Gender Identity Question

CapnJack said:

I have kind of a question that I'm not sure about. It's for a story I'm doing, that's set in the late 19th century.

Is it true, that PTSD can affect someone's gender identity?

The character in question has gone through an extremely traumatic event. For her current career choice, she dresses as a man, and uses a male alias as well.

I want to know, is it possible that this event could have affected how she views herself, as far as gender is concerned?

I mean absolutely no offense to anyone when I ask this.

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No, trauma probably cannot change people's gender or sexuality.

It may, however, change how they are expressed, and perhaps even one's own self-perception of one's gender or sexuality, but it's unlikely to change them on a subconscious level.

Furthermore, living as a different gender than you identify as can itself be a very traumatic experience, as many trans people know viscerally. And conversion therapy has shown us that attempting to change one's gender or sexuality, is also, itself, traumatic.

Few cis people ever experience gender dysphoria, but you may be interested in reading Norah Vincent's book Self-Made Man and her accounts surrounding her experience (as a cisgender woman) of living as a man for 18 months. After the experiment, she had to check herself into a hospital for depression. You don't fuck around with gender identity.

CapnJack said:

May I message you?

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Sure.