We Need to Stop Telling Trans People to Hate Their Body

This article stems from me reading several articles about how more and more Trans people are being diagnosed with eating disorders, and a lot of pent up anger that until now I haven’t really had an outlet for.

This article, in particular, speaking about a study conducted by Washington University was the one that really fuelled me, and really highlighted just how bad the situation is. According to their research, 16 percent of trans people in their study were diagnosed with an eating disorder in the past year. The next lowest number was cis men who are unsure of their sexuality at 3.66 percent. That’s a hell of a jump from 3.66 percent to 16 percent.

The research is an interesting read and it comes up with lots of theories as to why transgender people are at a much higher risk of developing an eating disorder. It’s important to note there isn’t a lot of research on transgender people for a few reasons. One being people have only just started researching us and caring about us. Two: There aren’t many trans people and a lot of us are invisible or otherwise hard to find. Plus even if they do find us they can’t force us to take part in the research. This means that the figures may not be exact but 3.66 percent compared to 16 percent? That’s enough of a gap to start alarm bells ringing.

One thing that the study did bring up was the possibility that transgender people may be more likely to develop eating disorders due to “discrimination.” I want to take that one step further, using my own experiences as a transgender individual.

On the whole, I’m quite comfortable with my body. Yeah, my voice sucks and I could be a bit taller but on the whole? I’m doing okay. I know that eventually I will be able to start testosterone and have surgery and my body will finally match my mind. For some reason, according to a lot of cis people that I’ve met, this is not the opinion I should have. One of the most insidious things that some cis people have done is tell me that I “have to” despise everything about my body in order to be “actually trans.” I’m already very self-conscious about my body, telling me that I have to hate everything about it is a lot to deal with.

Firstly how dare you, as a cis person who has never experienced gender dysphoria, tell me whether or not I’m “really trans.” That’s not how this works. Educate yourself and work towards being a better ally.

Secondly, telling someone that they have to hate everything about themselves is horrible. It’s an awful thing to say to anyone regardless of whether they are transgender or not. It’s also very dangerous. If you tell someone to hate everything about their body, they will do anything they can to change their body. One of these things is absolutely lose weight. The trouble is that losing weight is hard and people can easily become obsessed with counting calories and exercising. It can make transgender people feel bad for eating because you’ve told them they should be controlling everything they can about their body.

Not only is this in itself cruel enough, but it can be life-threatening. Eating disorders are serious medical conditions that can and do result in death. Even if they don’t result in death, they can have some nasty long-lasting effects such as heart disease, hypertension, and strokes. Depending on the eating disorder it can also result in things such as tooth decay and damage to the esophagus. All this because of your toxic opinion that transgender people should hate themselves.

If you are a transgender person reading this article, please let me take this opportunity to say something important to you. You do not have to destroy your body for a peace of mind you will never get just because a cis person told you to. Your body is fine and wonderful as it is. You don’t need to hurt yourself. You know who you are, the rest of the transgender community knows who you are. You do not have to prove anything to cisgender people. You are already more than enough.

TL;DR: Do not tell transgender people that they should hate themselves just because you think they should. It could lead to long-lasting psychological and physical damages such as eating disorders. Be a decent person and leave transgender people to live their own lives on their own terms.

If you were affected by anything discussed in this article, here are some websites I would recommend you look at:

• Transgender Support Organisations
• Eating Disorder Help