Art of Transliness — I’m currently reading Bono’s book on transition. I’ve been trying to read a lot on trans guys perspectives regarding the changes on testosterone- I know it varies from person to person but it’s a little disconcerting how often and/or definitively they report an increase in temper and decrease in verbal ability/frequency, as if it’s a direct result of T. Are these side effects truly that common? Or a sort of cultural”placebo” effect regarding behavior?

Answer

I'm currently reading Bono's book on transition. I've been trying to read a lot on trans guys perspectives regarding the changes on testosterone- I know it varies from person to person but it's a little disconcerting how often and/or definitively they report an increase in temper and decrease in verbal ability/frequency, as if it's a direct result of T. Are these side effects truly that common? Or a sort of cultural"placebo" effect regarding behavior?

Anonymous asked

Zak: I don’t think that is really known. My hunch is that pretty much all of the emotional/social changes on testosterone are the result of a combination of actual chemical or biological changes and expectation or self-fulfilling prophecy, the difference in societal treatment and expectations, and people trying to appear more masculine (either consciously or unconsciously). Side effects such as not being able to cry are quite common on T, and so I think that there IS a chemical component. Who really knows, though.

Incidentally, I just made a video about this today.

7
Notes

heisfox said: Huh, hadn’t heard about the decrease in verbal — I’ve become more talkative.
gendermagick liked this
wilterna liked this
jimfromit0 liked this
kaitlinskorbitz liked this
diegojdiaz liked this
artoftransliness posted this