The blogs might harsh their mellow
And then there’s the fact that a university is afraid of being called a TERF on social media.
A researcher has been refused permission to study cases of people who have surgery to reverse gender reassignment by a university that said it risked generating controversy on social media sites.
The proposal was rejected with an explanation noting that it was a potentially “politically incorrect” piece of research and could lead to material being posted online that “may be detrimental to the reputation of the institution”.
Many subjects are potentially “politically incorrect”; it seems like an excess of caution for a university to squeal “Ewww!” and refuse permission to research them.
James Caspian, a psychotherapist, who wanted to conduct the research for a master’s degree in counselling and psychotherapy at Bath Spa University, accused it of failing to follow “the most basic tenets of academic and intellectual freedom of enquiry”.
Mr Caspian, 58, a counsellor who specialises in therapy for transgender people, embarked on the research after speaking to a surgeon who had carried out operations to reverse gender reassignment surgery, as people came to regret their decision.
Why wouldn’t that be of interest? If being trans is of interest, if becoming trans is of interest, if coming out as trans is of interest, why isn’t changing the mind also of interest?
Are we deciding now that being trans is the only really worthwhile thing to be? That people who aren’t trans, or at least enby, are kind of missing the zeitgeist boat? Is “cis” really what it has always seemed to be, just another word for conservative and old and boring?
Caspian got permission on his first try but then had trouble finding willing subjects so he asked to change his proposal to seek women who had transitioned to men and reverted to living as women, but without reversing their surgery. At that point Bath Spa said no.
On the sub-committee’s rejection form, it said: “Engaging in a potentially ‘politically incorrect’ piece of research carries a risk to the university.
“Attacks on social media may not be confined to the researcher but may involve the university.”
Under a section on ethical issues needing further consideration, it added: “The posting of unpleasant material on blogs or social media may be detrimental to the reputation of the university.”
So Twitter trolls are now making universities’ decisions for them. Awesome.
This is, of course, purely anecdotal, but in my son’s circles, this kind of gender stuff gets discussed all the time. I know it makes me sound like a fossil, but it sure seems to me that kids are experiencing pressure of some kind to be “on the right side” of this, which I think means being trans or gay or bi. There seems to be the feeling that one must declare a “sexual identity,” that that’s an important milestone for everyone. These are kids who might not be sexual at all in any demonstrable way. Do they think about sex (with whoever)? Are they interested in “romantic” or sexual activity? Do they fantasize about being with so-and-so and wouldn’t that be exciting? Not necessarily, and yet they seem to know what their “sexual identity” is. I understand that you don’t have to be sexually active to be sexual. I knew I was into girls long before I ever had sex. Before I had held a girl’s hand! But I do see a kind of pressure to interpret anything—everything—as providing insight into one’s sexual identity, when I don’t think it used to be that way. Yes, I understand that in the bad old days, being gay or trans or anything other than ordinary—and expressing that or understanding it or accepting it—wasn’t a realistic option for most people. It’s definitely a good thing that we’ve moved past that. I’m just seeing a kind of polticization of this that has reached down even (in some cases) to the not-yet-sexual.
In the Bible we read of lepers who could walk around the place provided they warned all and sundry of their presence by frequently shouting ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
Similarly in future we could have types like me walking about on campuses shouting ‘Uncorrect! Uncorrect!’
And having issued such warnings, like the Biblical lepers, we would be free to come and go as we pleased.
Funny how these universities seem to have no such qualms about researching the many ways in which women are inferior. (I realize they don’t call it that, but in the end…that’s where it lands). So we can examine the woman’s brain, the “fact” that “girls” like pink, the “truth” that females are all drawn to caring fields, the “truth” that women really do have problems with math, and the “truth” that men are just so much damn more assertive, clever, witty, funny, smart, talented, personable, likable, worthwhile, and hard-working. But don’t dare touch any trans issue that hasn’t been vetted with the online trans-activist community (and better make sure it is the CORRECT trans-activist online community, which might be different today than it was yesterday).
Is it time to wake up from the last couple of years yet? I’m tired of this nightmare.
A University afraid of a bit of minor controversy (actually dissent) isn’t deserving of the name. They should shutter their doors in shame.
@Ben #1
I think you’re right – my daughters generation seem to have taken identity politics to their bosom as a way of both finding and expressing themselves. My daughter is bi but she also identifies as “aro” (aromantic). For the uninitiated, this refers to people who are happy in various forms of sexual or friendly relationships but are not interested in a “normal” romantic relationship. As far as I can tell this is a typical young-person throw the baby out with the bath water stance, as a great deal of it seems to be to do with (undeniable) criticisms of how (particularly heterosexual) romantic relationships are presented – the assumptions associated with them, the toxic gender roles, the power imbalances, the way “true love” is elevated as being more vital and more important than any other relationship, how women especially can’t possibly be happy or fulfilled without one – you know, all the things we second wavers have been talking about for years! Rather than reform the institution, M and her friends would rather destroy it completely.
The key to this is, of course, that they are very young. They are still playing with identities to find out who they are – the difference to our day is that they give precise names to the identities they adopt as a way of finding each other. They are also very compassionate, if a little lacking in academic rigour – pomo is the fashionable way of thinking. Luckily M and I have a good enough relationship we can listen to each other even when our terminology differs… Though we are probably furthest apart on the trans issue. I accept trans people exist, are fully human and deserving of human rights, of having their medical needs treated as a matter of course, who should be treated with respect etc etc but I also want more and better research done into what is the best treatment for trans people, especially trans children. M thinks that being in a position to think that is, in itself, a privileged one. I think we’re both right on that…
@iknklast # 3
I’m utterly stunned that a piece of research can be rejected on the grounds that it might cause the University some hassle on social media – so much so that I do wonder whether there’s something else going on that we don’t know about. I mean any institution that can use the term “politically incorrect” with a straight face is one that has abandoned any claim to academic impartiality…
A lot of this is similar to the nonsense that goes along with “lived experience” – a stupid phrase, what is experience if not lived? – that some people (not just Millennials!) seem to feel is sufficient to end any debate. Now personal experince should be listened to with respect but what that personal experience means is somethin we need to use evidence to understand. There are many forms of “lived experience” that have to be challenged. Anorexics “know” they are fat. They aren’t lying, or attention seeking or anything like that. Their genuine lived experience is that they are fat. There are communities of anorexics who claim that their “lifestyle” is a valid personal choice and they should be allowed to respond to their experience in the way that feels most appropriate to them.
That would involve starving themselves to death, of course.
Similarly, some people hear voices telling them to do things. Those voices are an absolutely real “lived experience”. Somehow society has figured out that, despite the genuineness of these people’s accounts, they are suffering from something that needs treatment to help them to live satisfying and productive lives. How do we do that? We carry out research that tells us that this “lived experience” has no objective validity and the best way to help these people is with drug therapies and psychological interventions. Exactly what “lived experiences” need help and what need acceptance varies from era to era, and depends on what we consider harms society or the individual. Treatment should result in an outcome for the individual that enables them to fit into society in a way that causes them (and their society) less harm than leaving them alone. How do we decide that? We carry out research on the effects of that lifestyle on society and the effects (and efficacy) of treatment on the individual.
My argument has always been that some trans folk are like gay folk. It’s something inborn that society needs to accept. Most likely something to do with BIID so, for these folk, sex reassignment surgery and hormones is the best treatment protocol. But the trans umbrella has grown so wide that it’s not really about those folk any more and I sometimes feel their needs are being lost in the rush to claim that anyone who has ever had a moment of discomfort with socially imposed gender roles must be trans (which, as has been pointed out many times on this blog, means that all of us are…) I want to see good research done so that we can identify the young kids who really are trans so we can give them the hormones as early as possible, whilst helping the others to become more comfortable in their sex. I don’t see any of this from Trans activism. All I see is a desire to have the Trans identity accepted regardless.
As I quietly try to point out to some of my more reasonable (and generally slightly older) medical student colleagues (I’ve gone back to school), if being trans and ‘in the wrong body’ is a form of excruciating, unimaginable suffering* and the sufferer requires *all* the attention, discussion, compassion and medical intervention – surely this applies to detransitioners also. Who is looking out for them?
Most simply, there seems to be a big gap where the resources ought to be for detransitioners. They barely even have the space to talk about this online, because apparently doing so delegitimises the (true) trans narrative, and therefore can result in violence against and suicide of trans persons**.
Say a woman has elected to elevate her testosterone levels and her appearance and voice have become masculinized, and consequently feels like she is in the wrong body, (even if she hasn’t undergone mastectomy or phalloplasty), and wants to reverse the changes to the extent that this is possible. She would be called a ‘detransitioner’, but surely she is just as trans when she experiences distress about wanting to (de)transition M>F, as when she wanted to transition F>M.
One transition is laudatory and on-trend and must be assisted by all possible resources and accepted without question. The other must only barely be spoken of, if at all. If I wanted to be cute, I’d emphasise that this is actually a form of transphobia. But this is the bigger point for me: I accept that some people experience suffering because of sexed-body dysmorphia. So I’d like to see genderist trans activists explain why there is such a stark disparity in the way they advocate for these two different groups of trans people – nominally ‘transitioners’ and ‘detransitioners’.
*not trying to be sarcastic.
** again, not trying to be sarcastic. recognise that violence against trans people happens (with men mostly responsible, not feminist women).
@ fldteslalivia #6
Those are all excellent points.
@Steamshovelmama #7
Thank you. I see what I call ‘genderism’ (which I consider the unofficial religion of the entire world, just with different local interpretations) as a massive detrimental influence on human health and wellbeing. The more specific current plight of detransitioners is one part of this, and is also a massive ethical dilemma for me. Speak up and be out of a job before I’ve even finished medical school, or be a coward who ignores the needs of a vulnerable group of patients?
This is but the evolution of nonsense started 40 years ago.
How did we get here? The LGB community put pressure on the APA to declassify homosexuality as an illness. In fairness, it should never have been an illness, but that’s not really the point. A vote isn’t the way to make progress in science. Science is the way to make progress in science, but of course that takes time.
Read more here:
http://behaviorismandmentalhealth.com/2011/10/08/homosexuality-the-mental-illness-that-went-away/
Then the LGB lobby groups decided that if it were thought that homosexuality were genetic, it would be more acceptable, so they peddled the lie that it’s genetic. It’s not – if it were, there would be 100% correlation rates between mz twins, and there’s not. From memory, it’s 11% for males and 14% for females. If it were, we’d not seek to rehabilitate peadophiles. Rather, we’d just remove them from temptation (and that’s another point – if sexuality is genetic, can we blame paedophiles for their feelings? In fact, in looking this up, many paedophiles seem to use this argument to justify their actions and call for societal acceptance). This also neatly avoids the fact that it seems that many turn gay due to certain parental influences or trauma. We don’t want to be able to “blame” anyone for turning someone gay (even though this is clearly a fairly “cool” thing).
Then, because it was felt that people wanting to move away from homosexuality might cause some parents to force “therapy” on their kids (the argument used to block the research here in some ways), they decided this must be stopped. In the process of course, they now had to decide that sexuality is fixed. At the same time of course, they’ll bend over forwards to help someone come out. Of course, as Peter Tatchell (the gay activist) admits, this “fixed” argument falls short. He’s got an excellent website by the way. Of course, this is an issue for the many abused women who turn lesbian as they can no longer deal with men. Of course, they must always have BEEN lesbians. They just didn’t know it. On the one hand, the LGB lobby affirm that people should be themselves, on the other, they try to deny this right to those who choose to turn their back on homosexuality and bully these people. There seems to be an assumption that it’s only religious influence that would cause someone to no longer want to be gay (or no longer want a family member to be gay). Nothing to do with free will. No, it’s because these people have been brainwashed by Christians, and Christians hate the gays.
Watch this for an illustration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LTtaYfZFx0
Watch Patrick label Mike as gay – something Mike rejects. Why? He must be gay.
Watch Mike acknowledge that someone could be helped to be turned gay if they wanted, and watch how quickly Patrick moves on.
In truth, the T have very little in common with the LGBs. The former are very clear on male / female differences whereas the latter try to minimise them at every turn.
I’m not denying the plight of those genuine transsexuals out there. It must be horrific. But Johns Hopkins University stopped trans surgery as the suicide rate after surgery was the same as before. The reality is that in most cases, this is a psychological issue, not a physical one.
Again, I’m not saying XXY and other conditions exist – they certainly do, but increasingly, trans is becoming a lifestyle choice. People and sources such as http://www.sexchangeregret.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/videos/vb.300341323465160/881921415307145/?type=2&theater must be silenced and those in sympathy denounced.
Not only is it massively a psychological issue, it’s a growing one due to more and more exposure. The more publicity it gets, the more parents will think they’ve got trans or gay kids. The more the kids will think they’re gay or trans.
If you ask someone caught up in the lies what happens to the sexual preference of someone who changes sex, they get confused. Their sexual preference won’t change, but their sex will. So, is the lie that sexual preference is fixed or that sex is?
This whole thing is based on a lie, and now it’s coming to light. Science is a risk to the LGBT agenda and so research cannot be carried out.