(Re)Construction of the body of transgender women: daily search for (in)satisfaction and care?
Carle Porcino, Jeane Freitas de Oliveira, Maria Thereza Ávila Dantas Coelho and 5 others
PMID 35946620WHAT IT FOUND
99% of transgender women in Salvador had undergone body modification, but 53% were satisfied.
Their central words about the real body were 'must fit', dissatisfaction and sadness; 69% reported discrimination in public health care.
Key findings
0199% had performed some clinical or surgical procedure to conform their body, and 53% were satisfied with the results.
0222% accessed hormone therapy in the Trans-sexualization Process (TrPr) in the Unified Health System (UHS), and 69% reported discrimination in the UHS.
03The probable central elements of the representation of the real body were 'must fit', 'unsatisfied' and 'sadness'.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The authors state that participants were transgender women from a single municipality in Bahia, which does not allow advancing the results to other scenarios. Recruitment was by snowball sampling from five initial seeds, and the authors note that there is no information on how many transgender people exist or how many have health care demands. The study excluded people living outside Salvador, those who could not interact with the researcher because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those in home recovery after surgery. The authors note that similarity analysis cannot confirm the centrality of elements, only point to terms considered central for the group.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 99% who had undergone body modification as evidence that these procedures worked: 53% were satisfied, and the study reports social representations and health-service experiences, not treatment outcomes.