Here is a thought experiment for you.
Starting tomorrow everyone in the world begins to dress exactly the same way. Both natal males and females are to wear a basic jumpsuit with no distinction whatsoever between the sexes. Also, no jewelery or makeup is to be worn.How does this new reality affect your impetus towards expressing or identifying as the sex other than the one you were born at birth, if at all.
In other words, what is your weighting between expression and identity.
I have sometimes joked that I was as beside myself as a cross dresser in a nudist colony. As a dysphoric trans woman, I would be even more overwhelmed. Of course, there are medical interventions that would be of help for both expression and identity. In fact, it would be easier (less dysphoric) to be hormonally and surgically altered and be totally naked than it would be to be dressed uniformly with everyone else. The ability to express one's gender identity is self-affirming and a relief for dysphoria. The non-dysphoric cross dresser in the nudist colony may just lose the ability of a desired expression, but not much identity (not so different than being in a uniform, really).
ReplyDeleteWhat you say is correct in that the non-dydphoric CD has now lost the desire for expression because there is no longer a difference and the thrill of expression is now gone. If you are dysphoric the clothing would matter less and you would likely still be driven by an internal sense of self in spite the clothing being dull or boring. In other words, the clothing is but one facet of a multi layered picture which for some people also necessitates body modifications
DeleteBeyond the superficiality of clothing and makeup, the expression of my inner-self toward others is paramount to my identity. It would be difficult to express that inner-self to others without looking the part on the outside, though. My biggest concern, as I grow older, is that I will live out my final days in a care facility where I will have lost control of my ability to keep up my outward appearance and expression. I would be naked and alone - literally and otherwise.
DeleteI completely agree and understand what you mean as I feel much the same. Conveying the inner feelings does include the outer presentation of course. It is just that our identity goes well beyond that "skin" that we present to the world. I have had to do much introspection to come up with a way to marry my expression with my identity into a cohesive formula.
DeleteI can relate it to playing music. You can play your piano at home for your own enjoyment; an expression of self for yourself. Playing for others takes it to a different level. Beyond that, playing with an ensemble is an opportunity to immerse oneself in a give and take relationship of both expression and identity. Of course, my main instrument is the drums, so playing solos all the time is just boring for everyone after a while. :)
DeleteExpressing oneself in society I think is part of the desire of everyone. We want to be seen, to interact and to feed into a narrative that we embrace. I think that is why closeted people are often so hungry for ways to test being in public without being outed. The more I embraced myself the easier it became to be authentic and my identify expanded beyond clothing and makeup. I allowed it to mature
DeleteKeyboards here as you know :)
So, I guess my answer to your hypothetical question is that, even if the jumpsuit were equipped with a fly, I'd still take the whole thing off in order to sit down and pee. :)
DeleteSomehow I knew that 😉
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