problems, smash patriarchy, pull plug

diff --git a/content/2017/the-line-in-the-sand-or-my-slippery-slope-anchoring-action-plan.md b/content/2017/the-line-in-the-sand-or-my-slippery-slope-anchoring-action-plan.md
index 1a1a876..07a0759 100644 (file)
--- a/content/2017/the-line-in-the-sand-or-my-slippery-slope-anchoring-action-plan.md
+++ b/content/2017/the-line-in-the-sand-or-my-slippery-slope-anchoring-action-plan.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ On the other hand, I don't want to become a trans woman myself, because I alread
 
 (Where one day, that sensitive, nerdy guy with a ponytail says, "Hey everyone, turns out I've secretly been a girl this entire time in some unspecified metaphysical sense, and no one noticed!", and everyone else is supposed to politely be like, "Oh, right, that makes sense.")
 
-But transitioning isn't a binary switch; it's a whole series of interventions designed to make a man resemble a woman as much as possible: hormones _and_ hair removal _and_ new clothes _and_ voice training _and_ coming out to friends and family and coworkers _and_ meeting new people as a woman _&c_. Maybe ... maybe you could take _some_ interventions _without_ giving up your primary social identity, as a _reasonable compromise_ between the scintillating but ultimately untrue thought, and the practical realities of a world in which biological sex is a real thing that [we don't know how to change](http://lesswrong.com/lw/xe/changing_emotions/) (even if people in Portland will politely _pretend not to notice_). An autogynandromorphophilic consolation prize, when the real thing will always be out of reach, and the thing that people like to pretend is as good as the real thing actually causes way more problems than it solves.
+But transitioning isn't a binary switch; it's a whole series of interventions designed to make a man resemble a woman as much as possible: hormones _and_ hair removal _and_ new clothes _and_ voice training _and_ coming out to friends and family and coworkers _and_ meeting new people as a woman _&c_. Maybe ... maybe you could take _some_ interventions _without_ giving up your primary social identity, as a _reasonable compromise_ between the scintillating but ultimately untrue thought, and the practical realities of a world in which biological sex is a real thing that [we don't know how to change](http://lesswrong.com/lw/xe/changing_emotions/) (even if people in Portland will politely _pretend not to notice_). An autogynandromorphophilic consolation prize, when the real thing will always be out of reach, and the thing that people like to pretend is as good as the real thing looks like it would actually cause way more problems than it solves.
 
 I am not the first person to have this idea.
 
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ Maybe you _can't_ half-transition, for the same reason you can't just have a lit
 
 My _hope_ is that my case is different—or rather, that I can _make_ my case different. I _expect_ that most people go into this with a mindset of, "Well, I think I might be trans, but I'm not sure," and conclude from their enjoyment of each successive intervention in isolation that yes, they do in fact have the atomic Trans Identity and are in fact a trans woman. Whereas I'm going into this with the mindset of, "Blanchard–Bailey–Lawrence is _obviously correct_, the standard gender-identity narrative is _mendacious bullshit_, and everyone who says otherwise is ignorant, delusional, or lying." My hope is that if you _know_ about autogynephilia and you _know_ about this progression, you can set limits _in advance_ about what interventions to use (and more importantly, _not_ to use), and _stop_ at a more profitable point on the slope.
 
-Some people are really into the clothes and social aspects of presenting as a woman. That's not really much of a priority for me (and of course, a lot of actual women don't like that stuff, either). I'm more interested in finding out what I can about the physiological and psychological aspects of what biologically-female people feel, so for me, hormones are the most interesting part with the greatest potential rewards, despite their much higher risks (both social and medical) contrasted to just playing dress-up.
+Some people are really into the clothes and social aspects of presenting as a woman. That's not really much of a priority for me. (And of course, a lot of actual women don't like that stuff, either. Smash the patriarchy!) I'm more interested in finding out what I can about the physiological and psychological aspects of what biologically-female people feel, so for me, hormones are the most interesting part with the greatest potential rewards, despite their much higher risks (both social and medical) contrasted to just playing dress-up.
 
 Trans women have this concept of _boy-mode fail_, where you've been on hormones for however many months, and strangers start spontaneously gendering you as female even though you think you're presenting as male. 
 
-I'm aiming for a "weirdly-androgynous man and occasional transvestite" outcome. Physically, sneak up to the edge of boy-mode fail and _fucking stay there_.
+I'm aiming for a "weirdly-androgynous man and occasional transvestite" outcome. Physically, try to sneak up to the edge of boy-mode fail and _fucking stay there_. (And if at any point, things feel bad or socially-awkward, don't hestiate to _pull the plug_ early.)
 
 So here is my schedule of interventions—