Dysphoria = cognitive dissonance

The title says it all. Dysphoria is the sensation that occurs when someone who is delusional about their membership in the opposite sex class is reminded that they know the truth about themselves.

It manifests as psychological pain because holding two conflicting thoughts in one’s head simultaneously causes extreme friction. Delusional belief in oneself cannot coexist comfortably with knowledge of one’s delusion.

There is an active thread in r/honesttransgender about how terrifyingly awful TERFs are. So much so, apparently, that some TIMs would rather go live in countries where the incidence of trans murder is sky high than live in a place like the UK, where women are semi-free to nonviolently express their concerns about space-invading men. Never mind the fact the UK has not seen a trans homicide in over 3 years; I guess murder isn’t a big deal anymore. TERF central is located in the UK and that’s enough to make it a less hospital than a place where transphobic violence is actually epidemic.

Riiight.

TERFs strike the fear in the hearts of TIP because our arguments induce cognitive dissonance in a way that true bigoted viewpoints do not. They are based in truth, logic, and common sense, and they are historically informed. The trans community knows that we are right; after all, they believe what we do. And we can be sure of that precisely because, as they admit, our opinions cause them agonizing pain. The proof is in the pain.

TRAs have to threaten us with violence to make us fearful. Their words do not cause us the pain of cognitive dissonance, so the next best thing is death and rape threats.