Gender: A Wider Lens
Gender: A Wider Lens
74 - Detransition - Part 1: Going Back & Moving Forward
0:00
-1:06:19

74 - Detransition - Part 1: Going Back & Moving Forward

In today’s episode, Stella and I begin our discussion of detransition. This is an incredibly rich, important, and complex topic, and we certainly don’t think we can lift up EVERY aspect of it. But in this episode, and episode 76 (the one after next), we’ll begin to explore detransition. Today, you’ll hear our initial observations and some random musings. We touch on some of the patterns and dynamics we’ve observed and how things have evolved in the world of detransition over the last several years. We highlight the vast differences between people’s experiences of detransition and how sometimes, the pathway into a trans identity may impact the pathway out.

In episode 76, we’ll start diving into the literature and research we now have about detransition. We’ll look at a few important papers, surveys, and studies and what they can tell us about this growing population.

Links:

Detrans Voices:

https://www.detransvoices.org/

Post Trans:

https://post-trans.com/

Detrans Canada:

https://detranscanada.com/

Detransition Sweden:

https://www.detransinfo.se/

Detransition Russia:

https://vk.com/detransition

GCCAN

https://www.gccan.org/

Detrans Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/detrans/

Life Detransitions

https://lifedetransitions.com/

Genspect (Beyond Transition Initiatives):

https://genspect.org/

Beyond Transition:

https://genspect.org/beyond/

Blood and Visions:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30792924-blood-and-visions

Autobiography in Five Chapters:

https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com/poem-autobiography-in-five-chapters/ 

Extended Notes

  • Stella and Sasha are exploring topics around detransitioning. If you have topic suggestions and even recommended guests, please reach out!

  • Detransitioning is a complex world. There isn’t a simple phenomenon. Stella is working on a program called “Beyond Transition.”

  • Everyone in the trans world is aware there are detransitioners, but they’re wildly misunderstood.

  • Sasha talks about her personal experience with detransitioners.

  • Stella understands in the past that it was very difficult to celebrate with someone who has detransitioned. This new cohort she’s working with is being celebrated.

  • If you feel masculine and/or feminine, you suddenly have to dress for this personality.

  • Sasha has noticed more people becoming more vain. Is this due to social media?

  • What kind of person “suddenly” transitions? Why does someone put so much emphasis on looking female (make-up, hair, etc) only to completely switch?

  • After being in the trans world a while, some people might feel a bit burned out on the whole pronoun thing.

  • There’s a cohort of detransitioners out there who have chosen to stop taking hormones and not tell anybody. They’re not ready to face the negative backlash.

  • Stella feels like we’ve lost our way with this. Feelings of a man, feelings of a woman, and the permanence around modifying your body based on a mental state that is constantly in “flux.”

  • People who want to go back to their former selves need an elevated level of support. There is a lot to work through.

  • Taking hormones gives a wide range of side effects. For some, it can be very overbearing to manage the sudden rage or the sudden crying bouts.

  • Stella explains the psychology behind “falling in the hole” repeatedly and feeling bad you’ve found yourself back in this same position you were trying to avoid.

This podcast is sponsored by ReIME and Genspect. Visit https://rethinkime.org/ and https://genspect.org/ to learn more.

For more about our show: https://linktr.ee/widerlenspod

Discussion about this podcast

Gender: A Wider Lens
Gender: A Wider Lens
In this podcast, now in its fourth year, therapists Stella O'Malley and Sasha Ayad take a deep dive into the psychological and cultural forces impacting the social changes around "gender." Through interviews with researchers, doctors, therapists, parents, detransitioners, and others, Sasha and Stella's podcast is a "must listen" for anyone trying to navigate the current gender landscape. With their sharp analytical minds and deep compassionate hearts, Stella and Sasha have also become known throughout many parent networks as lighthouses in the midst of some very stormy seas. Previous guests include Helen Joyce, Jesse Singal, Leor Sapir, Kathleen Stock, Jamie Reed, Peter Boghossian and more.