# Would you accept a $250 Mil jackpot if it came with a mandatory sex change? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333 "2017-04-12T17:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/141 "2017-04-15T17:01:17Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > I’m surprised the minority saying yes is as large as it is. Among other things it might depend on how you imagine it, perhaps like the movie ‘Switch’ where a shallow guy dies and is reincarnated as an actual woman (played by Ellen Barkin). A sex change operation does not actually change your sex. Although others seem aware of this and presenting the possibility it’s enough money to perhaps accept it anyway. I know I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to have a penis. There would be things I’d have to learn (how to keep it clean if it’s uncut, how to keep it from being pinched by zippers, how to hide erections, etc.) And since I’ve lived 40 years without one, it would probably be really hard for me to ever see a penis as 100% mine. It would probably always seem a bit alien to me. But I’m really not using my current genitals for anything useful. Indeed, I’d love not having uterus–so I really hope its removal is a part of the deal. I’m sure a penis has downsides, but an organ that cramps and bleeds every month ain’t no picnic. So yeah, the deal is a no-brainer for me. I’m not a sexual person, and I’m not strongly attached to my gender, so I don’t value my sex organ the same way others might do for theirs. Truth be told, I’d sign up for it for much less than $250 million. > [@](#): > > If people would really undergo ordeals for money to then give it away, why don’t they just give away all their money now without undergoing an ordeal? Maybe I’m misremembering what’s been said, but I don’t think anyone has said they’d give all the money away. Just most. Surely you can understand why someone might not give most of their money away when their income is just barely enough for a comfortable existence, but feel more generous when they are making way above what’s needed. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/142 "2017-04-15T17:20:23Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > how to keep it clean if it’s uncut Regular showers. > [@](#): > > how to keep it from being pinched by zippers Just paying a minimum amount of attention seems to do the trick. If that, even. It has never been a problem for me, and it doesn’t feel like something I have to think about. > [@](#): > > how to hide erections Reasonably form-fitting underwear. You’re welcome. Anything else? Maybe I should start a thread: “Ask the guy with a penis.” > [@](#): > > And since I’ve lived 40 years without one, it would probably be really hard for me to ever see a penis as 100% mine. Especially if the one they give you used to belong to **control-z**. He’d be on the phone to you asking for it back. > [@](#): > > It would probably always seem a bit alien to me. Especially if it used to belong to me. But I probably shouldn’t go into details. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/143 "2017-04-15T18:35:58Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I know I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to have a penis. There would be things I’d have to learn (how to keep it clean if it’s uncut, how to keep it from being pinched by zippers, how to hide erections, etc.) And since I’ve lived 40 years without one, it would probably be really hard for me to ever see a penis as 100% mine. It would probably always seem a bit alien to me. And don’t forget, you’re getting a pair of balls as well. Lots of good stuff to get used to. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/144 "2017-04-15T22:59:42Z")
I just looked at the poll results. Nobody has thought to ask for more money. Since this is all hypothetical and magic, why not just ask for 873 Billion and full, complete and total ownership of Ferrari, a few islands here and there, a 1959 Stratocaster and a new set of tires? Oh, and a Klondike bar. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/145 "2017-04-15T23:54:51Z")
I’d do it for the Klondike bar. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/146 "2017-04-16T01:27:07Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > 1. I know I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to have a penis. There would be things I’d have to learn (how to keep it clean if it’s uncut, how to keep it from being pinched by zippers, how to hide erections, etc.) > > But I’m really not using my current genitals for anything useful. Indeed, I’d love not having uterus… > 2. Maybe I’m misremembering what’s been said, but I don’t think anyone has said they’d give all the money away. Just most. Surely you can understand why someone might not give most of their money away when their income is just barely enough for a comfortable existence, but feel more generous when they are making way above what’s needed. 1. But again you wouldn’t actually have a real penis, no erections unless you turned on the device which simulates them. Based on the whole of your response I can see you saying ‘OK all the more reason’, but I still think other posters might base it on the idea of actually becoming the opposite sex, rather than the reality of remaining the same sex actually, but having some stuff cut off/out, some simulated add-ons and drug treatment. I also wonder now if the answers would show a pattern by sex. 1. In this and other cases of ‘ordeal for money’, the self proclaimed altruists have expressed the idea of willingness to undergo an ordeal, something they consider an ordeal, I think the quote here was ‘give lots of the money away then jump off a bridge’, to have more to give to others. But they can undergo the arguably much lesser ordeal of relative poverty right now to give more to others. So why don’t they? Maybe some do. I just wonder sometimes if that kind of altruism is as hypothetical as the hypothetical itself. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/147 "2017-04-16T01:37:35Z")
Btw, what weirdo is putting up the money? Are there any other strange propositions he’d be willing to make? Or is this offer coming from, say, a leprechaun or a genie? If so, I imagine some poor guy feeling phantom pains in his missing wiener while a wise guy smirks, “Thirty years old, are ya? And you still believe in leprechauns?” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/148 "2017-04-16T01:40:16Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > It is, according to my post-menopausal friends. If that’s the case then I know a couple of post-menopausal women that are great actors. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/149 "2017-04-16T02:13:24Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > If that’s the case then I know a couple of post-menopausal women that are great actors. Including my wife. Frequently 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/150 "2017-04-16T03:36:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You would get the proper treatments that come before and after the surgery…but I won’t make you taller, shorter or anything of that nature. Do you mean just a swap of genitalia, nothing else? A 6’3", hairy, balding, fat man would just become a 6’3", hairy balding man with a vagina? If so, this seems highly incentivized for the men to say yes and the women to say no. Generally speaking. Physical appearances are judged much more harshly for women than for men, culturally speaking. > [@nightshadea](#): > > actually I had a couple of girls who preferred other females over the years say I **should of** switched then id be perfect for them … ☹ (my bolding) ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/151 "2017-04-16T03:46:35Z")
Since this isn’t even a plausibly realistic idea that would ever happen then sure, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/152 "2017-04-17T00:21:14Z")
I think the question itself is not really a good dilemma. A better question would mandate that full cross-sex hormones be included and that the person have to live and work and present as the gender opposite from their original one. But the question is what it is, and I’ll just answer and say NO. I don’t think anyone who honestly went through gender dysphoria would ever say yes for any amount of money. Living in my wrong body led me on a path of pain, torment, self-hatred, doubt, terror, and sickness, to a point where I was half an hour away from putting a gun to my head and pulling the trigger. NO amount of money exists that would make me go back. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/153 "2017-04-17T03:06:01Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I think the question itself is not really a good dilemma. A better question would mandate that full cross-sex hormones be included and that the person have to live and work and present as the gender opposite from their original one. > > But the question is what it is, and I’ll just answer and say NO. I don’t think anyone who honestly went through gender dysphoria would ever say yes for any amount of money. Weird thing is, given your scenario, it becomes a lot more frightening to me–not because of the being forced to present as a woman, but because hormone treatments involve regular injections, and THAT sounds like a real goddamned nightmare to me. I’ve got a profound phobia of injections, and while I’d probably still take the money, I’d do it knowing was going to spend a fair amount on therapy for my phobia–and I’d want to do some research first, because if there’s not a reliable way to get rid of it, having regular injections would be hell for me. Living as a woman? I don’t have a strong gender identity, so meh. ---
**Author:** ![Unabashed\_Fascist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/c2a13f/32.png) [@Unabashed\_Fascist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unabashed_Fascist)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/154 "2017-04-17T19:44:37Z")
Even the best sex-change and hormone therapy would leave you infertile, which is obviously a hefty price to pay. Especially if you haven’t had children yet. Would I feel like I identify as a woman? Or would I essentially be in the same boat as a preop trans person with dissonance between how I appear and how I feel? Gender dysphoria, I think I heard someone earlier call it. My Girlfriend of 10 years isn’t attracted to women. I know loves knows no bounds, but if there’s not physical attraction your ““new” relationship is in serious trouble of dying on the vine. So I may be SOL there. Even if she were in ladies, I’m 6’5”, with traditionally masculine proportions so I’m definitely not going to be _passing_ any time soon. In other words, relationships would likely pose a challenge to me. Sorry, I don’t think I would do it. No amount of material wealth would change my mind. I can see this hypothetical scenario leading to a serious identity crisis, possibly depression. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/155 "2017-04-17T20:30:58Z")
Hijack — I do wonder what kinds of advances in medical technologies will occur in the next 20-50 years that would alter the terrain of what’s possible and available for transitioning people. I realize that a lot of my reaction to the question as posed has to do with the limitations of the medical profession. On trans and genderqueer boards there is occasional mention of organ transplants as a “someday thing”. Even then, I don’t think it would be a procedure that would be considered reversible. (i.e., performing either reassignment surgery on someone who had already had sexual reassignment surgery would be far more complicated and of far greater risk to nerve and blood vessel tissue than when performed on someone who had not). It would be a real watershed event if things could reach the point that to reverse the medical transition was not appreciably more invasive or dangerous than obtaining the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/156 "2017-04-17T20:36:51Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Weird thing is, given your scenario, it becomes a lot more frightening to me–not because of the being forced to present as a woman, but because hormone treatments involve regular injections, and THAT sounds like a real goddamned nightmare to me. I’ve got a profound phobia of injections, and while I’d probably still take the money, I’d do it knowing was going to spend a fair amount on therapy for my phobia–and I’d want to do some research first, because if there’s not a reliable way to get rid of it, having regular injections would be hell for me. Most transgender women take estradiol in pill form, or by patch. Only a minority use injections (I never have, although since I am diabetic I’m pretty numb to the prospect of injections anyhow). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/157 "2017-04-17T20:42:00Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Most transgender women take estradiol in pill form, or by patch. Only a minority use injections (I never have, although since I am diabetic I’m pretty numb to the prospect of injections anyhow). Huh–the more you know! Even though this scenario has zero percent chance of happening, I found myself relaxing in relief at the idea that in this weird fantasy situation, I’d be genderswapped via a patch rather than an injection. It’s way less scary to me now. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/158 "2017-04-17T23:08:15Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Weird thing is, given your scenario, it becomes a lot more frightening to me–not because of the being forced to present as a woman, but because hormone treatments involve regular injections, and THAT sounds like a real goddamned nightmare to me. I’ve got a profound phobia of injections, and while I’d probably still take the money, I’d do it knowing was going to spend a fair amount on therapy for my phobia–and I’d want to do some research first, because if there’s not a reliable way to get rid of it, having regular injections would be hell for me. I take it you’re not diabetic? I have to inject myself 3 times a day. But there’s an alternative: painful amputations, followed by painful death. In that context, the needles are tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/159 "2017-04-18T01:28:27Z")
I’ve been having electrolysis done on my chin area to get rid of the relatively small amount of nasty hair there that I have as a hormonally-challenged woman. It is not fun but it’s over in a half hour, once a month. I’ve read a little bit about the process that MtF people have to go through to get rid of their facial and chest hair. Hours and years of tiny needles and electric shocks. Be sure to factor that in to your vote, fellas. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333/160 "2017-04-18T01:31:46Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’ve been having electrolysis done on my chin area to get rid of the relatively small amount of nasty hair there that I have as a hormonally-challenged woman. It is not fun but it’s over in a half hour, once a month. I’ve read a little bit about the process that MtF people have to go through to get rid of their facial and chest hair. Hours and years of tiny needles and electric shocks. > > Be sure to factor that in to your vote, fellas. At my age I’d be post-menopausal anyway. So I’ll keep the beard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-a-250-mil-jackpot-if-it-came-with-a-mandatory-sex-change/784333.md?page=9)