Interesting thing I noticed about Trans-Identified individuals as they get older & the theory that got me thinking.

submitted by pacmanla from self.LGBDropTheT

I'm ignorant on medical procedures, so excuse me if I'm wrong. But, I've read that trans individuals (particularly males) have to keep getting their facial bones, along with their adam apple, shaved down to keep from growing back. I don't know if this is true, & again if I'm mistaken, I'm sorry. I just brought this up, because I was rewatching a tv show during its earlier seasons & had a sneaking suspicion that a "female" reporter was a male. So I go to IMDB, look up the episode & found the "actress". Seeing that the episode aired back in 2007, this actor is in their late 50s now. And I was SHOCKED. This "actress" was clearly a male. I honestly couldn't believe the rabbit hole I went down. I've heard that trans individuals age horribly, can't confirm this, so I'm asking those with a medical background to answer this the best you can, because this was eye opening to me.

all 7 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]LushCanopy 18 insightful - 2 fun18 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

The scary thing about trans health care in general is that we know very little about long term effects. There aren't many trans indivuals who transitioned 20+ years ago and talked openly about their experiences. The only one who comes to mind is Buck Angel, who almost died because of complications 15 years down the line. So I can't really give you a clear answer about how trans individuals age.

[–]censorshipment 17 insightful - 2 fun17 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

That's not true. Many older women were on YouTube talking about the side effects of T and whatnot 10+ years ago. The lesbian guinea pigs have been telling their stories for years. No one really cares about them though. People really only care about what's happening to children/teens, not the 40+ year old women.

[–]reluctant_commenter 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Interesting, do you have any good examples of this? I think I've heard of something similar.

[–]eddyelric 13 insightful - 3 fun13 insightful - 2 fun14 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

I've actually heard of some transgender people forgetting that they have transitioned due to dementia. As the trans population grows older, who knows what consequences will appear.

There is little research at the international level to help us understand the experiences and needs of trans people living with dementia, despite population aging and the growing numbers of trans people including the first cohort of trans older adults. There is a need to understand the widespread barriers, discrimination and mistreatment faced by trans people in the health and social service system, and the fears trans people express about aging and dementia. Anecdotal evidence from the scarce literature on the topic of LGBTQ populations and dementia suggest that cognitive changes can impact on gender identity. For example, trans older adults with dementia may forget they transitioned and reidentify with their sex/gender assigned at birth or may experience ‘gender confusion.’ This raises crucial questions, for example regarding practices related to pronouns, care to the body (shaving, hair, clothes, etc.), social gendered interactions, health care (continuing or not hormonal therapy) and so on. This article fills a gap in current literature by offering a first typology of responses offered by academics who analyzed the topic of dementia and gender identity, to trans older adults with dementia who may be experiencing ‘gender confusion,’ namely: (1) a gender neutralization approach; (2) a transaffirmative stable approach; and (3) a trans-affirmative fluid approach. After providing critical reflections regarding each approach, we articulate the foundations of a fourth paradigm, rooted in an interdisciplinary dialogue regarding the interlocking systems of oppression faced by trans older adults with dementia, namely ageism, ableism/sanism, and cisgenderism.

[–]mvmlego 10 insightful - 3 fun10 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

systems of oppression faced by trans older adults with dementia, namely ageism, ableism/sanism, and cisgenderism

Gag. When I hear this sort of thing, I have to remind myself to look at it as a sign of just how far we've come as a society. We've gotten rid of so many genuine institutional inequalities that the demand for oppression has exceeded the supply, so people feel the need to make up terms like those.

EDIT: I do actually think there's some reason to be concerned about ageism and ableism, although anti-ableist activists tend to waste a lot of time on relatively minor issues, from my experience.

[–]reluctant_commenter 13 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Not sure how many people here have a medical background, and this seems maybe a little off topic. But that is fascinating, I've never heard of that.

There are so many short-term harms caused by transgender-related drugs and surgeries that I don't even think about how harmful they could be long-term.

[–]gencritLesbo 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

How was the rapper?