I am a man in a women's body?

This may seem ignorant, but I am ignorant of it so no need in pretending i know.

I was watching a show about people going under sex changes. Men saying they are women trapped in a mans body and vice versa, what is this? A person who feels like this, have they always felt like that. I have never felt such, and neither do i know of anyone who feels in this way or has ever confided in me that they have. Is this natural? Is there anybody who has felt like this or knows anyone who has, can they tell me what it is they feel? And is this a psychological problem? or is it perfectly normal, whatever, if anybody has studied psychology, biology, please post whatever you know. Thank you.

I have a friend who feels this way. It is simply feeling as though you have the wrong sex assigned to you. They feel very much like victims of their own body. It is definitely a psychological issue. Whether it is a hormonal imbalance or a difference in brain development I am uncertain. It is a "problem" in that society looks upon it with complete disdain.

Is this a new issue that the world is facing, or has this been going on for a long time, I mean homosexuality is an old concept, is this also and old one.

The genuine cases are often born with either parts of both sex organs or are born with a confusing gender and doctors often mistakingly choose a sex for a baby, cut off whats there and feminise it or masculinise it and then as that child grows they realise they are not the gender they were assigned.

Also you can be born one gender but there is actually a difference in the male and female brains, I think it is in the amygdhalla, one is bigger than the other and there has been research into homosexuals that shows that male homosexuals often have what looks like a female brain and female homosexuals often have what looks like a male brain.

I mean lets face it a person's idea about gender and gender roles and feelings doesn't just come from the physical, it is about how you have been influenced by gender stereotypes as a child, not just in the home but by schools, toys, advertisements, peers, siblings etc. etc. etc.

So what you are saying is that perhaps it comes down to this physical whatevas, but it was most probably influenced by tv, soaps, music, perhaps im putting words in your mouth, so you think it boils down to this. The question i have had is that the way that homosexuality has been around since the time of Lot, dating it back to the time of Abraham, so it is pretty old, is this gender confusion an old issue. if any body knows then post because this will clear a few things up for me.

I think there is definitely a difference between those who are genuinely homosexual because of physical differences in their body or brain and those who have been influenced by either the media or others around them or perhaps have a psychological problem. I mean if you have been brought up by a homosexual couple or had parents with homosexual friends or even had a traumatic experience with a parent as a child, any or all of these factors might contribute to any confusions a young adult might have about their gender identity or sexuality. I mean look at the Roman times. People were having sex with anything that moved, how confusing is that ? And what about the Oedipus complex? That's gonna confuse a child.