After undergoing numerous surgeries, Jazz has transitioned to a point that some view as being a woman. However, his current state is far from contentment. Dealing with obesity, depression, and frequent anxiety attacks, Jazz finds himself struggling. Moreover, establishing any semblance of a meaningful romantic relationship has proven to be an uphill battle for him.
From Spiked:
Jazz’s penis has been sliced apart and inverted inside a hole that’s been carved out between his rectum and his prostate. It’s taken three agonising operations to give him his fauxgina. After the ops, this wound masquerading as female genitalia has to be kept open by dilation for the rest of his life – essentially, using a dildo to stop it sealing. It’s apparently very painful. In a notable scene, in series six of I Am Jazz, Jeanette revealed to friends that she often had to bully Jazz into doing his dilation: ‘I have woken Jazz from a dead sleep and taken the dilator and put lubrication on it and said, “Here, you take this and put it in your vagina. If not, I will.”’ Maternal love, eh?
Jazz’s physical problems go deeper still. He has been on puberty blockers since the age of 11. These drugs stop the normal process of development that happens during puberty, such as the growth of genitals. So when it was time to do his ‘sex change’ surgery, his surgeon discovered Jazz’s penis was tiny. The vaginoplasty was invented for adults with adult-sized genitals, not boys who had never gone through puberty.
When surgeons invert an adult penis they hope to retain as much of the sensation as possible. Given that Jazz has never had adult male genitals with sexual sensation, it is almost impossible for him to have sexual sensations now. It is also pretty inconceivable he’ll ever be able to orgasm.
This may explain the curious shadow that hangs over I Am Jazz. Over the years, he has attempted three brief ‘relationships’. Just one of them led to even a kiss. In all of them, poor Jazz behaves like a curious visitor from another planet, trying to decode the strange rituals of human beings. In series eight, Jeanette and a friend discuss whether Jazz might be asexual. ‘She’s all over the place’, opines Jeanette. I wonder why.
The potential link between Jazz’s sterilisation and his lack of a sex life is not the only elephant in the room. The connection between Jazz being given cross-sex hormones and his repeated binge-eating, episodes of anxiety and severe depression is also not discussed in the show. Many transwomen I’ve spoken to say that taking oestrogen has given them episodes of uncontrollable emotions which leave them floored. Then there are puberty blockers. In the only animal trial ever conducted on puberty blockers, young male sheep who received them became far more anxious than those who weren’t given them. Those and other cognitive side effects appear to be permanent and irreversible.
If there was ever a need to make a point to the transgender community about the potential drawbacks of early childhood transitions, this case would fit the bill perfectly. We witness a young boy who was consistently urged by his mother and society to undergo irreversible surgery, and now he's grappling with the severe aftermath.
This serves as yet another instance highlighting the potential harm of the LGBTQ community advocating certain beliefs to impressionable young children.
