As far as the mutilation side of things go (and obviously i know nothing about your particular experience), but so long as genitals or body parts that function perfectly fine are being (and forgive any insensitive terminology) cut off/and or rearranged, that, to me, is mutilation. Even if the end result makes someone feel a million times better. It's the same way i feel about breast augmentation or a facelift. This doesn't mean i don't think it's often worthwhile, but it still makes me sad that we (as humans) ever have to find a need for such drastic measures.

Thanks for pointing out the difference between dysmorphia and dysphoria. I was aware of that, but I was using it incorrectly i see, and it's an important distinction, as you say.

I think if gender norms weren't a thing, to the extent that I am envisioning, in my rose-tinted futuristic glasses, it's hard to say whether people would still transition, since we are so conditioning in a billion ways subtelty and subconsciously, not to mention consciously, from birth, that we don't really know how we would feel if preconceived ideas and accepted variations of gender were not established. For example, I'm a cis female, and i have a vagina, both of which i am comfortable with... but a lot of women have serious dysphoria (is that the correct term) about their vaginas shape and size and everything, to the extent they get their large labia trimmed. I don't mean to trivialize the trans experience by such a comparison, because i know there are some big differences, but many women are crippled by their dysphoria in that regard. Which is crazy, because it's purely brought on my societal influence, and not by any innate hate of the labia.

It's a complicated thing to contemplate.

Whatever the case, I do think things are changes for the better, albeit there's such a long way to go. It pains me to think how many people are going through this and how hard it is. It's also fascinating how common it is, which lends me some hope that with more and more understanding, we might some day come to a place where there really is a much wider acceptance of gender fluidity or "norm".