On Gender

Gender and Transgender issues are regularly in the news these day and it is still very divisive. Just ask JK Rowling! We will be standing back a bit and looking at the philosophical questions underpinning the issue and asking why it is so divisive. 

The LBG+ campaigning group Stonewall states that some people just 'know' intuitively that they are Trans from an early age. This raises issue that philosophers call 'privileged access'. Are we transparent to ourselves or can we make mistakes about our own feelings and inner states? 

What is gender identity anyway? Is it different from gender style? Is it an essence you are born with or is it socially conditioned? 

The numbers of young people presenting as Trans has increased in recent years as have the profiles of the different types of Trans folk. What hypotheses can we think of that would explain these changes and how could they be tested? 

What are the rights that Trans people are asking to be respected? How are these, or any rights, grounded and can the rights of one group conflict with rights of another?

These are just some of the questions that are raised by the Trans issue. 

Stuff to read on Gender

This is in no way an exhaustive or balanced collection of material about gender or trans but it does offer some opposing views that may stimulate discussion. Sadly, in the glossary I have put together here, there is no entry for trans-scepticism. Either you are for us (a trans-ally) or against us (trans-phobic). There is no place for questioning the narrative. 

I would define trans-scepticism (and it’s all about neologisms and definitions, don’t you know?) as taking the distress and suffering of trans-people seriously but also questioning some of the narrative surrounding the issue. Scepticism is not hatred or fear. It’s wondering out-loud, evaluating reasons, and suspending judgement.

§ What’s it all about?

• Trans people in the UK — An official Government Equalities Office publication. No one knows how many trans folk there are at present.

• Why are trans rights so divisive? by Julian Baggini

§ A lot of it is about words

• An LBTQ+ Glossary — Containing 170 words you didn’t know you needed to know

• The Truth about Trans — An FAQ from Stonewall

• Tips for Allies of Transgender People 

§ Could it be a form of psychological epidemic?

• Outbreak: On Transgender Teens and Psychic Epidemics

• Why Is Transgender Identity on the Rise Among Teens?

• Dancing plagues and mass hysteria

• Recovered and false memories

§ Trans-scepticism

• Even thinking about trans people is wrong by Hugo Rifkind (2018)

• Transgender Ideology is Riddled with Contradictions — A fairly extreme anti–trans view coming from a dogmatic, conservative Christian perspective.

§ On JK Rowling

• The Witch Trials of JK Rowling [podcast] — JK Rowling is interviewed in this multi-episode series. Well worth listening to.

• The Witch Trials of JK Rowling — ContraPoints [Youtube video] — This is a reply to the above podcast and is very dismissive  but makes some important points.

• Listening to ‘The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling’ is exhausting work [Washington Post Review]

• Can Anyone Trust 'The Witch Trials of JK Rowling'?