"Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects." - Lester B. Pearson
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Most progressives/liberals think (and so do I, perhaps shockingly to some) that people should be allowed to undergo sex reassignation surgery so that they can be the sex they feel they really are inside, although our reasons differ.
Yet it is probable that most of these people would not approve of race reassignation or otherwise drastic plastic surgery a la Michael Jackson or Dawn Yang (in fact, they'd probably denounce a desire for plastic surgery as evidence of the oppressive nature of modern society yada yada). In both cases, the biological facts of one's body differ from one's image of one's true self. Wherefore the inconsistency?
Basically, in the Oppression Olympics, there are no objective criteria for determining entry. Rather, historical reasons combine with the strength of that market segment's pressure group/lobby.
From the Discovery Channel "Addicted to Plastic Surgery" feature:
"Carrie had gone through a divorce, raised her kids, had been through some relationship - basically a broken woman. And came here to be rejuvenated.
Sadly, I see quite a bit of that, quite a few women have been through divorces, and we're the next stop, and we can help.
Plastic surgery cures as much sadness and depression as psychiatry. This is a documented fact."
- A plastic surgeon