Premium: When the Ideology Wanes, But the Dysphoria Remains
Gender: A Wider Lens
Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley
4.6 • 961 Ratings
🗓️ 31 August 2024
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Some individuals experience gender dysphoria as a deep-seated issue that predates any ideological framework, profoundly affecting their self-perception, sexuality, and overall satisfaction in life. Contrary to the more superficial aspects of the popular gender-affirming model of care, it is crucial to reconcile the persistent and often distressing nature of gender dysphoria with a more holistic, self-accepting approach—one that avoids the trap of over-identifying with the problem. Healing should be approached with a focus on self-understanding and acceptance rather than rumination.
However, can acceptance mask repression? There is value in moving beyond merely “normalizing” (or accepting) the discomfort to actively pursuing healing and repair from the distress caused by the body dysmorphia. This must be done with caution to avoid hyper-fixation. Navigating these feelings presents delicate challenges, as overemphasis can lead to further psychological distress. A balanced approach is needed to address the underlying discomforts effectively.
In this bonus episode for premium subscribers, Tali emphasizes the complexities surrounding gender dysphoria, particularly in the context of someone who has disengaged from a trans identity but continues to struggle with gender-related discomfort. She highlights the potential danger of repressing feelings related to gender dysphoria. And argues that while it's crucial not to over-identify with these feelings, simply repressing them can lead to deeper psychological issues. The underlying discomfort needs to be acknowledged and understood rather than dismissed or pushed aside, as repression could exacerbate the emotional and psychological distress associated with gender dysphoria.
Watch our full length episode with Tali at https://www.widerlenspod.com/p/episode-181
For instructions on setting up a private feed to listen to our premium content in your favorite podcast app, visit https://www.widerlenspod.com/p/how-to-listen-to-our-full-premium.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi Widerlens Podcast listener. What you're about to hear is a preview of one of our bonus |
| 0:05.9 | episodes for premium subscribers. |
| 0:08.2 | If you'd like to hear the rest, head over to widerLens pod.com and sign up for any of our paid membership options. |
| 0:14.8 | Paid subscriptions allow us to continue to create high quality content for our |
| 0:18.7 | listeners all around the world. Now here's the preview of this week's exclusive content. |
| 0:26.0 | I think there's sort of another there's another step that we're kind of that we in this space are sort of are sort of missing right which is we get these people out of it, right? |
| 0:34.2 | And we use these, we try to explain to them |
| 0:40.8 | why their feelings are normal or what their feelings might be related to, but I don't know |
| 0:47.7 | that we're actually always giving them a satisfying answers. |
| 0:51.1 | And so for my wife it was very helpful for me listening to |
| 0:58.2 | wider lens and hearing these stories from other sort of lesbian and |
| 1:02.1 | bisexual women who either transitioned or I think |
| 1:04.7 | there was one woman in particular who couldn't transition because of |
| 1:07.0 | medical reasons and I remember hearing her story and her talking about how she |
| 1:11.1 | doesn't take her sports bra off, |
| 1:13.0 | you know, because she doesn't really like to have her breasts exposed |
| 1:16.0 | in sexual interactions. |
| 1:17.3 | And for me, that was like, oh, wow, what my wife is going through, |
| 1:22.1 | other lesbians go through this too. |
| 1:25.0 | And so I think sometimes we just kind of leave it there, like, oh, okay, what you're going through. |
| 1:30.0 | This is just like what some lesbians go through. |
| 1:35.0 | I don't know how satisfying that really is. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.