It also puzzles me how a few (and ever-decreasing) people think that capriciously amputating your genitals is fine, but a limb is not... interesting pointer; I'll look it up!
Even if you believe there's a right to harm your own body or end your own life (I don't, but let's say there is), it is still a completely different case than abortion (different life/body).
It is indeed a small portion of the population that actually has gender dysphoria -- and I'm not implying they are to blame here -- but the data says 30% of Zoomers identify as LGBT, which screams social contagion.
And I even agree with you on your last point to a large extent. I don't think college students are willingly backing Hamas, but the effect is the same. Even Ayatollah Khamenei has thanked them. Useful idiots at the service of Islamists now, as they were with communists then.
As a gay millennial, I understand a lot of the points you make. Even I find Pride month to be all-consuming in a way that becomes exhausting, but the idea that it's "aimed" at children is likely an easy argument to make from the outside (assuming you're not queer, which the "Laverne Cox adam's apple" zinger seems to suggest). Combining sexual identity, nihilism and the age old "save the children" debate flattens the ultimate goal of Pride month, which is to overcorrect and drown out the voices of the most homophobic. As silly as rainbow washing might appear and as much as I detest any parade as much as the next person, calling changing social mores by a younger generation a "contagion" perpetuates the same old vicious cycle. Grumpy protesters shout through a bullhorn to the disinterested and the beat goes on. Again, I agree with some of your points, but I still never quite understand why anyone cares to snipe at the very folks who aren't listening (especially children).
Good article Cauf. Pride month is one of the most ridiculous ideas yet to come. Which self-promoters decide for the rest of us that June should be Pride month? What particular event of any consequence lies behind it? Does anybody think a Straight month would fly? I'm just going to ignore it and boycott any business that displays rainbows all over the place. More people should do the same. Lets "Bud Light" 'em.
V.S. Ramachandran found a link between apotemnophilia and trans gender people. Those with apotemnophilia want to cut off a limb at a specific place because it feels over present, and exhibit unconscious stress responses when touched where they want to amputate. Brain scans appear to confirm that there is a difference between their body and their mind's map of their body. It'd be like if you suddenly grew a horn on your head.
Ramachandran is probably most famous for his mirror boxes, which have helped to ease or eliminate the pain people who have lost limbs still feel in phantom limbs. If your right hand got chopped off but you still felt pain years after the fact, you'd stick your left hand into a mirror box, and it would appear that you still had both hands, and this is enough to trick your brain. By stretching or clenching your left hand and then relaxing it, the pain in your phantom right hand would disappear.
He expressed his findings regarding trans people compassionately and without judgement, and it was halted due to political pressure. People on the right claimed this "proved" being transsexual was a Body Integrity disorder, and it does seem odd that if you want to chop off your arm, you go to an asylum, but if you want to chop off your dick or surgically change your genitals, that's fine, and 50% of psychiatrists have said political pressure has factored into their decision to give the go ahead for people to transition when they didn't feel comfortable with doing so.
The research concerning trans people is generally so filled with confounding variables, it's impossible to make a determination, and thanks to research being halted in general, this is unlikely to change.
My concern is how best to serve a community, and trans people who transition before puberty tend to function better than those who transition later, but it's primarily a philosophical question, and a question of individual rights.
Everyone wants to change something about themselves, and many would argue that one of the most important parts of life is learning how to live with that. There's also the question of what defines a person, their body or their mind, and which, if either, should be "fixed" in regard to being trans.
About 1% of people actually transition, and it's impossible to tell why more people are identifying as trans, but it's most likely because it's more acceptable, similarly to the way more people have been diagnosed with autism once we had better tools for identifying it.
Ultimately, it's a de facto right, like suicide or abortion, and I'd rather people get professional help than attempting to transition on their own.
Almost all people who attempt suicide and survive say they immediately regretted the attempt the second they jumped off a bridge or in front of car, and a small portion of people report regretting transitioning, but it's their mistake to make.
With children, it's more complicated, and there are some parents who appear to encourage it, mainly straight, liberal parents.
One thing I'm sure of is that Jesus isn't going to help us, and that religion, including Christianity, is increasingly becoming a net loss for society. The places with the most religious people have the most oppressive laws, the most wars, and the least access to education.
I can appreciate a lot of your concerns, but too many of your contentions appear to be based in personal bias, or do no reflect what the data is telling us, and while imperfect, data reflects reality much better than opinion, and ignoring it puts us in peril, whether you agree with it or not.
And again, it's a loud issue, just as articles like this are loud to get attention, but it concerns a very small portion of the population, so why are using this as a vehicle to advocate for religion? And looking around at the country and the world, do you honestly think forgiveness has triumphed over vengeance?
Lastly, there is a difference between advocating for HAMAS and protesting against genocide. Some are doing the former, but most are doing the latter, including Jews.
To whom you are attracted sexually is purely subjective and therefore cannot reasonably be contested by an outside observer.
Where you decide to live your life on a spectrum of superficial, stereotypical male to female attributes (and we all do) is also purely subjective and similarly cannot be questioned.
However, your biological sex reflects an objective reality which cannot be changed by your subjective personal view and futile attempts to do so can result in serious health impacts to you as well as actual harms to members of the sex you are impersonating (especially women). Finally, others who are grounded in objective reality should never be forced to accept your subjective version of your actual biological sex.
It also puzzles me how a few (and ever-decreasing) people think that capriciously amputating your genitals is fine, but a limb is not... interesting pointer; I'll look it up!
Even if you believe there's a right to harm your own body or end your own life (I don't, but let's say there is), it is still a completely different case than abortion (different life/body).
It is indeed a small portion of the population that actually has gender dysphoria -- and I'm not implying they are to blame here -- but the data says 30% of Zoomers identify as LGBT, which screams social contagion.
And I even agree with you on your last point to a large extent. I don't think college students are willingly backing Hamas, but the effect is the same. Even Ayatollah Khamenei has thanked them. Useful idiots at the service of Islamists now, as they were with communists then.
Thanks!
CS
As a gay millennial, I understand a lot of the points you make. Even I find Pride month to be all-consuming in a way that becomes exhausting, but the idea that it's "aimed" at children is likely an easy argument to make from the outside (assuming you're not queer, which the "Laverne Cox adam's apple" zinger seems to suggest). Combining sexual identity, nihilism and the age old "save the children" debate flattens the ultimate goal of Pride month, which is to overcorrect and drown out the voices of the most homophobic. As silly as rainbow washing might appear and as much as I detest any parade as much as the next person, calling changing social mores by a younger generation a "contagion" perpetuates the same old vicious cycle. Grumpy protesters shout through a bullhorn to the disinterested and the beat goes on. Again, I agree with some of your points, but I still never quite understand why anyone cares to snipe at the very folks who aren't listening (especially children).
Good article Cauf. Pride month is one of the most ridiculous ideas yet to come. Which self-promoters decide for the rest of us that June should be Pride month? What particular event of any consequence lies behind it? Does anybody think a Straight month would fly? I'm just going to ignore it and boycott any business that displays rainbows all over the place. More people should do the same. Lets "Bud Light" 'em.
It's always hard to decide whether to ignore or criticize... but the good news is it's losing relevance every year!
V.S. Ramachandran found a link between apotemnophilia and trans gender people. Those with apotemnophilia want to cut off a limb at a specific place because it feels over present, and exhibit unconscious stress responses when touched where they want to amputate. Brain scans appear to confirm that there is a difference between their body and their mind's map of their body. It'd be like if you suddenly grew a horn on your head.
Ramachandran is probably most famous for his mirror boxes, which have helped to ease or eliminate the pain people who have lost limbs still feel in phantom limbs. If your right hand got chopped off but you still felt pain years after the fact, you'd stick your left hand into a mirror box, and it would appear that you still had both hands, and this is enough to trick your brain. By stretching or clenching your left hand and then relaxing it, the pain in your phantom right hand would disappear.
He expressed his findings regarding trans people compassionately and without judgement, and it was halted due to political pressure. People on the right claimed this "proved" being transsexual was a Body Integrity disorder, and it does seem odd that if you want to chop off your arm, you go to an asylum, but if you want to chop off your dick or surgically change your genitals, that's fine, and 50% of psychiatrists have said political pressure has factored into their decision to give the go ahead for people to transition when they didn't feel comfortable with doing so.
The research concerning trans people is generally so filled with confounding variables, it's impossible to make a determination, and thanks to research being halted in general, this is unlikely to change.
My concern is how best to serve a community, and trans people who transition before puberty tend to function better than those who transition later, but it's primarily a philosophical question, and a question of individual rights.
Everyone wants to change something about themselves, and many would argue that one of the most important parts of life is learning how to live with that. There's also the question of what defines a person, their body or their mind, and which, if either, should be "fixed" in regard to being trans.
About 1% of people actually transition, and it's impossible to tell why more people are identifying as trans, but it's most likely because it's more acceptable, similarly to the way more people have been diagnosed with autism once we had better tools for identifying it.
Ultimately, it's a de facto right, like suicide or abortion, and I'd rather people get professional help than attempting to transition on their own.
Almost all people who attempt suicide and survive say they immediately regretted the attempt the second they jumped off a bridge or in front of car, and a small portion of people report regretting transitioning, but it's their mistake to make.
With children, it's more complicated, and there are some parents who appear to encourage it, mainly straight, liberal parents.
One thing I'm sure of is that Jesus isn't going to help us, and that religion, including Christianity, is increasingly becoming a net loss for society. The places with the most religious people have the most oppressive laws, the most wars, and the least access to education.
I can appreciate a lot of your concerns, but too many of your contentions appear to be based in personal bias, or do no reflect what the data is telling us, and while imperfect, data reflects reality much better than opinion, and ignoring it puts us in peril, whether you agree with it or not.
And again, it's a loud issue, just as articles like this are loud to get attention, but it concerns a very small portion of the population, so why are using this as a vehicle to advocate for religion? And looking around at the country and the world, do you honestly think forgiveness has triumphed over vengeance?
Lastly, there is a difference between advocating for HAMAS and protesting against genocide. Some are doing the former, but most are doing the latter, including Jews.
T Is different from the other letters:
To whom you are attracted sexually is purely subjective and therefore cannot reasonably be contested by an outside observer.
Where you decide to live your life on a spectrum of superficial, stereotypical male to female attributes (and we all do) is also purely subjective and similarly cannot be questioned.
However, your biological sex reflects an objective reality which cannot be changed by your subjective personal view and futile attempts to do so can result in serious health impacts to you as well as actual harms to members of the sex you are impersonating (especially women). Finally, others who are grounded in objective reality should never be forced to accept your subjective version of your actual biological sex.