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kyburgWhy Transgender People In Japan Prefer To Be Told They Have A "Disorder":
the-four-humors:
manifestoonmoralmansex:
A long but very good article to read to understand the history and current state of transgender people in Japan.
This is a really good article (despite being buzzfeed), and I think it highlights some… ugly truths, shall we say, about medical gatekeeping. Some choice quotes:
“We continue to explain to Japanese people who don’t have the understanding [of transgender people]: ‘These people aren’t like this because they chose to be — it’s not a fetish. They are only asking to be treated with the basic necessities to live their life,’” Hase said. “However, this requires changes including legal status and physical appearance, including genitalia, and hormone treatments and such. So naturally this would require medical assessment, and not just by one doctor but by several doctors.”
and
While calling something a “disorder” can make someone embarrassed or ashamed in many parts of the world, in Japan it can do the opposite: It makes behavior acceptable that would be shameful if seen as a personal eccentricity, said Junko Mitsuhashi, the historian.
Here in the west, we as trans people are fighting back against gatekeeping because it can seriously harm gender nonconforming trans people by denying them access to resources. As a gender nonconforming trans man, I myself am worried about trying to get on T since – as my therapist explained – there’s a ‘waiting list’ for HRT and that ‘emergency situations’ get first priority… but in her own words, ANY trans person can be seen as an ‘emergency’ priority.
HOWEVER, here in the US we went through our phase with gatekeeping and that was INSTRUMENTAL to just getting systems in place. I think it’s safe to say that doctors who were helping trans patients wanted to do more, but couldn’t move too fast otherwise they’d risk getting shut down. Now that those systems are in place, we can strip away the gatekeeping, and we are.
But in other countries, they still need to build up that structure. As the article says, in Japan, informed consent transitioning is still widely seen as a fetish. And while it sucks that it is, pushing too much change could easily result in more transphobia.
TL;DR bc I’ve kind of run away with this topic: It’s perfectly fine to be indignant and angry about medical gatekeeping (I know I am), but the sad truth is that it’s an important stepping stone towards wider acceptability.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2dCVKUy
via IFTTT
the-four-humors:
manifestoonmoralmansex:
A long but very good article to read to understand the history and current state of transgender people in Japan.
This is a really good article (despite being buzzfeed), and I think it highlights some… ugly truths, shall we say, about medical gatekeeping. Some choice quotes:
“We continue to explain to Japanese people who don’t have the understanding [of transgender people]: ‘These people aren’t like this because they chose to be — it’s not a fetish. They are only asking to be treated with the basic necessities to live their life,’” Hase said. “However, this requires changes including legal status and physical appearance, including genitalia, and hormone treatments and such. So naturally this would require medical assessment, and not just by one doctor but by several doctors.”
and
While calling something a “disorder” can make someone embarrassed or ashamed in many parts of the world, in Japan it can do the opposite: It makes behavior acceptable that would be shameful if seen as a personal eccentricity, said Junko Mitsuhashi, the historian.
Here in the west, we as trans people are fighting back against gatekeeping because it can seriously harm gender nonconforming trans people by denying them access to resources. As a gender nonconforming trans man, I myself am worried about trying to get on T since – as my therapist explained – there’s a ‘waiting list’ for HRT and that ‘emergency situations’ get first priority… but in her own words, ANY trans person can be seen as an ‘emergency’ priority.
HOWEVER, here in the US we went through our phase with gatekeeping and that was INSTRUMENTAL to just getting systems in place. I think it’s safe to say that doctors who were helping trans patients wanted to do more, but couldn’t move too fast otherwise they’d risk getting shut down. Now that those systems are in place, we can strip away the gatekeeping, and we are.
But in other countries, they still need to build up that structure. As the article says, in Japan, informed consent transitioning is still widely seen as a fetish. And while it sucks that it is, pushing too much change could easily result in more transphobia.
TL;DR bc I’ve kind of run away with this topic: It’s perfectly fine to be indignant and angry about medical gatekeeping (I know I am), but the sad truth is that it’s an important stepping stone towards wider acceptability.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2dCVKUy
via IFTTT
