Resisting Gender Dysphoria
The fourth and most important step is to think about times in which you were able to resist the gender dysphoria! Moments in which you were able to tell the gender dysphoria “not today!” “Today, I will be confident!” (¡El cuarto y más importante paso es pensar en las veces que pudiste resistir a la disforia de género! Momentos en los que fuiste capaz de decirle a la disforia de género: “¡Hoy no!” “¡Hoy voy a estar seguro/a/e!”)
For example, Mac shared that when they are connected with friends or feel confident about their gender they can resist the distractor.
Other teens have described the actions they took to resist the gender dysphoria and how it made them feel:
“I began correcting people who used the wrong pronouns or my birth name… Standing up for myself and correcting pronouns felt liberating. I felt a sense of validation and self-respect, knowing that I was taking control of how others perceived and addressed me.” (An Asian, nonbinary teen)
“I sang some songs with my girls… I felt alive for real.” (An Asian American, queer teen)
“I went for a drive, I spoke positive affirmations and gymed… I felt really good, and I forgot about gender dysphoria.” (A Black, trans man)
Think about times in which you were able to have even a little bit of control over the gender dysphoria. (Piensa en las veces que pudiste tener aunque sea un poquito de control sobre la disforia de género.) For example, resistance can be as simple as carrying on with your day when the gender dysphoria wants to make you cry. Or it can be as powerful speaking up when someone misgenders you or wearing clothes that make you feel more like yourself when the gender dysphoria tells you can’t. Each of these moments—big or small—shows how you can resist the gender dysphoria.
Ask yourself: (Pregúntate:)
- What makes those times different? (¿Qué hace que esos momentos sean diferentes?)
- Did you do anything special during those moments? (¿Hiciste algo especial durante esos momentos?)
- Were your surroundings different? (¿Eran diferentes tus alrededores?)