This is interesting to me. I see how that would happen, trying to imagine why a person might transition without having ever experienced dysphoria. This is definitely a problem. For me I think this logic was actually the other way around — I experienced dysphoria, so I tried to explain what might cause me to feel it. The language of misogyny allowed me to do so pretty well. I definitely don’t regret any of the stuff, including my mastectomy, that I tried to relieve my dysphoria because ultimately those things did help, I just don’t believe that those feelings were innate to me. Or at least, I wouldn’t assume that they were innate to me. The few ‘detransitioned’ women I know seem very angry and regretful of any steps they’d taken in transition before going back to IDing as women, so I generally don’t feel that I have much in common with them and try to steer clear of them. Maybe this is why I haven’t encountered some of these harmful sentiments you speak of.
I blame cisnormativity.
Henry Giddings
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