Normal is a relative concept.

What is statistically normal? In the General Social Study between 1990 and 2014, the amount of men reporting same sex sexual encounters more than doubled. Why wouldn't they decide to get pounded (and/or admit to it) with less stigma and all the good looking guys out there?

We're measuring gender in the same way we measure same sex sexual behaviour, which is self-report data, and it seems unsurprising to me more people would report being a different gender as the stigma goes down and more people are even aware that it's an "option"

It's very alluring to escape the difficulties and expectations of being a man in society. I don't feel any gender dysphoria, merely ambivalence towards it, but if the process was faster and I wouldn't have to deal with social backlash I'd do it myself. I'd certainly choose to have been born a woman if I could since my main difficulties in life have been in sex and romance, and the difficulty would drop to 0. The extra scholarship opportunities etc. would just be icing.

Gender dysphoria is a real thing that's treated by transitioning. In people suffering from it it demonstratedly improves quality of life and reduces suicides.

> that is what you truly are and all you’ll ever be

Only if you choose to see it this way. The majority of western society accepts transgender people today and it's not an issue.

Is gender real? No, gender is a societal construct that describes the presentation of males and females.

Therefore, if gender isn’t real, gender dysphoria isn’t real.

If society had no concept of gender, it is highly likely that far less people would report feeling they should have the sex organs of their opposite sex instead of what they have now, especially if they had no previous exposure or experience with such organs. Personally, of all the things that appeal to me about being a woman, the vagina is probably very low on the list.

Just because people are affected by this, does not mean they are being affected by something real.

> If society had no concept of gender

Yeah, well, it does, and that's the world we live in right now. We're affected by a lot of things that aren't "real" like laws, social status, and fiat money.

I think there is a kernel of truth here in that I feel there is a lack of healthy male role models and there is a lack of support for mental health for men. Women also have their difficulties, but society is, in my perception, overall, much more supportive for female problems than male problems. In this aspect, I get where the manosfere is coming from. But I think _a lot_ of these communities come at this from a wrong direction.

I will agree that "Jumping on the LGBTQ train gives them some protection and upward social-political trajectory." is kiiiind of hilarious. Just the kind of talking points that unhealthy communities make you believe.