays the fact that gender dysphoria is why trans people transition. Instead, it paints trans people as choosing to rebel against the norms of society, and 'celebrates' them as agents of radical change, in an almost Marcusean way. This paints an image of trans people as radicals by choice, rather than as normal people doing their best about a difficult situation. The fact is, the 'choice' of gender transition is often made by trans people because the alternative would be intractable

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