To follow your analogy, I think I am rather asking why people feel schadenfreude or anger.
When it comes to gender idendity, maybe the dysphoria and discomfort was always there, and at the same rates. However, social conditions and trends can make the feelings of schadenfrede and anger more or less common, independent of if we have a word to call it.
As an example, if we lived in a society that imbued less meaning into gender, and it was less of an important part of identity, would gender dysphoria be as common? This example is just a tool to ask what goes into a gender label, and why do people want it?
It is basically a the same question I struggle with when I perform your thought experiment and want to be treated as a different gender? What goes into the label, and why do I want it?
I imagine that if I was given the label, but none of the meaningful attributes I ascribe to it, I would still be unhappy.
Im not really trying to prescribe any solution like stoicism, or invalidate the feelings people have, but ask what gives rise to those feelings.
> I think I am rather asking why people feel schadenfreude or anger.
I wish I had a better answer for you. The only emotional model I've come in contact with is the two-factor theory[1] and even that's just a passing familiarity. More specifically, I haven't seen an incorporation of the two-factor model into gender dysphoria.
> As an example, if we lived in a society that imbued less meaning into gender, and it was less of an important part of identity, would gender dysphoria be as common?
Anecdata, but there are many many trans people I've talked to[2] who wish gender played a less prominent role in society(up to and including gender abolition). Given that goal is unlikely to be accomplished in our lifetimes, the very next best thing is to live the rest of their life as the gender they self-identify as.
> What goes into the label, and why do I want it?
Anyone who honestly engages with trying to understand the social ontology of gender[3] has the very difficult task of peeling back successive layers of social questions and answers that most folks foreclose on because it involves unanswerable questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, and truth.
I'd be happy to discuss more, but the sensitivity of the topic leaves me hesitant. Contact info in bio.
When it comes to gender idendity, maybe the dysphoria and discomfort was always there, and at the same rates. However, social conditions and trends can make the feelings of schadenfrede and anger more or less common, independent of if we have a word to call it.
As an example, if we lived in a society that imbued less meaning into gender, and it was less of an important part of identity, would gender dysphoria be as common? This example is just a tool to ask what goes into a gender label, and why do people want it?
It is basically a the same question I struggle with when I perform your thought experiment and want to be treated as a different gender? What goes into the label, and why do I want it?
I imagine that if I was given the label, but none of the meaningful attributes I ascribe to it, I would still be unhappy.
Im not really trying to prescribe any solution like stoicism, or invalidate the feelings people have, but ask what gives rise to those feelings.