Perhaps it's because they feel more comfortable expressing themselves in a pseudoanonymous forum. Perhaps they discovered that they were trans by virtue of being eternally online. I believe it is the latter to a great extent. I don't know if there are any studies of this (or if studying such things is even permitted), but in my own fairly small family/friends groups there are 6 people (out of around 30 or 40) who have apparently learned they are trans within the last 6 years, and to a person they are highly active on social media, chat rooms, and reddit or other internet forum sites (resetera, kiwifarms, 4chan, etc.). Prior to becoming internet addicts, not one of them expressed any behaviors or interests suggesting they were born the wrong gender, despite it being relatively acceptable in their social groups prior.
Just learned this week that an extended family member is trans. Not a single sign of gender dysphoria throughout her entire 21 years of life. 6 months of university and surgery is pending.
The social contagion is so plain to see but I guess talking about it is a taboo.
That a person of a marginalized group _hid_ aspects of themselves and lied about about themselves to prevent harassment.
Or a person goes to college for 6 months and decides to get major surgery because it is socially popular?
Just because YOU didn’t see the signs doesn’t mean they didn’t and flippantly using your interpretation of their story as proof of a “social contagion” is unfair to them.
She's an ordinary girl. Privileged in every single way: wealthy, good looks, good brain. She's never showed even the tiniest sign of being uncomfortable in her body. Not in toys, clothing, choice of friends, just zero signals at all. She does not live in an environment that is in any way conservative or oppressive, nor religious.
You don't have to take this lack of signs from me, it's from her mother whom lived with her for 20 years in a row. The change comes out of the blue, is drastic, and closely aligns with her new environment and friends. So yes, social contagion is very much on the table if not the most likely factor. There's nothing controversial about social contagion as a mechanism, most people's behaviors and mindsets are drastically influenced by culture.
You seem to take my comment as judgmental, but it's coming from empathy. It's her choice and she'll live with the consequences, not me. But when there is an inexplainable spike in young girls changing body parts and making irreversible choices, and seemingly only in big city universities, then I have questions. Because I care about them, and I will never apologize for that.
> The social contagion is so plain to see but I guess talking about it is a taboo.
This is very sad yet, regrettably, very true. It is becoming increasingly popular to promote drugging and mutilating not only adults, which is bad enough, but also children. This goes far beyond just the most obvious extreme of so-called "transgenders" but also beyond to the entire "LGBT" complex. I've personally heard, firsthand, college students express sadness about being "straight" or put various "identities" on a pedestal.
Acting like you are trans, why not, who cares. What ever feels good to you. Surgery is permanent, and we all did stupid things in the past.
6 month is pretty short for a life changing surgery where there is probably no comeback.
