I'll probably take flack for this but...

I'm kind of two people sharing the same body. A division of mind, two personalities with some shared memories.
I read some posts in this community & go "Yes... that sounds familiar. I'm glad I'm not alone."
I read some posts and go "Riiight... nutter, nut-ter. Notjob"
This place occasionally makes me feel sane because I read things from literate inteligent people who just happen to be sharing a body with others. Occasionally it makes me feel sane because I read posts and realise that I'm a healty sane multiple, not insane like the poster.

I'll not single out any individuals (forgive the pun) but the nut-job posts I read usually ... heck. I'm not going to give examples. I think you know which ones I'm refering to.

[identity profile] pengke.livejournal.com 2005-08-25 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
There was a debate on another community recently and someone supporting the idea of multiplicity told the story of a multiple that was pregnant and another female in the system who wasn't pregnant and still got her period. Now if we had known this multiple and they told us they were pregnant but Sally wasn't and went into the whole period thing we'd think they were making the whole thing up. However, if you break the claim down into the components, you can see where someone would come up with the idea. Jane, who uses the body the most and has a boyfriend, gets pregnant. Sally doesn't use the body very often and doesn't consider herself pregnant because it's Susy's baby and she doesn't think of the body as her body anyway. Then one day Sally's using the body and either her or Jane notices some spotting. From there it's just a lapse of logic to the conclusion that it was Sally's period and she really isn't pregnant like Jane is.

Another example would be a transgendered person. The idea of someone being born with the brain of the opposite gender or being born a guy in a female body may seem farfetched. If you break it down to a matter of identity and self-image though, it's easier to understand and there's really nothing that anyone can argue against.

[identity profile] nematoddity.livejournal.com 2005-08-25 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Save that there are Danish studies that have (admittedly in a small sampling) autopsied brains of known transgendered individuals, and found similarities to female brains (for 'biologically male' bodies).

Just sayin'.

[identity profile] pengke.livejournal.com 2005-08-25 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
We're aware that there are numerous studies about the brain and gender, sexuality, and transgenderism. They're just people looking for a possible explanation. Not to mention that the results of any medical studies are horribly oversimplified whenever they're reported in the media.

The point remains the same. There are a lot more things a person could have objections to when someone claims to have the brain of the opposite gender than when someone states how they view themselves. You can disreguard the science that both supports or disproves the gendered brain model and simply look at the person's identity.