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Pinterest and gender dysphoria

Pinterest is a visual platform on which users collect images on theme boards.

Visual platforms

Pinterest is a visual platform on which users collect images on theme boards. Within adolescent subcultures around gender, collections of androgynous clothing, post-mastectomy results and visual references for self-image are common.

Possible influence

As with TikTok, clinical experience suggests a role for such visual platforms in identity formation. Collecting a 'desired' look can intensify dysphoria and steer people towards medical interventions.

Clinical context

International guidelines stress the importance of asking about media use during history-taking, and of weighing the online context in assessing the duration, stability and intensity of the dysphoria.