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Originally Posted by Squishor
I think my main question would be similar to Maleficent's. Growing up I was never a big fan of prissy, girly things (I had Hot Wheels instead of Barbies) and as an adult I'm still kind of the same - I don't own a blow drier, can't be bothered with a lot of girly-type stuff, am allergic to ruffles, etc. But I've never wanted to be a boy, not for a minute. It seems there's enough flexibility within gender roles in our society that if you're willing to put up with a little disapproval, you can do what you want. Maybe it's because my parents didn't impose very rigid gender expectations on me, but I never felt I had to be male to do something (except penis-related activities of course). So I'm wondering, what could be so bad about one's sex that you'd be willing to go through all that to change it?
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It isn't so much a matter of your birth sex being
bad so much as it's that your physical sex is
wrong. What you're talking about is gender roles. While you were playing with your hot wheels and avoiding dolls and ruffles and such, did people believe you were a boy? In your post you make a point of saying you never wanted to be a boy, that despite engaging in activities that were non-typical of your sex, you still identified yourself as female, and likely everyone else did, too. Would you have corrected others who misidentified you as male? This is the difference. A MTF transsexual wants to be and be indentified as female because that's who they believe themselves to be.
There are men in our society who behave in effeminate ways (sissies), who dress in women's clothes (cross dressers), who have sex with other men (gays) or engage in a combination of these activities. But they are all men, and even those who are in an evironment where these things are accepted, they identify as men. Transsexuals don't.
Keep in mind also that it isn't just the social role, though that's a big part of it. One of the treatments is hormone therapy, and many transsexuals report that shortly after beginning hormone therapy, their bodies begin to feel right, or more like they're supposed to once they have the mix of estrogen and testosterone appropriate to their brain sex, even before any physical changes manifest themselves.
I have an online friend who is a MTF transsexual who has type 2 diabetes and cannot take estrogen, androgen blockrs or have any serious surgical procedures done as a result. She works in a stereotypically masculne job, and tends to wear clothing that, while female, is typically more androgynous than feminine. Yet she still identifies herself as female, and had her sex and name legally changed to reflect this. She would undergo the therapies I list if she could, but she can't. Her reaction to the situation isn't typical, though. A great many type 2 diabetics who cannot get hormones or surgery--and of the two, horomones are the more important for both--kill themselves. Being the wrong sex is that distressing.
You say in your post, "But I've never wanted to be a boy, not for a minute." Sissy felt exactly the same way growing up. My friend Jen feels exactly the same way.