Regulating Healthy Gender: Surgical Body Modification Among Transgender and Cisgender Consumers

This research systematically compared the experiences of transgender and cisgender individuals undergoing surgical body modifications, using mixed methods including content analysis of 445 online threads, 15 international surgical protocols, and 40 in-depth interviews. It found that both groups shared similar presurgical feelings, motivations, and benefits from surgery, which enhanced their inner selves by improving their outer gendered bodies. However, transgender individuals faced more stringent protocols and less autonomy in pursuing surgery compared to their cisgender counterparts. The study highlighted the inequalities in psychomedical institutions based on gender status, emphasizing the need for policy changes in clinical practice and legal classifications of sex and gender.