I am surprised at your defensiveness. You obviously understood little of what I had to share. You seem to confuse external sex characteristics with gender which is brain-based. That was the purpose of my comment. You’re not alone in this confusion. Contrary to your statement, dysmorphia is not always a psychological pathology. Most normal people have it from time to time. They think they are too fat or their nose is too big or their breasts are too big or too small and so it goes. There is a multi billion dollar industry built around improving our physical appearance. The key is this, DSM-5 makes the rather unfortunate statement that having gender dysphoria is not necessarily a condition of being trans. It is a muddy and academically lazy observation.

Yes you can be trans and not have body dysmorphia. Those are the instances where you have what is sometimes called social dysphoria, but is really gender dysphoria. Let’s break down the definitions. Dysphoria is defined as a state of unease or general dissatisfaction with life. To add the label gender is merely to identify the source of this. When you have dissatisfaction because you do not agree with the gender that society seems to have assigned to you, this is the very essence of gender dysphoria. That is what I was trying to clarify. I am a member of a discord server with 33 members ranging from the fully transitioned, (actually I prefer the term evolved but that is a discussion beyond the scope of this post), such as myself to virtual babes. Your article has created a firestorm of confusion. It needed to be addressed. In some ways I am glad you wrote it because it just highlights some of the muddy thinking in this area. You do not have to have body dysmorphia to be trans and not all body dysmorphia is pathological. It is a very normal part of the human condition. However, even though dysmorphia and dysphoria are not the same thing, they are often interrelated. Those who have the strongest sense of gender dysphoria also frequently have a high level of body dysmorphia, especially those of us who need to do a complete physical transition. And no one would consider our dissatisfaction (dysmorphia), with our bodies to be pathological in any way. It is an incongruity or disconnect with our brains and our perceptions of ourselves that we need to address physically. But all trans people have gender dysphoria. The way society perceives them and the way they perceive themselves differ in some fundamental way. It is simply a definition. It is not a criticism of how you view yourself or what you intend to do to make your life more full and satisfying. And I wish you the best. I was just trying to clarify some sloppy language that has found its way into common usage in the trans community. I am not trying to pick a fight and I am certainly not criticizing your personal experience or journey. 🌹♥️