fracture

yes, there is something you can do about it! dr. will powers has made a pretty good hair restoration formula and you can get the formula online, take it to your doctor, and have them prescribe it for you. it's probably not covered by insurance and is most likely expensive, though https://www.reddit.com/r/DrWillPowers/comments/rvc309/pharmacy_to_get_my_compounds_made_and_shipped_to/

the link is about where to get it made, but it also links to the formula itself

you should be able to check the subreddit itself for proof it works; he posted pics of someone with very bad hair loss, and the new regrowth of hair

note that the formula does contain minoxidil, which CAN be safely used around pets, as long as you take care to keep them from ingesting any of it

you could try researching charities that help trans folks get surgeries. i think that would probably be the most direct method (even if they can only get you part of the way, you might be able to backfill the rest, either with the following methods, or with even a gofundme)

otherwise, advice for this is country specific, but i think US is a good guess, so i can at least speak to it. the main things i can thing off are, getting insurance that would cover it, either through your state's health insurance marketplace or through changing jobs. the other thing is to look into taking out a personal loan and seeing if you can get that amount covered over some amount of time at a decent interest rate, for something you'll actually be able to afford to pay back

i don't know your situation, and it certainly sucks for us that a necessary surgery like this is uncovered and essentially the equivalent of the money you'd put into a cheap car. but it's a very obtainable amount, so don't give up. you'll find a way to get it, one way or another

if i get around to talking about the science stuff, i'll do it in a separate comment. but i don't wanna promise anything because i'm really busy lately and honestly, it's not something i'm super interested in getting into the nitty gritty over... sorry....😅 (it's also why i took so long to respond, my apologies)

so basically, the point i was trying to make, is that it seems like your post was trying to educate (which is fine and a noble goal by itself), but also, if i read into a little more, that it seemed like it was a little more personal to you. and when it comes to persuasion, especially in places like this, where we're pretty much here to have conversations with our fellow people, i think it's nice to be able to speak your personal truth, which can easily get muddied in the goal of educating (well, really, you just have to be explicit about what parts of your post are educating, and what parts are your personal experience)

for example, you might have said, "i feel like it can be invalidating to hear that gender is a social construct. gender roles and expectations can be harmful at times, but it's also possible to find a great sense of joy and belonging in them, especially as a transgender person who had to fight for that for a long time. it can also feel especially invalidating because, due to both science and my personal experience, i feel that my gender isn't just a social construct, but an inherent part of my being that's dearly important to me" obviously, it's still a little sterile because... this isn't my personal experience. but the cool thing about speaking your personal experience, about speaking your truth, is that it allows other people to know you a bit more. and, for you to know you a little more, since trying to explain something helps you understand it... and yourself is no exception :)

additionally, i think it would help with that sense that you need to bite your tongue about the subject. it's OK to speak your truth, even in a meme sub. that's the cool thing about spaces like these, i think, especially where they're smaller and explicitly trans-friendly. that's what they're here for, for people like you and i to share our genuine, lived experience

fwiw, i did read the articles, but i think the issue with articles, or just citing someone else's words, is that they're not your words. that's why i asked for elaboration in the first place. everyone has a unique way of viewing things, and i was curious what your views were, not the people you were citing (and i mean, it wasn't PURELY curiosity, i was a little concerned too; but that's the cool thing about asking for elaboration, you can do it if you're curious or worried, haha)

just some other thoughts: i think it would have been cool to hear about your personal connection to the links you posted, as well. how you came across julia serano, what her work means to you, or if/how it helped you along your personal gender journey. i still have no idea if this is about something personal to you, or if it's just something you've heard from other people, and are advocating for in their place. this isn't to say that any of your points are less valid for not presenting your personal stance; but it confuses your motivation, and knowing the motivation you speak from helps me understand the broader point you want to make better

and then, idk, a little about me because i feel weird having written this much without sharing: i'm a transgender man who experienced very little dysphoria in his life. i feel a little insecure about being trans in this regard, so i tend to let others talk and share their experiences. i would honestly say that biological/hormonal dysphoria is the worst dysphoria i deal with, and i didn't even realize it until i got my first testosterone shot because... how would i? so that, along with a lot of self work i've done to internalize that i'm a legitimate man, regardless of how others view me / how my body looks / how i view myself / etc etc etc, has led to me being very comfortable and confident in myself, which i feel like is (unfortunately) somewhat rare amongst us as transgender folks. plus, hormonal transition has been kind to me, so i rarely get misgendered... and in the event i do, people are super apologetic, like IMMEDIATELY, because... they see me as a man. so in a lot of ways, i feel like my experience being trans isn't really universal, and it's also very binary, so i try to listen more than i talk

all of this to say, while i might, individually, feel like my experience of my gender is very biological / innate... i don't feel strongly about it, and in fact, i feel rather privileged about it, to be so confident and secure about my gender identity. and i don't know that every trans person would describe their identity in the same way. maybe someone out there feels that their gender is a social construct, or they're not sure where it comes from, or... any number of things that i might not be able to imagine. right? (i thought of a good example while washing dishes, actually; you know how a lot of trans girls say, "everyone knows girls have it easier"? when they're still in egg mode?....) so my position is more or less that, regardless of what the actual basis you're claiming (and that you don't NEED to have a basis for it, at all), your gender identity is valid, however you claim it

and that uncertainty, and that belief, is the heart of the reason i pressed you about your point earlier, haha. so thank you for elaborating and putting my mind at ease, and allowing us to have this very pleasant conversation, instead

the two genders: dick and ass

i guess? we talk a lot about the consequences of being in an information bubble but i think we've experienced it very little. and it's hard to imagine the consequences are going to be worse than... this waves hands at the current state of things

i tend to think that the internet, up to this point, has been relatively forceful in exposing you to opposing viewpoints, which, from a mental health perspective, is quite taxing on individuals (we're not really wired to constantly be confronting really fundamental disagreements all the time). so i think that an internet where people are less constantly thrown into friction with each other will be a net benefit, even if there are some consequences for the otherwise information bubbling

yeah okay, thank you. i think "gender identity has at least some grounding in biology" and "genderqueer identities are generally normal varieties of humans to see, speaking from a scientific viewpoint" are much more agreeable points, and i appreciate the literature that you've provided in their support

fwiw, i'm not sure i'm convinced this is 100% solid science, but i don't think that's really the salient point, either

i don't know exactly how near and dear to your heart "my gender identity stems from an innate, biological place" is - or even "some people's identities stem from an innate, biological place" - but, i think you may find better traction stating that directly, along side an "saying that gender is a social construct feels invalidating to my / some people's experience of their gender identity (and, if you want, here are some sources about that as well)"; if i'm understanding the point you're trying to make correctly

i would also include that i do not believe that invalidating your/others' experiences as sort of innately biologically transgender people is the intention of those that say gender is a social construct. while it is not really something i, as an individual, believe (so i may not be able to do their argument justice), i believe it comes from a fundamentally good place of believing all of us would be better off with less gendered constructs enforced upon us by society. it's not really about invalidating anyone's experience of their gender, or even saying that their gender (/gender constructs) shouldn't be or aren't important; just that, generally, assuming things about people because of their gender tends to do more harm than good. like yeah (using my own gender transition as an example), presenting as a man and getting gendered correctly is great, but those years before where people treated me like a girl because they thought i was one (and frankly, i did too) would probably have sucked less if society didn't make those assumptions

but, to be clear, i think it's absolutely valid to feel like saying gender is a social construct is invalidating. i just don't think that's the intention

if your point was something else, if you just wanted to provide education or something, i apologize for misunderstanding. opening a post with "gender identity is biological" is just uhh, quite a strong statement to open a comment with (especially with the deeply emotional excerpt that accompanied it), so i assumed it was something you felt strongly about. but, you know, internet, tone, etc etc etc

i'm not really here representing a viewpoint other than "if someone wants to identify in a way that makes them happy, they should be allowed to, regardless of the basis they claim for it"

i specifically asked in this case because, especially nonbinary people, but also gnc trans people are sometimes invalidated because of the biological argument, so i wanted clarity on the commenter's position. of course, i don't know everything, and consider my experience to be fairly gender normative for a trans person, so i'm open to learning something new, as well

these are some pretty deep viewpoints to condense into one sentence and just drop links to, can you clarify to what degree you believe gender is biological, and how that extends to transgender / nonbinary people?

this is a beautiful piece, thanks for posting

However, there are differences between the two thought experiments. Roko's basilisk is so named because, if valid, it presents an information hazard: the basilisk only punishes those who knew about it but did not contribute. But ignorance of Pascal's wager does not protect one from divine punishment in the same way that ignorance of Roko's basilisk ensures one's safety.

bemused by how this portrays AI as at least somewhat more kind and understanding than it's equivalent diety

i tend to be cynical about pumping, especially since there's no evidence of it helping with size development in cis men (there is some evidence for it helping with erectile dysfunction, fwiw). personally i feel like it tends to flood the tissues with edema instead of blood, so doesn't have a great effect on the erectile tissue. ymmv

that said, it's probably not harmful, so you can do it safely without risking any negative effects

i would recommend you combine it with a good cardio regiment. need a good strong heart for good strong erections!