I may come back and polish this up, but for now I just want to get some thoughts out… I've spent a lot of time in the past discussing the critical difference between gender theory (the engine underlying transactivism) and gender dysphoria. The difference in these concepts is central to every aspect of transactivism; that being, the social and political activism push to mainstream gender theory and codify transgender rights into law. Gender dysphoria, as I'm sure all know, is a mental-health condition we diagnosed long ago, which has remained in the DSM-5 diagnostic manual of mental-health disorders. I'm quite confident in asserting that the vast majority of Americans view a transgender person as a human male/female of the sex they were born, with a mental-health condition that has led to them electing to live their life as the opposite sex. On the other hand, and truly in a universe far far away, is the notion of gender theory. This concept put most plainly is that humans are neither born male nor female, their ultimate classification undeterminable at the time of delivery. That male/female categorization of humans is not static and/or not determined by our reproductive process. This is the idea of being “born in the wrong body”.
John Money invented the "gender identity." His theory was that this spirit-essence of gender has malleable qualities and all of us have a "gender identity" that is shaped by society. It was a varation on the "blank slate" or tabula rasa. Money's famous sick experiment with the Reimer twins should stand as profound evidence he was wrong.
Today, gender identitarians reject Money's experiment, as they must. They believe that "gender identity" is innate, that Money went wrong by going against David Reimer's magical, mystical, invisible, ineffable "gender identity" (which, we must note, remains undetected by modern scientific laboratory methods). According to the reigning theory, the innate gender-being must be allowed to express itself through hormones and surgical intervention or else it will intevitably commit suicide like the Reimer twins did.
Normies like us understand that the Reimer twins were subject to a cruel experiment, and that "gender medicine" for kids is an equally cruel experiment.
What's especially funny is watching trannies start to extend their line of "reasoning" to its logical end.
That is, the even-more-activist ones are starting to question why they feel the need for surgery, long hair, or to shave their beards to present as "women". That is, they're starting to realize they're full of shit and are SO CLOSE to admitting that the whole thing is merely a surface-level imitation of women because they find this appealing (possibly due to sexual paraphilia), but of course they'll never get there.
So we'll reach an end-state where trannies look like guys and talk like guys, but claim to be women "in their heart" still. It's kind of fun to watch them squirm as they struggle to fit in the definition of what a woman is into their worldview in which nothing can be defined except that which is subjectively experienced.
We're in for a wild ride, and if they don't relent we're headed straight to 2+2=5. Hopefully you won't have to board an airplane or drive over a bridge in the near future.
Maybe another way to clarify thinking about gender ideology is in terms of symptom, cause, etiology, and treatment or prevention.
Symptom: what the person experiences
Cause: the immediate pathophysiology
Etiology: the theoretical precursor to the cause
Treatment or prevention: how you manage the symptom follows from the theoretical etiology
Here are some examples:
Symptom: headache
Cause: muscle tension
Etiology: stress
Treatment: reduce stress
Symptom: headache
Cause: brain lesion
Etiology: cancerous brain tumor
Treatment: brain surgery
Symptom: delusional belief I can fly
Cause: imbalance of dopamine and serotonin in schizophrenia
Etiology: schizophrenia may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors
Treatment: medication can mask some of the positive symptoms of delusions and hallucinations by restoring brain chemical balance, but medication can not cure schizophrenia
Symptom: delusional belief I can fly
Cause: imbalance of dopamine and serotonin in schizophrenia
Etiology: we used to believe that schizophrenia was caused by cold distant mothering style
Treatment: psychoanalysis to reveal and work through suppressed childhood experiences
Symptom: gender dysphoria
Cause: patient feels like she is a boy
Etiology: parents, internet friends, and media images placed undue pressure on girl to perform in overly sexualized feminine manner
Treatment: limit time online and learn that there is a wide range to express normal feminine behavior
Symptom: gender dysphoria
Cause: child is trans
Etiology: child was “born in the wrong body”
Treatment: medically and surgically alter body to match internal beliefs
Note that I am NOT saying any of these combinations are accurate! This is simply to say that conceptualizing psychological experiences and causes is very difficult. We can clarify our thinking by breaking down the components of symptoms, causes, and theoretical etiologies.
It’s also to say - notice how simplistic the “born in the wrong body” theory is. We need much more research into this idea. It it physiological? Metaphysical? Or is it closer to a religious concept?
You can’t jump straight to treatment without figuring out the etiology. Imagine treating brain tumor induced headaches with aspirin, then concluding that aspirin is not effective for headaches.
When you see an explosion of new diagnoses, it’s essential to slow down and ask these questions.
John Money invented the "gender identity." His theory was that this spirit-essence of gender has malleable qualities and all of us have a "gender identity" that is shaped by society. It was a varation on the "blank slate" or tabula rasa. Money's famous sick experiment with the Reimer twins should stand as profound evidence he was wrong.
Today, gender identitarians reject Money's experiment, as they must. They believe that "gender identity" is innate, that Money went wrong by going against David Reimer's magical, mystical, invisible, ineffable "gender identity" (which, we must note, remains undetected by modern scientific laboratory methods). According to the reigning theory, the innate gender-being must be allowed to express itself through hormones and surgical intervention or else it will intevitably commit suicide like the Reimer twins did.
Normies like us understand that the Reimer twins were subject to a cruel experiment, and that "gender medicine" for kids is an equally cruel experiment.
What's especially funny is watching trannies start to extend their line of "reasoning" to its logical end.
That is, the even-more-activist ones are starting to question why they feel the need for surgery, long hair, or to shave their beards to present as "women". That is, they're starting to realize they're full of shit and are SO CLOSE to admitting that the whole thing is merely a surface-level imitation of women because they find this appealing (possibly due to sexual paraphilia), but of course they'll never get there.
So we'll reach an end-state where trannies look like guys and talk like guys, but claim to be women "in their heart" still. It's kind of fun to watch them squirm as they struggle to fit in the definition of what a woman is into their worldview in which nothing can be defined except that which is subjectively experienced.
We're in for a wild ride, and if they don't relent we're headed straight to 2+2=5. Hopefully you won't have to board an airplane or drive over a bridge in the near future.
Just tossing around ideas…
Maybe another way to clarify thinking about gender ideology is in terms of symptom, cause, etiology, and treatment or prevention.
Symptom: what the person experiences
Cause: the immediate pathophysiology
Etiology: the theoretical precursor to the cause
Treatment or prevention: how you manage the symptom follows from the theoretical etiology
Here are some examples:
Symptom: headache
Cause: muscle tension
Etiology: stress
Treatment: reduce stress
Symptom: headache
Cause: brain lesion
Etiology: cancerous brain tumor
Treatment: brain surgery
Symptom: delusional belief I can fly
Cause: imbalance of dopamine and serotonin in schizophrenia
Etiology: schizophrenia may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors
Treatment: medication can mask some of the positive symptoms of delusions and hallucinations by restoring brain chemical balance, but medication can not cure schizophrenia
Symptom: delusional belief I can fly
Cause: imbalance of dopamine and serotonin in schizophrenia
Etiology: we used to believe that schizophrenia was caused by cold distant mothering style
Treatment: psychoanalysis to reveal and work through suppressed childhood experiences
Symptom: gender dysphoria
Cause: patient feels like she is a boy
Etiology: parents, internet friends, and media images placed undue pressure on girl to perform in overly sexualized feminine manner
Treatment: limit time online and learn that there is a wide range to express normal feminine behavior
Symptom: gender dysphoria
Cause: child is trans
Etiology: child was “born in the wrong body”
Treatment: medically and surgically alter body to match internal beliefs
Note that I am NOT saying any of these combinations are accurate! This is simply to say that conceptualizing psychological experiences and causes is very difficult. We can clarify our thinking by breaking down the components of symptoms, causes, and theoretical etiologies.
It’s also to say - notice how simplistic the “born in the wrong body” theory is. We need much more research into this idea. It it physiological? Metaphysical? Or is it closer to a religious concept?
You can’t jump straight to treatment without figuring out the etiology. Imagine treating brain tumor induced headaches with aspirin, then concluding that aspirin is not effective for headaches.
When you see an explosion of new diagnoses, it’s essential to slow down and ask these questions.