I realized when my 16-year-old daughter explained why she ordered illegal testosterone gel over the internet, had it sent to a friend's home, and started taking it w/o my knowledge, which I discovered 98 days later, that anorexia and trans-identification have much in common. (She stopped taking it once I discovered and confronted her, a…
I realized when my 16-year-old daughter explained why she ordered illegal testosterone gel over the internet, had it sent to a friend's home, and started taking it w/o my knowledge, which I discovered 98 days later, that anorexia and trans-identification have much in common. (She stopped taking it once I discovered and confronted her, and is now in therapy - hopefully not being indoctrinated further into this insanity.) These were my thoughts on the similarity of the two, fresh from the trauma of realizing what my daughter was doing to herself: 1. all problems are focused on the body (she indicated that she is otherwise perfectly fine and has no issues whatsoever - not at all accurate, but she believes it) [ anorexics think they just need to be thinner and all will be well]; 2. her whole explanation for the desperation was that she needs to not have a female-appearing body and cannot live in her body as it is [anorexics cannot live in their "fat" body]; 3. her breasts, hips and other signs of femaleness, including the period, are what bother her [anorexics starve until they lose every curve in their body, stop menstruating, their breasts shrink, their faces are more angular]; 4. it is worth anything, even dangerous drugs and binding, if it makes the body look less female [diet pills, vomiting, starvation, whatever it takes to be thinner]; 5. the delusion that she could never be happy in her true female form and the total disgust and rejection of her body as is, and finding glee and satisfaction as her body becomes more male-appearing (she said she likes her body more now, because, after 98 days of hormones, she is bulkier) [anorexics get more excited with each rib that shows, and they become thinner and thinner]; 6. not even noticing the lack of attractiveness because it meets her goals (she looks like an awkward girl/boy and it is not attractive at all, but it's less feminine so it's great) [anorexics see themselves as beautiful because they are so thin even though, objectively, they look scary]; 7. social contagion (she and her friend, whose parents are affirming and authorized prescribed hormones and a double mastectomy, sharing their experiences as their voices began cracking, legs became hairier, etc., and they goaded each other on and encouraged it)[exact same for anorexics as they compete for who's thinner and admire each other's obvious ribs].
The biggest difference - society doesn't applaud and encourage anorexia, bury any discussion of its harmful effects, and vilify parents and anyone else who is genuinely concerned about children starving themselves.
I realized when my 16-year-old daughter explained why she ordered illegal testosterone gel over the internet, had it sent to a friend's home, and started taking it w/o my knowledge, which I discovered 98 days later, that anorexia and trans-identification have much in common. (She stopped taking it once I discovered and confronted her, and is now in therapy - hopefully not being indoctrinated further into this insanity.) These were my thoughts on the similarity of the two, fresh from the trauma of realizing what my daughter was doing to herself: 1. all problems are focused on the body (she indicated that she is otherwise perfectly fine and has no issues whatsoever - not at all accurate, but she believes it) [ anorexics think they just need to be thinner and all will be well]; 2. her whole explanation for the desperation was that she needs to not have a female-appearing body and cannot live in her body as it is [anorexics cannot live in their "fat" body]; 3. her breasts, hips and other signs of femaleness, including the period, are what bother her [anorexics starve until they lose every curve in their body, stop menstruating, their breasts shrink, their faces are more angular]; 4. it is worth anything, even dangerous drugs and binding, if it makes the body look less female [diet pills, vomiting, starvation, whatever it takes to be thinner]; 5. the delusion that she could never be happy in her true female form and the total disgust and rejection of her body as is, and finding glee and satisfaction as her body becomes more male-appearing (she said she likes her body more now, because, after 98 days of hormones, she is bulkier) [anorexics get more excited with each rib that shows, and they become thinner and thinner]; 6. not even noticing the lack of attractiveness because it meets her goals (she looks like an awkward girl/boy and it is not attractive at all, but it's less feminine so it's great) [anorexics see themselves as beautiful because they are so thin even though, objectively, they look scary]; 7. social contagion (she and her friend, whose parents are affirming and authorized prescribed hormones and a double mastectomy, sharing their experiences as their voices began cracking, legs became hairier, etc., and they goaded each other on and encouraged it)[exact same for anorexics as they compete for who's thinner and admire each other's obvious ribs].
The biggest difference - society doesn't applaud and encourage anorexia, bury any discussion of its harmful effects, and vilify parents and anyone else who is genuinely concerned about children starving themselves.