Men Trapped in Transsexual Bodies
Men Trapped in Transsexual Bodies By Roberta Angela Dee
An introduction to gender in the year 2040:
WHEN EVERYONE BECAME TRANSSEXUAL
In the year 2020, parents began reporting that children born since the year 2013 were all asking for a sex change operation. Scientists were baffled and could offer no logical explanation for the phenomenon. By the year 2040, it was made national law that every child would receive sex reassignment surgery upon reaching his or her fourteenth birthday. Transsexuality had become the norm.
It wasn’t even considered a rite of passage. It was just the way society had begun to work. At the age of 14 years, young men received sex reassignment surgery to become young women. The surgery included organ transplants from former females. This made it possible for the new women to conceive and have children. Former women became the fathers of these children.
Society adjusted to its new norm
Society adjusted to its new norm, until one day a young man by the name of Adam refused to undergo the surgical procedure. His parents were understandably confused by his behavior and took him to the eminent psychologist, Dr. Annie Lawson.
Dr. Lawson was a pudgy, middle aged woman. She kept a very soft-focused portrait of herself on her desk. The portrait captured a smile that was difficult to discern. In other words, one could not determine whether her smile was an indication that she was content or merely constipated. At best, it was ambiguous.
Adam was led into Dr. Lawson’s office and instructed to sit in the chair placed in front of the physician’s small desk. He seemed resigned to the fact that his behavior would be questioned. However, he showed no signs of being nervous or unsettled by the experience.
“Good afternoon, Adam.”
“Good afternoon, Dr. Lawson,” the boy replied.
Dr. Lawson smiled and, while fidgeting with some journals scattered about her desk, asked, “What’s this I hear about you not wanting to have sex reassignment surgery? Would you like to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Adam answered, while examining the office for items that might be of interest to a young boy.
Do you think it’s normal?
Apparently anticipating some resistance, Dr. Lawson revised her question. “Do you think it’s normal to be a 14 years old boy and not want to become a young woman?”
“It’s normal for me,” Adam answered. “I’m happy being a boy. I enjoy being a boy, and I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.”
“Well, the fuss is about your abnormal behavior, Adam,” Dr. Lawson replied. “You’re 14 years old, and obviously enjoy wearing boy’s clothes and parading yourself around like a young man.”
“Yea, I do. “Cause that’s what I am.”
“So, you’re telling me that in terms of your gender, you identify with being a male?” the doctor inquired.
“Yup! That’s what I’m telling you,” Adam replied, confidently. “What part don’t you understand?”
The doctor interpreted Adam’s tone as being condescending, arrogant, and disrespectful. She responded accordingly.
“I understand it all,” she said, obviously annoyed by the young man’s response. “You need to understand that I’m a psychologist, and a pretty good one. I probably know you better than you know yourself.
“That’s crap!” Adam responded.
“Crap?” Dr, Lawson shouted. “You think what I’m saying is crap? Well, let me show you something, young lady.”
“I’m not a young lady, Adam retorted. “I’m a guy, you silly old –”
“Now, you watch that tongue of yours, Adam,” the doctor interrupted. “I need to read something to you.”
The doctor rose from her seat and pulled a thick manual from the bookcase behind her desk. The cover read “DSM-VII” in huge red letters.
“Do you know what this is, Adam? Do you know what I’m holding in my hands?”
“A better question would be, ‘do I care?'” Adam replied.
“Whether you care, doesn’t matter,” Dr. Lawson replied, angrily. “What I’m holding is the bible of psychological diagnosis. I’m going to read something to you; and I want you to listen very carefully.”
GENDER DYSPHORIA IN THE YEAR 2040
Dr. Lawson flipped through the pages of the DSM-VII, eager to find the text that would explain Adam’s condition.
“Ah, here it is,” she announced. “This is the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM-VII).” Then, she read aloud:
“Gender dysphoria, stated as an obsession regarding the physical characteristics and social roles of one’s biological sex, is considered symptomatic of mental illness by the assumption that masculinity in males and femininity in females are pathological.”
“That’s your problem, young lady,” the doctor answered, sympathetically. “You’re obsessed with being a boy!”
I don’t have a problem, lady,” Adam answered, now frustrated and annoyed. “And, if you call me ‘young lady’ one more time, I’m gonna take that book and shove it right up your fat –”
“STOP!” the doctor shouted. “Any more language such as that and I’ll have you committed here and now.”
Adam muttered something but Dr. Lawson couldn’t hear.
“Now, I’ve looked through The DSM-V, VII and the DSM-VII, and I’ve concluded that you have a mental disorder as defined in those three manuals.”
Adam remained silent.
“I understand that you may be having a difficult time with this, Adam. However, I’m only trying to help you.”
“If you really want to help me, let me be a boy,” Adam replied.
“That’s not as easy as it sounds, Adam,” the doctor answered. “The medical profession has developed very well-researched standards that must be met for those who have a compulsion to retain their biological sex.”
“Not a problem,” Adam answered. “Just tell me what’s involved, doc’.”
“Well, you need to be formally diagnosed as having gender dysphoria — your obsession with being a boy that I talked about earlier. It takes about a year for a psychologist to make that determination. During that time you will also need to undergo what we call a real life test, or RLT.
“And what’s that?” Adam asked.
“What is RLT?”
“It means that you would have to live as a boy for a period of no less than one year. This will allow a highly trained psychologist to determine whether you can adjust, emotionally and socially, to the role that you prefer to hold in society.”
“Does that mean I get to keep my penis?” Adam asked, enthusiastically. “I’ve got a lot of plans for ‘Mr. Happy’ and I’d like to be able to follow through with those plans.”
Dr. Lawson glanced down at the young man’s crotch. She immediately understood Adam’s intentions.
“Well, you’ll be able to follow through with your plans, provided you’re approved for a state license to keep your name and your penis. At that time, you’ll be allowed to apply for legal status as a male.”
“So, are you gonna help me or what?” Adam asked.
Dr. Lawson looked at Adam for a while, then said, “I’ve been doing some research with a Dr. Blanco.”
A theory
She giggled, then continued. “I’m a big fan of Dr. Blanco. I think he’s kinda cute, if you know what I mean. Anyway, he has a theory about gender dysphoric males like you. Mind you, it is only a theory. But if Dr. Blanco believes it, then it must be true.”
“And what’s this theory that he’s got?” Adam asked.
“Well, it appears that there are two types of gender dysphoric males — androphilic and autoandrophilic. An androphilic dysphoric male is a male aroused by women. The autoandrophilic male is a male who is aroused by the idea of being a man. You appear to have attributes of both an androphilic man and an autoandrophilic man. You like women and you like being a man.”
“Yea, I’m a guy and I love doing the wild thing with pretty girls,” Adam responded. “Is that a problem?”
It just isn’t normal
“It just isn’t normal, Adam, ” Doctor Lawson replied. “Please, understand that the objective here is for us to make everyone as normal as possible.”
“Yea, well my objective is simply to be who I am,” Adam replied. “You see, doc’, I don’t really care a rat’s ass what you’ve got in your DSM-V, VI or VII. I know who I am and I know what I want to be.”
“I’m sick and tired of ass-hole psychologists attempting to reduce the complexity of my life to a word or two followed by one or two sentences. They used to do the same thing to homosexuals. They used to invent labels to convince people that gays were neurotic and perverse. Now, you’re attempting to do it to transgendered and transsexual human beings. AND I AIN’T BUYING IT!”
“I’m tired of spending my life being a label!”
CONCLUSION
Adam never returned to Dr. Lawson’s office. He graduated college and became a writer. For 30 years that followed, he wrote that people born transgendered or transsexual had the same right as those born heterosexual. As public resentment to the DSM-VII mounted, it was finally revised in the year 2065. The revision to the DSM-VII made it clear that the work of Blanco and Lawson had been the result of far too many cultural prejudices.
Within the next 5 years, federal legislation was passed providing anyone, who wanted to be identified by their biological sex, full legal protection. The requirements for a psychological examination, and a real life test, were eliminated.
Adam retired shortly afterwards with his wife — a woman who had refused to be changed into a man. They lived in a cabin in upstate New York, and were visited frequently by their children and grandchildren.
The End
More by Roberta Angela Dee
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Roberta Angela Dee, Journalist & Trans Activist
Men Trapped in Transsexual Bodies was written by Roberta Angela Dee for publication on TGGuide.com. © All rights are reserved.
Roberta Angela Dee (October 31, 1950–March 13, 2003) was an American author, transgender rights activist and frequent contributor to TGGuide.com. Roberta was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in Long Island, and lived in Atlanta before settling in Augusta, Georgia. She had a journalism degree. Her writing was published widely, and she was founder of the Women on the Net (WON) website, an early online resource for women of color.