"[𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦] 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦; 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦." - Chapter 8
Written by an (openly) lesbian non-conforming woman, this book is NOT a critique of trans people. It is a critique of the trans activist groups who lobby and claim to speak for trans rights while simultaneously undermining them. It is a philosophical critique of their ideology, of their push to have gender identity replace (rather than supplement) biological sex in social policies, causing needless harm to the progress already made for other minority groups.
To reiterate: this author believes trans rights are human rights. This author is NOT against people's freedom of expression nor having additional categorizations to accommodate the idea of gender identity. What she is against is activist groups denying biology and sex differences altogether, cherry-picking data of intersex people as proof there isn't a sex binary, and allowing ideology to replace facts under the guise of "inclusion".
In the activist group's crusade for social justice, groups like Stonewall and Mermaids have replaced evidence-based activism for abstract postmodern theories. Rather than acknowledge sex differences, these groups opt to push "gender identity" as the only determining factor on whether someone's a male or female (e.g. "trans women are women"). Rather than see how their theoretical frameworks undermine the very minority groups they once defended, especially women's rights, these groups opt to claim anyone who disagrees with their perspective is automatically "transphobic" and/or "erasing trans people's existence".
But, what is the actual scientific evidence to some of the claims they make? The problem is most of the evidence they use to justify their views are very weak and/or misleading. Other times, their ideas simply come from postmodern thinkers like Judith Butler (e.g. the claim that all sex is socially constructed).
- Contrary to the claim 1.7% of people are intersex, the number is actually much closer to .018% when you account for how the original claim also included MEN and WOMEN with DSD (Differences in Sex Development). And just because there are rare instances of intersex people (who of course deserve the same rights as everyone else) doesn't automatically mean 99.9% of people aren't men or women.
- Contrary to the claim trans kids are killing themselves at "epidemic" levels, the actual amount of suicides are extremely rare. And this DOESN'T mean we shouldn't care about suicides, but that these activist groups are fearmongering rather than being honest.
- Contrary to the claim puberty blockers are absolutely safe to use on children, there's limited data overall, and the data that is available tends to be weak. And just because a maturing kid is confused doesn't automatically make them trans; they may grow up to be gay or lesbian, or neither. Applying permanent solutions for what may be a temporary problem is never wise. People who have de-transitioned exist.
Again, debunking these claims DOESN'T mean the author doesn't care about trans rights. She does (and I do too). The problem is the very groups being made to represent trans rights are not representing them so much as they are tokenizing them and confused children for political means. These groups are no longer fighting for clear, tangible goals but vague, radical changes without considering the long-term consequences.
These are just but a few points the author makes throughout the book. But if you're expecting a book filled with anecdotes, cherry-picked evidence, and hyperbole this is NOT the book for you. To my surprise, this author didn't go for any low-hanging fruit; 80% of the book is pure philosophical reasoning. Even more, she provides a charitable explanation for each of the areas she critiques, without any snark or sarcasm. Needless to say, her career as a philosopher fits her well!
As for solutions? Rather than activist groups adhering to ideology, the author advocates for "less theory and more data". Because there's so little actual data around the issues themselves!
Here are just a few areas she'd like to see more research done:
- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯-𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵.
- 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴.
- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴.
- 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.
- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵.
In sum, I think activism can be a force for good. I think it can bring awareness to causes people wouldn't normally be aware of. It paved the way for women to vote, for racial minorities to have civil rights, and most recently for gay marriage. But as of late, it seems activists want their causes to be recognized so badly that they're willing to push them forward at the expense of truth.
Frankly, it astounds me how much influence they've had over major medical and psychological associations in America based (again) upon weak data to begin with. For a breakdown on all the available evidence to date, look up the article "Trans Matters: An Overview of the Debate, Research, and Policies" from Skeptic magazine. And 2 recent in-depth articles were published October 2022 and December 2022 from Reuters titled: "As more transgender children seek medical care, families confront many unknowns" and "Why detransitioners are crucial to the science of gender care".
If there's any consolation, more and more people are starting to push back on what's going on. Slowly but surely, countries like Finland and Sweden have ended their "gender-affirming care" models in favor of psychotherapy as the first line of treatment. In October 2022, England joined them too. The United States, however, is still a work in progress...
I'll end this review with a quote from Steve QJ summarized on Medium: "𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 '𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,' 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯) 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯."
Simply put, you can support trans rights AND wholeheartedly disagree with the anti-intellectualism of current trans activism. Don't let them gaslight you into believing you're a "transphobe" or "TERF" or "anti-trans" for doing so.
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This disregard for the interests of people of lower socio-economic status or education is not unusual within modern trans activism.Highlighted by 357 Kindle readers- In this context, treating males with female gender identities as women in every possible context is a politically inflammatory act. In effect it sends a contemptuously dismissive message to women already conscious of unequal treatment of their interests. This message says: the interests of males with female gender identities are more important than yours.Highlighted by 324 Kindle readers
- Many trans people assume – wrongly, as I will eventually argue – that the existence and recognition of their political and legal rights depends upon gender identity theory’s correctness.Highlighted by 323 Kindle readers
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- Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2025
- Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2023
Brilliant, thought provoking & evidence based
- Maria P.Reviewed in Italy on July 25, 2023
Bring back philosophy into society - It's badly needed
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- Raúl STReviewed in Spain on December 20, 2021
Really good book on the genre/sex discussion
