PURELY POLITICAL
By Jim Buckley
Nearly two years ago, I wrote a column on what I called the Transgender Explosion and wondered how it was that so many boys and girls, young men, and young women, seemed obsessed with the idea of “transitioning” to the opposite sex.
I proffered that what we were witnessing has a lot in common with lobotomy, a procedure that enjoyed some prominence when it first appeared. From 1949 to 1952 — its heyday — some 50,000 prefrontal lobotomies were performed. It was seen by many as a medical miracle used to “cure” difficult patients. By the mid 1960s, and after some 60,000 lobotomies, the procedure had been completely discredited.
The “operation” (originally called a “leucotomy”) was invented by Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, who performed the very first such operation by drilling two holes in a patient’s skull and injecting pure alcohol through those holes into the frontal lobe of the patient’s brain, destroying tissue and nerves. Mr. Moniz was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his inventive procedure.
A year later, Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman, an American physician, began using the procedure and soon modified it. His method was less time-consuming but just as effective. He would insert an ice pick into the inside crease between the eye and the bridge of the nose of a patient, then slowly turn it as the device reached the brain, destroying tissues and nerves. His new “lobotomy” took 10 minutes, as opposed to the one-hour or more Moniz’s “leucotomy” took.
Lobotomy became so popular that Dr. Freeman toured psychiatric hospitals, demonstrating the remarkable results of the simple operation to crowds of astonished and gullible mental health professionals, ready and eager to try their hands at the procedure.
With the birth and popularity of social media, something similar has taken place in the world of sexual instability.
Soothing descriptions of “gender affirming care” and “gender transition surgery” are given space to promote the “transitioning” process and offer positive reinforcement, and encouragement to confused and vulnerable youngsters.
According to a June 2019 report cited in the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine from the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, sex-reassignment surgery was the highest growing surgery in 2016-2017.
My column delved into a little history of “gender dysphoria” but stopped short of describing the actual “gender transition” operation and what is involved.
I’m doing that now because it’s increasingly difficult to find a social-media site that offers anything other than positive and transgender-affirming psychological advice.
Once on this transgender road, it is extremely difficult to get off. Powerful drugs and hormones, along with regular and frequent doctor visits, become a part of everyday existence for anyone who’s chosen to “transition,” even non-surgically.
Records indicate that up to 25% of people who identify as transgender eventually opt for the complete surgical route.
Because of that, here are the facts about surgeries offered to men and women looking to change genders.
The first thing one notices about so many of these sites is how soft the introductory language is. For example: “Transgender and intersex people follow many different paths to realize their gender expression (including chest reconstruction and facial feminization surgery),” reads a London hospital website that specializes in these kinds of surgeries. You’ll be advised that people in search of realizing their gender expression “may also decide that bottom surgery — also known as genital surgery, sex reassignment surgery (SR), or preferably, gender confirmation surgery (GCS) — is the right choice for them (italics added).”
The right choice?
Sounds like a harmless prescription medication commercial rather than what it really is: an irreversible, all-inclusive surgical procedure that will change your life forever and turn you into a ward of a team of doctors and fill your life with various medicines, surgeries and a plethora of doctor visits.
But you are also reassuringly advised that “many individuals view transfeminine bottom surgery as a necessary step toward alleviating their gender dysphoria (italics added).”
Oh, by the way, “the possible risks of transfeminine bottom surgery include, but are not limited to, bleeding, infection, poor healing of incisions, hematoma, nerve injury, stenosis of the vagina, inadequate depth of the vagina, injury to the urinary tract, abnormal connections between the urethra and the skin, painful intercourse and anesthesia risks.”
No need to worry, as “the final results of transfeminine bottom surgery can help alleviate the feelings of gender dysphoria that some individuals may experience.”
There is more: “over time, the new vagina will settle into position and the scar lines will improve, although they’ll never disappear completely. There are trade-offs, but most trans women feel these are small compared to the large improvement in their quality of life and the ability to look and feel like a woman.”
Oh, and doctors do not remove a transgender woman’s prostate gland, and because they don’t. “careful monitoring of prostate health through exam is essential to your long-term health.”
Oh, and “if you experience shortness of breath, chest pains, or unusual heartbeats, seek medical attention immediately. Should any of these complications occur, you may require hospitalization and additional treatment.”
Ready for your “bottom surgery?”
Here goes:
First, you’ll be completely sedated.
Then your testicles are removed, and after several surgical steps involving the removal of penile tissue, a new vagina is created.
Easy, right?
There is no turning back from this but, hey, it may be “right for you.”
There are a number of additional surgical procedures that may also be “right for you.” They include thyroid cartilage reduction (Adam’s Apple), forehead reduction/contouring, jawline/chin contouring, rhinoplasty, voice surgery, and, well as they say in the commercials, lots more.
It’s ugly and deforming but, again, you are warmly reassured that “Gender Confirmation Surgery of the Genitalia works by immediately correcting the gender you were assigned with at birth, thereby ensuring your body is perfectly aligned with your gender identity. For many transgender men, having a body that corresponds to the way they feel about themselves is incredibly profound.”
I guess it’s good to be God.
There is also phalloplasty for women who want to be men, and that is equally deforming, if not more so.
If asked, I’ll send a description.
Otherwise, though I’m not a doctor and don’t claim to be one, my advice would be to learn to live with what you’ve got.
Please.
James Buckley is a longtime Montecito resident. He welcomes questions or comments at jimb@substack.com. Readers are invited to visit jimb.substack.com, where Jim’s Journals are on file. He also invites people to subscribe to Jim’s Journal.
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