Today, I am going to actively debunk a myth that has recently appeared on the Internet, the story of Zack Johnson. For those of you who do not know, Zack claims that one day, he woke up with a vagina. He has made claims over the last few months of many things such as having a menstural cycle, which assumes that he has a fully functioning female reproductive system. While I have not yet found his age posted on the net, based on his username and the fact that he is claimed to be in high school, I assume that he is 16 years of age and had not left male puberty prior to this change. However, I have looked closely at many of his claims online and I would like to discuss many of the implications of the changes Zack claims to be going through as well as how many of the things he says and does not say make me believe that he is being very untruthful. I also touch on why this bothers me so, as I am deeply upset and angry that Zack is making such untrue claims.
Most of the concerns and enquiries that he has posted on his website recently seem focused on the menstural cycle and how it functions. Most of these are questions of opinion or questions that can be found through rudimentary study of medical textbooks such as Grays Anatomy. He should also be aware of the many medications which can put off the side effects of PMS or PMDD as they make many references to these medications on American television as well as being over the counter in many stores. Other than having his vagina and periods, he makes very few statements on much else. I suppose he does make one statement on how men inconsiderately piss on the seat (again, a very valid point as men are really fucking messy).
One of the things I happen to notice is that he has claimed to have been this way for nearly three months and has not reported any breast development in that time. This is shocking because most male to female transsexuals, myself included, noticed a small amount of breast development after 3 months on hormones. The thing is though, we are using synthetic hormones which have to be taken daily and when taken orally, the medications are not as effective because they have to be processed by the liver. However, Zach has a female reproductive system, which assumes that he has ovaries which also assumes that he is producing estrogen. He also no longer has testicles so it is assumed therefore that his testosterone levels are that of a natal female, as the only source of testosterone he has now is the adrenal glands. Therefore, he should be noticing some minor breast development, at the very least.
To make another statement about his hormonal cycle, he is supposed to get the maximum level of breast development possible as he is not even past male puberty yet. This was stopped by his new female reproductive system and I assume that he will receive breast development comparable to his closest female relatives, such as his mum and sister when it is all said and done. He is now to go through puberty as a female and I would not be totally surprised if his fat and muscle distribution started to change dramatically because of this new change. Looks like Zach might have to get used to rounder thighs, less muscle and his voice will not deepen. Also, if he has grown any facial hair at all, this will be all he is getting because testosterone is responsible for facial hair development and the activation of these follicles. Once a follicle is activated, it cannot be deactivated except through painful methods such as electrolysis.
Zack is concerned about weight gain and the ability to use his clothes, which do signify either bloating (which is most likely given his obsession over PMS) or fat redistribution. However, in such a short time, it is quite doubtful that Zack’s weight would have fluctuated to the point where his clothes cannot fit, as men generally seem to wear loose clothes. At the very most, they should have been a little snug but I do not really think that he would be experiencing this much fat redistribution in this short of a time frame. I also believe that his fat should start redistributing itself towards the waist and also the butt, as well as resulting in some breast development. However, this is all based on caloric intake, metabolism and the amount of time he spends working out and what he does in that time. Given the fact that he is an athlete, I think that would put this off more than it would for a sedentary person such as myself.
Since Zack has a fully functioning female reproductive system, it may very well be possible for him to become pregnant, carry a child and bring him to term. Of course, I doubt the likelihood of these things as Zack has a gender identity of a heterosexual male and irregardless of his genital status, that is probably unlikely to change any time soon. However, the possibility is there and I highly recommend watching to see if he remarks about skipping a period, trysts with any other guys or things like that. And if he were to become pregnant, his breast development would increase exponentially due to the release of progesterone and the new stimulation to the mammary glands. I would like to quote an age old statement that is made about the possibility of pregnancy in women, “Old enough to bleed, old enough to breed!” However, given the fact that his bone structure is unlikely to change to support natural birth, a Caestrian section would likely be needed to remove the child.
Personally, I believe that this is nothing more than a mediocre Internet hoax. He does provide a little bit of realism in the things that he has written but I would say that he could be teaming up with a genetic girl to be making his claims more realistic. This is an obvious hoax and as a transwoman, I feel a little gypped because of the fact that I was hoping that there may very well be a way that I could have a fully functional reproductive system. I want to be able to get pregnant and carry a child to term so to see hoaxes like this makes my blood boil as it makes a mockery of my dreams. I hold out hope that reproductive medicine will eventually advance to a point where I could eventually carry a child to term and be a biological mother. However, I have spent many years praying, hoping and wishing for something like this to happen, that one day, I could wake up to be the girl that I know that I am on the inside. Over the past year and a half, I have had to work hard and make serious strides to be where I am today and it burns my fires that Zack has the gall to even make the claim that he is getting what I have so wanted for a year. So, my closing remarks are dedicated to Zack Johnson and they cannot come close to expressing the outrage that I feel. Zack Johnson, fuck you!
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Tags: asshat, boy with a vagina, damned lies, hoax, Internet hoax, liar, lies, mother fucker, Zack16.com, ZackJohnson16
2 Comments
Zack’s claims are highly implausible–to be as generous to them as possible.
There is a genetic condition which occurs among some populations (but is quite rare in the population at large) where a little girl–at birth, and raised as a girl–turns male during puberty.
But it’s explicable, and the analog that Zach is claiming isn’t.
Here’s why. The “little girl” mentioned above isn’t a girl at a DNA level; she’s got an X and a Y chromosome. But there’s an enzyme which causes mere testosterone to become dihydrotestosterone (which can be thought of as testosterone on steroids, or jet-powered). A mutation that keeps that enzyme from being generated means that in the womb, the fetus doesn’t generate enough testosterone to cause the gross (in the medical sense) physical changes that every other male fetus experiences–from phenotypically female to male. It appears that the sensitivity of brain tissue to testosterone is higher, so the ‘wiring’ of the brain is still male.
But at puberty, the rush of testosterone is so great that the lack of the enzyme becomes irrelevant. Even without the rocket-propelled dihydro~, it’s enough to do everything, including to revise the physical genitalia from female appearing to male appearing (and functioning).
It’s impossible for Zach to have experienced the analogy, because it’s a biological, metabolic one way trip. Testosterone causes the process, and in a male without that mutation, it’s already done it. There’s no undoing it by unapplying testosterone (or it would have been noted as being a result of castrations…). There’s no applying female hormones to make males become female, because that’s not what happens–all fetuses are female in form until exposed to enough testosterone, and then those become masculinized. It’s a done deal.
Precisely. You touch on a very important fact that I left out, so thank you for that. The male body is a mutation of the protofemale form that we are all born into.