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  • Hi.

  • Over the past several years, I’ve heard countless comments which reveal a surprising

  • unawareness of some basic facts of the human endocrine system.

  • In particular, it’s clear that many people don’t entirely understand what estrogen

  • and testosterone actually are, how they work, and their effects on trans people.

  • Not all trans people take hormones, and it’s always a personal choice based on individual

  • needs and preferences.

  • That said, most of us do.

  • Trans people likely already know everything thatll be covered here, so you can go ahead

  • and skip this episode if you want.

  • Cis people: this one’s for you.

  • Please pay attention.

  • Every person, man or woman, has various levels of estrogen and testosterone in their body.

  • Men tend to have higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of estrogen, and women tend

  • to have higher levels of estrogen and lower levels of testosterone.

  • Men are not entirely devoid of estrogen, and women are not entirely lacking in testosterone

  • both are present in everyone.

  • Their presence is not superfluous: having both in some quantity is necessary for the

  • body.

  • Men can actually suffer health issues from having too little estrogen, and so can women

  • from too little testosterone.

  • Some congenital conditions can prevent the body from being able to process testosterone

  • or estrogen, but these are generally rare.

  • Again: Men and women have both estrogen and testosterone in their bodies, because estrogen

  • and testosterone do thingsand they do these things regardless of whether you were

  • assigned male or female.

  • Someone with XY chromosomes can process estrogen in the same way as someone with XX chromosomes.

  • Someone with XX chromosomes can process testosterone in the same way as someone with XY chromosomes.

  • The action of hormones in the body is not inhibited by sex chromosomes.

  • Like most biological processes, the details of how hormones work are pretty complex.

  • You could quite literally spend a lifetime studying this in depth.

  • But at a basic level, estrogen binds to estrogen receptors, which activate estrogen response

  • elements.

  • These response elements alter the transcription and expression of a person’s pre-existing

  • genes.

  • The changes in expression regulate the production and action of various proteins, which produce

  • the large-scale biological effects of estrogen.

  • This all sounds pretty abstract, involving a lot of things that you can’t easily see.

  • Here are some things you can see: This is an estrogen pill.

  • Specifically, this is 17-beta estradiol.

  • It is identical to the most potent form of estrogen already found in the body.

  • To repeat: It is full of molecules that are the same as the estradiol molecules that already

  • exist in the human body.

  • That means when I take this pill, it acts in the same way as the estrogen that the body

  • itself produces.

  • It binds to estrogen receptors, alters gene expression, and regulates proteinsand

  • now, I have a lot more estrogen than I ever had naturally.

  • I take 120 of these pills every month, and I’ve been taking them for nearly four years.

  • Here’s what that looks like in a tangible way: I didn’t have breasts before, but now

  • I do.

  • They are not implantsthey are breast tissue that I grew myself.

  • My facial features weren’t this soft before, but now they are.

  • My skin wasn’t this smooth beforenow it is.

  • My legs used to be hairy, and now theyre not that hairy at all.

  • My muscle mass has decreased significantly, and I have a female-typical distribution of

  • fat deposits.

  • This is most noticeable around the butt and thighs, but it’s also changed in more subtle

  • ways that have made women’s clothes fit much better than before.

  • I’ve experienced extensive genital shrinkage and testicular atrophy, along with a lack

  • of spontaneous erections and a very reduced volume of ejaculate.

  • There’s more, but those are the parts that physically stand out the most.

  • Estrogen can be delivered in other forms, such as injections or patches, and trans women

  • often take other medications to reduce their levels of testosterone as well, but this is

  • basically how the process works.

  • Trans men take testosterone when hormonally transitioning, which has similar mechanisms

  • of action in the body but binds to androgen receptors, producing male-typical sexual characteristics.

  • This is important, so listen closely: Barring certain conditions, everyone has estrogen

  • receptors and androgen receptors.

  • Everyone has cells capable of responding to estrogen and testosterone.

  • Everyone’s DNA contains the genes needed to produce physical feminization or masculinization.

  • Men, if you were to take these estrogen pills regularly over several weeks, months, or years,

  • you would see changes similar to the ones I’ve experienced.

  • Your body can do that.

  • Your cells have the receptors for it.

  • Your genes already contain the code necessary for the development of breasts, like mine,

  • and all these other features.

  • All of the biological pathways involved are right there, inside of you.

  • That is why taking hormones works.

  • Were not doing it just for fun, although it is.

  • Were not doing it just to piss people off, although it does.

  • Hormones actually do something and produce real physical effects.

  • It doesn’t matter whether you have XX or XY chromosomesmy XY chromosomes obviously

  • haven’t stopped all these estrogen molecules.

  • It’s not like the pills just bounce off.

  • Altogether, this is an elegant process, and on a high level, it’s not even that complicated.

  • It’s just activating a system that’s already in place, and maintaining this state.

  • If this has been a little repetitive, it’s because it needs to beit’s astounding

  • how many people will blithely tell me this is a matter ofhigh school biology”,

  • before I have to correct them on basic points of endocrinology.

  • Please, pay attention to what I’ve said, and incorporate this into your understanding

  • of reality.

  • I’m Zinnia Jones, and I am just so exhausted with this.

Hi.

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