"On the other hand, I am not persuaded that there is nothing more to the idea of gender than stereotypes"
My sense of this just comes from the hundreds of conversations I've had where people were unable to define the concept of gender in any terms other than stereotypes. Not to mention the countless articles I've read on the topic that, i…
"On the other hand, I am not persuaded that there is nothing more to the idea of gender than stereotypes"
My sense of this just comes from the hundreds of conversations I've had where people were unable to define the concept of gender in any terms other than stereotypes. Not to mention the countless articles I've read on the topic that, if they went beyond dresses and makeup, went directly to the most bizarre, misogynistic, sexual cliches.
But yes, the wider point is that it doesn't matter if it's just stereotypes or some as yet unseen internal archetype. I believe that gender dysphoria is a real condition in the same way that I believe Body Integrity Identity Disorder is a real condition. I don't need to understand it for it to be real. But I do think there should be a serious and rigorous system of evaluation before people start chopping of body parts. And I do think, in the case of gender dysphoria, that there should be an equally serious and rigorous effort to weed out people who aren't genuine before allowing them into *any* female spaces. And I think that there should remain certain female spaces that they *never* get access to because they aren't female. No matter what their feelings might be.
As I've pointed out before, there used to be a serious and rigorous process of evaluation to be legally recognised as a trans women. And while it was in place, vanishingly few people had any issue with trans inclusion. It's only when people abandoned any attempt at objectivity that it quite rightly became an issue.
Everything you said above should reference "gender identity disorder," not "gender dysphoria."
The latter has no diagnostic criteria and accepts even the most frivolous self-reports as sufficient to commence hormonal treatment that very day, even when the patient is severely mentally ill, as many are.
Most people I talk to, even medically educated people, believe that treatment doesn't begin until after a rigorous diagnosis and a year living as the opposite sex. Neither has been required since 2013.
"On the other hand, I am not persuaded that there is nothing more to the idea of gender than stereotypes"
My sense of this just comes from the hundreds of conversations I've had where people were unable to define the concept of gender in any terms other than stereotypes. Not to mention the countless articles I've read on the topic that, if they went beyond dresses and makeup, went directly to the most bizarre, misogynistic, sexual cliches.
But yes, the wider point is that it doesn't matter if it's just stereotypes or some as yet unseen internal archetype. I believe that gender dysphoria is a real condition in the same way that I believe Body Integrity Identity Disorder is a real condition. I don't need to understand it for it to be real. But I do think there should be a serious and rigorous system of evaluation before people start chopping of body parts. And I do think, in the case of gender dysphoria, that there should be an equally serious and rigorous effort to weed out people who aren't genuine before allowing them into *any* female spaces. And I think that there should remain certain female spaces that they *never* get access to because they aren't female. No matter what their feelings might be.
As I've pointed out before, there used to be a serious and rigorous process of evaluation to be legally recognised as a trans women. And while it was in place, vanishingly few people had any issue with trans inclusion. It's only when people abandoned any attempt at objectivity that it quite rightly became an issue.
Everything you said above should reference "gender identity disorder," not "gender dysphoria."
The latter has no diagnostic criteria and accepts even the most frivolous self-reports as sufficient to commence hormonal treatment that very day, even when the patient is severely mentally ill, as many are.
Most people I talk to, even medically educated people, believe that treatment doesn't begin until after a rigorous diagnosis and a year living as the opposite sex. Neither has been required since 2013.