actually, men are thriving - between 2016 and 2017, the number of gender surgeries for natal females in the US quadrupled; in the UK, the rates of gender dysphoria for teenage girls are up 4,400 percent over the previous decade. Seems like way more girls want to be boys than the other way around.
What do you think accounts for that?
Likely a number of factors but primarily just because it’s an option.
Puberty is utter hell for girls and it’s endlessly humiliating. It's like your uterus kicks in and your body suddenly turns on you - painful cramps, swollen aching breasts, having to wear uncomfortable chest harnesses, boys and men leering and commenting on our body when you’re already incredibly self conscious and don't want the attention. And you bleed, which is embarrassing and hard to manage and then you realise that 25% of your life will be spent bleeding. It’s daunting and depressing.
Social contagion is real too. Sudden onset gender dysphoria among teenage girl peer groups is on the rise, which indicates some form of peer modeling, apart from those who are actually transgender. Add to this the sociological factors - cultural and internalized misogyny, unrealistic body expectations, violent porn and a political climate that celebrates marginalised groups. It makes sense girls want out.
Teenage girls have been rejecting and mutilating their bodies for decades. Anorexia used to be the craze and then it was cutting, now maybe that's morphed into puberty blockers and hormones?
Enter pharmaceutical culture. We’ve morphed into an easy fix society that turns to pharmaceuticals to cure any discomfort we don't want to feel. Don’t like puberty - take a puberty blocker. Problem solved.
