This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears authentic. The user expresses nuanced, personal reflections on their experience, uses varied language, and engages in complex discussion about social dynamics. There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or inauthentic. The passion and critical perspective align with genuine detransitioner/desister experiences.
About me
I got pulled into a specific online culture on Twitter when I was 19, and it made me believe I was trans. My feelings were really about low self-esteem and wanting to escape being an awkward young woman. I adopted the community's beliefs and even socially transitioned because it felt like being part of a tribe. After a few years, I questioned everything and left, realizing my gender confusion was more about my mental state than my body. Now, I'm just a woman who understands herself better after getting lost in a strange idea for a while.
My detransition story
My whole journey with gender started when I was around 19. I was spending a lot of time on Twitter and fell into a very specific online culture. It wasn't just about being trans; it was a whole set of beliefs, values, and ways of reacting to things that everyone seemed to share. It felt like its own world, and I got completely absorbed by it. The people there had such similar ideas and language that it started to feel like my own. I think now that this culture acted like a social contagion for me. It wasn't that I had some deep, innate gender dysphoria from childhood; I was pulled into an identity.
Looking back, a lot of my feelings were tied to low self-esteem and a kind of escapism. I wasn't comfortable with myself, and this new identity felt like a way to become someone else entirely. It was a fresh start. The community was so welcoming and sure of itself that it was easy to adopt its beliefs as my own. I even saw how people who questioned things were cast out or made into parodies, which kept me from looking elsewhere for a long time.
I started to socially transition, changing my name and pronouns online and with friends I made in that space. It felt right at the time because it was what everyone around me was doing and celebrating. It was like being part of a tribe. But after a while, I started to feel disconnected from it. I began to explore ideas that the community had warned were "bad" or "dangerous," and I realized those ideas weren't what I was told they were. It was like a bubble popped.
I left the community completely. Once I was out, I could see clearly how my mind had been playing tricks on me. I've learned that sometimes your perception of yourself isn't based on reality. Just like sometimes I feel fit and sometimes I feel fat, even though my body hasn't changed, my feelings about my gender were more about my confidence and mental state in that moment than what I truly was. I am female, and that's okay. I don't have any hatred for my body; I just got lost in a idea for a while.
I don't regret exploring my identity because it led me to a better understanding of myself, but I do regret how deeply I got pulled into that online culture without questioning it more. I think the trans community would be healthier if it was more aware of how it can unintentionally pull people in, especially young people who are vulnerable and looking for a place to belong. I wish I could gently suggest that some of the language and certainty can lead to bad outcomes, creating people who are hurt later on.
Now, I'm just me. I don't identify as trans or anything else. I'm a woman who went down a very strange path for a few years and found her way back.
Here is a timeline of my journey:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 19 | Spent extensive time on Twitter and was absorbed into a specific online trans culture. Began to socially transition. |
| 22 | Began to question the beliefs of the online community and explored forbidden ideas. |
| 23 | Completely left the online trans community and stopped identifying as trans. |
Top Comments by /u/BackToSquare1comics:
You 100% wouldn’t register as anything other than female to me. I wouldn’t even pick up on detrans or anything. Sometimes your mind just plays games where it makes you think you look different to how you look. Sometimes I feel like I look fat and sometimes I feel fit (I exercise regularly) and Ive learned that it’s more related to my self confidence in that moment than what I actually look like. Best wishes
Thank you for the thoughtful reply!
My conceptualization is that there are many different avenues to enter being trans. It seems like you weren't part of the one I entered through. I was mostly converted by twitter.
The thing I noticed is that people had similar values, sources of truth, responses to events and ideas. It was a full fledged culture. Not all trans people belonged to this culture, of course, but it was a culture that existed. I even knew of people who were outcasted from the culture, a trans woman who was gender critical and everyone in the community would say they were bad. Someone even made a parody account of her that many people followed (nearly a thousand followers, but twitter has a lot of bots).
The way people had similar beliefs, values, reactions, interactions, etc made it pretty clear to me this was a culture. a culture is a memetic set. cultures can spread like viruses. I can see how the language might seem off.
When one person is spreading misinformation that's an individual. When many people spread misinformation in the same way, that's a meme.
Yeah, this post isn't meant to be antagonistic to trans people. I think for something as serious as gender transition people should be aware of the factors at play that make them do certain things.
I think the trans community would be a lot healthier if they were aware of the ways they unintentionally drag people into it and tried to build systems to avoid it so they don't also create a class of malcontent people set out to destroy them. I wish I could share this idea with trans people, but I've completely left the community. If I was back, I'd try to gently suggest how saying certain things might lead to bad outcomes long term. If you think it would be helpful you can share this post or the ideas with people, so we have a win-win with less detransitioners and less trans hate.
I’d love to hear what your resident says. I came up with this theory myself, so it’s not really “proven”. A lot of what I cite is anecdotal evidence. This could be seen more like an anthropology paper where a researcher lives with a tribe and writes about their culture. (Also, I think in research the term Dual Inheritance is preferred over Meme but I like the term meme)
From my understanding it seems like the psychological community doesn’t accept the idea that gender dysphoria is social contagion. I don’t think dysphoria itself is social contagion but the identity itself very well can be social contagion. People believe crazy stuff all the time. Correct me if I’m wrong in my understanding, I’m not a psychologist by any means.
Haha right, I totally forgot how strong their antibody to other beliefs is. I guess gentle suggestions to individuals rather than groups might be a better way. Keep in mind a lot of times cultures will give people warnings of people not to talk to or listen to because they are bad. Like christians will tell you not to talk to satanists or they’ll corrupt you. I remember once I left and I started exploring the ideas that were forbidden and realized it wasn’t that bad