Since the 2-type theory has collapsed, Bailey and Blanchard are guest-pushing an even shittier 5-type theory on gendercrit blogs:
None of these 5 types cover my experience: dysphoria starting in early childhood, tomboyish, turned out lesbian.
Note that their construct of “rapid onset gender dysphoria” doesn’t help anyone figure out if they’re trans, or if they’re cis and dysphoric due to other hormonal issues, due to social pressures, or other causes.
Blanchard should just give up.
And in the comments, Blanchard doesn’t believe stigma can cause mental health problems. 50 years ago, many psychs thought homosexuality was connected with co-occuring mental health issues, because they didn’t consider the effects of teaching people to hate themselves, beating people, harassing them, and discriminating against them, on mental health. Now some people who ought to know better think transsexualism is connected with co-occuring mental health issues.
… And Bailey doesn’t believe trauma does.
I’ve only read one poem from one issue, but plan to read more:
http://digitalcollections.clga.ca/exhibits/show/gendertrash/gendertrash-gallery
http://digitalcollections.clga.ca/neatline/show/gendertrash
P.S. Unfortunately the damn index zooms if I try to scroll.
One of the big fails he continues with here is identifying childhood gender dysphoria – an internal experience which may or may not be verbally communicated – with childhood gender nonconforming behavior – an external observation reported by “concerned” adults. It shouldn’t be surprising that the correlation between those categories is poor.
(For instance, I had a female identity as a child but no heavily gendered interests one way or another. I didn’t bother making a big deal about it as a kid because I had an overpowering belief that I was just going to grow up to become a woman anyway, despite whatever external evidence to the contrary.)
Also the entire concept of a typology seems an outgrowth of an othering process. Like, “[Members of out-group] are all lazy! Except the non-lazy ones who are stealing our jobs!” The growth of a typology seems to come from grossly othering a group of people, recognizing not everyone can fit even that gross mischaracterization, and so generating additional sub-types one can condescend to. Simply recognizing everyone in the group as an individual should tell you no exhaustive typology is possible.
Against. the word is against.
Back in the day the Guardian always used to delete my comments on Burchill. She finally really lost it when in some kind of contrarian fustercluck she decided she supported the Serbs. Yes, poor, sad, genocidal, warmongering Serbia. Her schtick just seems to be to turn tricks for clicks.
As for Greer, I regret to say that in her twilight years she seems to have turned into a stereotypical Australian. It’s a pity because, unlike Burchill, you had the feeling there was something there.
One weird conflict I have been witnessing in YouTube discussions is some trans* people complaining about GQ and NB people’s fluidity being a threat to them. The argument tends to be that one needs a medical diagnosis to legitimize transitioning. And that GQ/NB don’t experience proper dysphoria, aren’t trans, and somehow detract from recognition of real trans* issues just by existing.
My argument as a GQ/NB person who is very much pro-trans* is that seeking legitimacy from the medical and/or pyschiatric establishment is disempowering, that it enshrines entrenched institutions as gatekeepers. Having grown up transhuman and pro-drug, the notion that anybody would need an excuse to validate customizing their body/mind is abhorrent to me. It is rewarding people for pathologizing themselves and ceding autonomy, so functions as a bourgeois cooptation of revolutionary sex and gender.
That said, I don’t hold it against anybody that they secured the help of a physician, or got/sought a diagnosis - excepting to the extent one would use that to de-legitimize other people.
I’m with you on all counts.
I guess some trans people are so used to fighting (the majority of) cis people for their identity, that they wind up fighting everyone. Or: some people are just assholes and see others as a threat, regardless of anything else.
I see it more as thinking they can win favor from cis people by being open about their own internalized transphobia, and sadly this seems to work, especially when combined with other biases (Bl—eWh–e et al). I’ve met very few anti-NB trans people IRL and I suspect that’s because their entire transition occurred in a therapist’s office instead of engagement with other LGBTQ people.
I find it especially confounding because, like, hasn’t every trans person had to live an essentially nonbinary experience for at least part of their life? If you’re lucky enough to be stealth afterwards shouldn’t you have at least some empathy?
I wonder how many of them complain about being excluded by feminists for the same reason and fail to see the parallel entirely.
Don’t most HBSers and Truscum adhere to the hormone wash hypothesis? Unless there are some thresholds involved, I’d expect non-binary hormone levels during critical stages to lead to non-binary genders, and I’d expect non-binary hormone levels to be more common than cross-binary ones. So logically, HBSers and Truscum should support non-binary trans people.
More on widespread testosterone use:
Gad.
A number of years ago the FDA approved this stuff over the counter for nasal congestion in kids:
The trouble with steroids sprayed up the nose are manifold:
Oh, well. Pharmacy Inc. will have its way.
Society doesn’t care if hormones and surgeries are used cisnormatively. For every medical thing trans people do, cis equivalents are more common, but not seen as needing widespread public debate, don’t require psych letters or specialist doctors, aren’t as extensively criticized by so-called “gender critical” people, etc etc etc.
i take injectable testosterone every two weeks because my body does not produce it in sufficient quantity to maintain anything even approaching the normal range of energy level. without the injections my levels are between 5 and 10% of the low end of normal. the most amazing thing i noticed when i started taking it was that i was having mood swings like i did when i was 12, which i got past much faster than i did when i was 12 because i knew what was causing it and had done it before. the second most amazing thing was that i no longer started falling asleep within minutes after sitting down, every time i sat down.
i understand the overall parcel of potential risks of using testosterone but my doctor and i closely monitor for signs of problems. so far there have been none and it’s going on 6 years.