Marisa

Maybe you are thinking.

Quote.

Marissa, this is hogwash.

All the trans people I know are constantly oversharing lurid personal details despite obvious social incentives not to.

The most parsimonious explanation is that people who say I'm underscore underscore because I identify as underscore underscore literally believe that.

End quote.

Yes, good point.

I need to explain another dynamic.

So far I've only discussed external incentives, but there is incentive pressure from within the trans community as well.

In the 2010s, the following happened.

Youth transitions increased.

Non-binary identification increased, especially among people not medically transitioning.

Acceptance, awareness, and politicization all increased.

Social media happened.

Suddenly the trans community was fighting for a much broader set of constituents and demands.

20th century binary transsexualism coheres with medical framings, but 2010's Tumblr xenogenders do not.

And trans people of all kinds have always had insecurities about their own validity both internal and external.

Here is the key insight.

It's difficult to enforce norms that protect external political perception.

It's easy to enforce norms that protect in-group feelings.