Confic Art, Culture & Community
by Waterbaste
Editor's Introduction: |
Would a body transplant cure gender dysphoria?
Cartesian dualism suggests the mind and body are separate. The mind houses consciousness and identity, while the body provides physical sensations.
Gender dysphoria involves a conflict between an individual's assigned gender and their identified gender, causing distress and impacting daily life. From a Cartesian perspective, this condition emphasizes a disconnect between mind and body.
However, gender dysphoria is not just a mind-body disconnect. It includes social, cultural, and personal identity elements. Critics argue that Cartesian dualism oversimplifies the complexities of gender identity formation, which involves both biological and societal factors.
Thus, while gender dysphoria may highlight a possible separation between mind and body as in Cartesian duality, it also underscores the complexity and interconnectedness of these concepts.
Our original article this week honors the complexities of a liberated gender philosophy in honor of Pride Month, re-imagines SCP-113 "The Gender-Switcher" — a classic article with inherent LGBTQ+ themes that dates back to the EditThis days — and explores the interconnectedness of mind and body in the containment fiction format.
Picture if you will, a world where the physical body is no longer a life sentence, but merely a vessel. A vessel that can be cast off, replaced, swapped. The rules of nature, seemingly unchangeable, can be rewritten.
In this world lives an individual named Subject B. Subject B has spent their life trapped in a body that has never felt like their own, plagued by gender dysphoria. They yearn for their exterior to match their interior, to be recognized for who they truly are. But is Subject B prepared for the price they must pay to be one of the first offered this freedom?
Enter Dr. Luminax; a scientist with ambition that overshadows his ethics. He claims he has a solution for Subject B. An anomaly, he insists, can cure dysphoria. But this is no altruistic endeavor. For Dr. Luminax, Subject B is not a patient in need of help, but a guinea pig for his science experiment, an experiment as crude as it is revolutionary.
⚠ Content warning ⚠ The following article contains gender dysphoria, self-harm, suicidal ideation, as well as emotional and verbal abuse. Reader discretion is advised. The author has recommended music alongside the article that features adult themes, imagery, and language. The recommendation is not linked to as a method of ensuring your consent to view this material. |
Happy Pride Month to all our LGBTQ+ friends, authors, artists, and readers.
The article "SCP-0113: The Gender Splitter" is released with permission from the author as CC BY-SA 3.0; attribution to WaterBaste. The SCP Wiki logo is released as CC BY-SA 3.0, and the genderfluid variation can be seen here.
ChatGPT was utilized to help write portions of the intro and article.
Image is "SCP-0113: The Gender Splitter" and was created with Stable Diffusion; it is released as CC BY-SA 4.0. For more confic AI art, visit our gallery and consider contributing.