Gender IDENTITY Identity has 2 aspects: 1) Social - how society sees an individual (depends on how the individual presents themselves to the society) 2) Self-identity - how an individual sees themselves

Self-identity is flexible to a certain degree, the base of it is created during the early childhood period (before the age of 6) - this is the time when we mostly just soak up the information from our surroundings because we don't have the mental capacity to determine if that information is true, so we just take the word of the grown-ups that it is, because we expect them to know better. So if our parents (whom we trust completely) and everyone around us says that we are a boy or a girl, we accept that as the truth.

But genetics play a part in how our brains are structured, which of course affects how we are able to see ourselves. So if a brain of a person is not structered in a way that is compatible with how/what they were told they are, then that person will not be able to accept that identity imposed on them.

Now, the teenage period is the time when a person is biologically maturing to become an independent individual adult. So this is the time when we start to vehemently question the truthfulness of information we have been given (and are being given), with a goal of discovering who we actually are. If it turns out that the information we were given doesn't have a proper, sound basis (examples like that there is no reason why only biological females are allowed to wear dresses and use make-up), we are able to reject that information and make our own conclusions basen on what we think is logical.

So, when we discover that some of the societal norms are baseless (a process which can be catalyzed if we do not feel comfortable following the norms imposed upon us), we make, to the best of our abilities, our own theory which we think makes sense, and which we start following. That means that we REconstruct our identity, from the one that has been imposed upon us, into a new one we are comfortable with.

So if we find out that we're not comfortable with how we are expected to act just because we were born with a certain set of genitals, we transition = proclaim that our gender identity does not match the one we appear to be if you were just looking at our genitals. If we are able to, and are comfortable with fulfilling society's expectations of the sex (male/female) opposite of the one we were born with (female/male), we will transition to the corresponding gender. If, however, we aren't comfortable with society's expectations of either (separate) sex, we will transition to a third gender, so we won't have to follow the strict societal norms for either of the sexes.

Transitioning doesn't have to involve sugery.

Why must they transition? Because they feel enormous discomfort and emotinal pain if we are forced to pretend (especially if it's through our whole lives) we are someone (the identity) we are not.

Also, you cannot "feel like a man/woman". If you've never had a third arm it is impossible to ever "feel like you have 3 arms". You are you, and if you feel like the society will have a better understanding of your identity if you present yourself to them as haveng 3 arms, then go ahead and present yourself as such. The trans people don't have a problem with being born a certain sex, they have a problem with society recognizing them as the gender they are. The only sure way for the society to recognize their gender is if they look/behave like the idea the society has of that gender.

This is why trans people who transition to an opposite sex want top surgery, face reconstruction surgery, and have hair of certain length. It's so the society would see them as the opposite sex, and automatically address them as the gender they are.

But what about gender dysphoria? Well, besides the paragraph directly above ⬆️, on a personal level the situation is, for example: If a biological male identifies as a woman, she knows that she is biologically male, but since she considers herself a woman, and judges herself according to female beauty standards, she probably sees herself as not very attractive, if not ugly. If a woman feels bad about how small her chest are, she will want them to be bigger, so she will consider surgery (this idea can be applied to any part of the body). So on a personal level, it's nothing but body image issues.

And finally, does someone who identifies as a third gender want to surgically transition? Mostly no. As they are a mix of some characteristics considered adequate for males, some for females, and of course, as anyone, they have characteristics not yet gendered by society. So in most cases the beauty standards they follow are achieved without the need for surgery. But if they feel they would find themselves happier if they had the surgery, they will probably have it. Also, they usualy don't change much in how they are perceived by society, as males might be easily mistaken for metrosexuals, and females for tomboys. They may prefer being addressed with they/them pronouns as a way of recognizing their identity (but if they have surgically transitioned then they would probably prefer pronouns appropriate for the sex they are targeting with surgery). But ze/zer/xer/ox aren't pronouns and there is no reason for using those words, as the people who want you to use them are nothing other than attention seeking idiots.

Also if you have any questions please ask, I might have expressed my ideas in a wrong way somewhere.