Bari, Your column just continues to get better and better...in my opinion the best Substack out there. This particular column brought me to tears and I cannot even particularly point out why: Loss of American innocence? My inability to suffer fools gladly?
I was intrigued that Abigail made a special case for physicians. I am a physician that refuses to stand down to this idiocy. It has cost me a handful of relationships but, surprisingly, has strengthened many more. I do not deal with social media which is probably why I get away with this, but, especially in medicine, truth matters...and may be the only thing that matters when dealing with life and death. I am embarrassed by the actions of many of my fellow practitioners but have to hope that most will see the light before it is too late because the consequences of their silence are dire. One by one I have brought some around, but it is tough teaching people to swim upstream.
Part of the medical decline can, I expect, be attributed to the recent predilection to admit to medical school based on social justice warrior/victim-du-jour status rather than passion to heal, conviction to always put patients first, and ability to learn that has been part of the medical school experience since Abraham Flexner pointed out the consequences of doing otherwise over 100 years ago. These admission changes may be politically popular with some but will have long-term ramifications for the health of the country.
It is interesting that over the past week compelling articles about there being value for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in COVID have been published. These are drugs with minimal side effects that should have had the same level of investigation (or more) as other alternatives but were deprecated for, essentially, political reasons. This surely cost lives...and that is unforgivable politics. I am not a tinfoil hat person, and this is not even in the "disputed"(?) area of gender transition for children -- these are well established medications for other indications with preliminary information that showed some efficacy in a disease situation where no option should have been greeted with anything other than profound curiosity and urgency to study. But those who suggested this (not that it was a cure -- who knew? [although both medications now appear useful properly timed and dosed] but because it might have been) were de-Twittered, ostracized and otherwise censored. Shame on their peers for doing so...I feel for Dr. Hall but she has many discouraged peers. Since when has scientific "truth" been the provenance of a bunch of bureaucrats or social justice bigots -- doctors or not?
In any case, I continue to send your pieces to anyone who might read them. Perhaps some of the newer social media networks like Odysee will help as well. Please keep it up. You are doing something really important (besides trying to get pregnant...!)
Thank you, Dr. K, for your kind words. I am honored that you are a fan of the newsletter and admire your commitment to speak out and follow your conscience. I hope your example emboldens colleagues in the medical field.
I couldn't agree more. In my medical career, I was taught even as a pre-med to call bullshit on anything that didn't seem to make any scientific medical, or even organizational sense. As students, we actively emulated the attendings and senior residents who were fearless protectors of their patients well-being. In turn, we grew into those same roles. Indeed, it's really the only thing that keeps one going on the path of medical practice--what other point is there?
I am beyond saddened when, over and over, I am made aware of the current headlong rush to abandon these deep and valuable traditions of medical professionalism in favor of the toxic culture of identity politics, racism, and totalitarianism. This a catastrophe--there is no other way to describe it.
I am not afraid to speak out, probably because I have very little to lose. I am not married, nor do I have children, and my Black Labs and Bearded Lizard are impervious to threats and social media trolling. My employer is a friend, and a decent person who is not afraid of the mobs. My clients understand who I am, the lawyer helping them with their asylum and immigration cases, and they do not call me a bigot or a homophobe or a white supremacist for my conservative and counter cultural views. I know that it is easy for me to speak out, and I will continue to do so. I actually have empathy, but no respect, for those who say they are upset about what is happening and yet will remain silent. They are like the "good Germans" who saw what was happening, were inwardly repulsed but refused to speak out, or the Hutus who were disgusted by what was happening to the Tutsis yet remained silent, or the Serbs who wanted to live side by side with their Bosnian neighbors, but didn't do anything, (and frankly, if your job is more important than your integrity, you need to find another line of work.) Yes, social shunning and deplatforming is much less serious than genocide, but they are creatures of the same genus, and the harm and toxicity only differ in degree. I will continue to write what I want about a society that is selling out its soul for some fabricated version of "equity" and social justice, and I really don't give a damn about what happens. The consequences of silence are worse.
Social shunning and de-platforming are only the early stages. If it goes much further, it will become public harassment, violence, incarceration, and, yes, mass murder. History has shown this to be the path many times. We are no different than any other population who preceded us. I can only pray that only difference will be that we woke up in time and stopped the movement.
Bravo. Unapologetic people standing up and speaking out will lead to more of the same. I am heartened by how many of various stripes are doing so. It's more than I expected and it is growing.
Thank you so much, as an asylum attorney I am used to seeing the more obvious ways that people are erased. It seems that the US Left is employing the more subtle variety, although some on the right tend to do the same thing, but with far less efficacy
Thank you both for this article. I have yet to read Abigail's book, but as a female who spent the first twenty years of her life dysphoric, I share the concerns regarding significant upward trend in dysphoria diagnoses among young girls. As someone who knows firsthand the psychological agony of dysphoria, I don't wish it on anyone, and I sincerely hope for betterment, health, and relief for anyone subject to it.
However, I worry that it is still a very poorly understood condition, especially by activists. We are doing our children a disservice by insulating them from all possible information and scientific study regarding this condition; and we are further dis-servicing children by potentially conflating "non conforming" behavior/preferences/feelings with what was once considered a very rare psychological disorder. Real, but rare.
Of course, as someone who has now lived on both sides of the dysphoria fence (it's been a decade now since I've struggled with it to the point of distress), neither my experience nor my opinion is welcome in activist circles - left or right. One side refuses to believe dysphoria exists at all, and the other side is far, far too quick to diagnose on superficial evidence and push for permanent bodily change in patients.
But I am once again encouraged by people like Katie Herzog and Abigail Shrier for continuing to provide a voice to those of us who chose treatment, solutions, approaches, and conclusions regarding this issue outside the current cultural dogma.
Keep up the good work. Thank you all for your courage.
"... we are further dis-servicing children by potentially conflating "non conforming" behavior/preferences/feelings with what was once considered a very rare psychological disorder."
I have long held the belief that these two ideas can indeed coexist: protecting the rights and dignity of transgender individuals while simultaneously allowing for scientific objectivity.
I know about this phenomenon; my books have been, literally, burned and the videos posted to Facebook. The crime, speaking out against CRT's effects on my community. And I, too, received a large number of similar email messages. Many of those who openly spoke up in support of my work and commentaries were themselves attacked. Some of them then retreated for fear of what would happen to them if they did not. What is most discomfiting about it all is that I have known and been friends with many of the people who are doing this or who are publicly agreeing with positions they do not agree with at all AND in years past they adamantly insisted that were they in Germany when Hitler took power they would NEVER go along with it but would speak out. I am incredibly ashamed of their cowardice, ashamed of them.
I am continually thankful that people like Abigail Shrier and Brett Weinstein and Heather Heying and others, as well as so many of the writers on substack are speaking up. It seems to me that the impetus to do so is spreading, that more people are gathering what courage they can and stepping up. That people are doing so has helped me immensely over the years, as the radical left members of my liberal tribe became insane, as I became the subject of their attacks, as I saw them fervently insist that the Constitution of the US was an antiquated document, that everyone who did not agree with them must be destroyed.
we are in tough times, it is going to be a bumpy ride. I don't think it is going to get better for a very long time.
A critical mass of opposition is building. I don't think this situation is going to take as long as that. Don't let go of possibility.
Perhaps I am naive, but I believe in Americans. We can be shallow, tempestuous, silly, bigoted, and impatient. But we are a generous people and a hopeful one. And we are fighters. It just takes a bit to rouse us. Hang in there.
Speaking of having the courage to speak up against tyranny, here's the powerful two minute "I Am Spartacus" slave revolt scene from the 1960 movie Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis. Interestingly, the film's two authors, Dalton Trumbo and Howard Fast, had previously been attacked during the McCarthy era in the 1950s.
Bari, so delighted you're interviewing Abigail Shriver. I've watched all her youtube interviews and listened to every word of her terrific audio book, Irreversible Damages. You two are so brave to tackle the transgender craze now threatening the long term health and well being of many thousands of teenage girls and young women across our country and in Canada and Europe.
I'm not a parent, but this issue hits home for me. A young man I dated in college many decades ago eventually had two young biological daughters at Brown who became trans men around the time my old boyfriend was dying of cancer last year. He was a handsome, liberal, brilliant medical doctor, and on the Asperger's end of the autism spectrum. His daughters are equally brilliant and also on the spectrum. which made them especially vulnerable to the trans craze. One daughter is also bipolar and has other problems.
When I learned my old boyfriend was dying, we exchanged a few emails. He never told me his daughters were trans men, but his death announcement made that more than clear. He must have felt his "wonderful daughters," which is how he always referred to them, were making a serious, irreparable mistake. But he was obviously powerless to stop it, and he was such a devoted father, I know it broke his heart. Just thinking about this now breaks my heart.
Anyway, thank you so much for covering this story. I'm off to read the article now.
Thank you for sharing. My husband has a friend, also a professor (genius), in a similar situation with his daughter. She was so academically precocious as a little girl--and extremely thin. She began to transition in 9th grade after her girlfriend and another friend transitioned.
As a mother of young kids this is terrifying. I quietly reach out to people at work to see how they stand on issues. I quietly pass on articles like this to those who are just unclear of what is going on.
These activists are organized. They are small but mighty because people are too afraid to stand up to them.
We need to be more organized. When they call to have something banned, there needs to be more of us that call for it reinstated.
We know there is strength in numbers. We know people are waiting for others to speak up first — waiting until there’s enough in numbers where they no longer feel threatened.
If none of us stand, we have only ourselves to blame.
So true. We must stand up. And it's beginning to happen with the recent pushback against Critical Race Theory in which parents are now speaking out against CRT during school board meetings. This week, the mainstream press must have gotten their marching orders because articles attacking the pushback suddenly appeared in the NYT, WaPo, the Atlantic, the New Yorker -- even Vanity Fair, which by the way is now so shamelessly woke, the only fashion models allowed to wear lipstick and high heels are the men.
FAIR speaks of the strength in numbers and wants to create a sort of grassroots movement against CT, CRT and related ideologies. I encourage everyone to check it out —it provides with resources to organize as well as links to local chapters across the country.
You are so right. There are so many of us. We need to be as loud as the activists and we need to stick together. Many thanks to Bari and Abigail for their own bravery.
The people excoriating others are bullies. Bullies don’t stop until they are punched in the nose.
Bizarre things are going on these days by bullies. Remember when gay and lesbians said, you can’t disrespect me, I was born this way. Okay, fine. But now we have those misguided souls saying I’m a girl in a boy’s body or Vice versa. So I guess they weren’t born that way. Hard to keep up. But mashing those born that way with those not born that way into one group called GLAAD or LGBTQWTF sets everything up for conflict.
But what it all comes down to is patriarchy. Men Uber alles. Boys not making it with boys sports so they take over girls sports, dominating females. Girls thinking to make it in life they have to become male. It’s madness all the way around but normal people are not only supposed to accept it, they have to embrace it sayeth the bullies. There’s a whole lot of mental illness going around and no one bats an eye.
The real question is - where are the feminists? Where are the women’s groups advocating for women? No one in their right mind can say a man can ever become a woman. No one can also ever say that a woman can ever become a man. The women’s groups have gone crazy as well.
There are some brave feminists who are still advocating for women. The opposition calls them TERFs for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. But there's nothing at all radical about these women. They simply believe that biological men are men, that biological women are women, and that biological women and children must be kept safe from attack by men in places like women's prisons and women's shelters.
One person, maybe two if you count Martina. And what happened to them? They caved and apologized abjectly. And their heads have never been raised since.
You must never apologize to the woke mob. The more you grovel and humiliate yourself, the more the woke mob claps their hands in glee at one more craven adversary brought down. You haven't gained anything by groveling -- you'll still be defenestrated, and the woke mo will become even more emboldened.
But if you stand up and refuse to apologize, the woke mob is more likely to give up in frustration and ignore you. That's what happened when Trader Joe's refused to remove its "racist" line of Trader Jose's ethnic foods from its stores. The woke mob picked up their toys and searched for an easier target.
I don't believe JK Rowling ever did cave in. Here's an article I found that's dated 6/10/2020. It's not an apology. In the piece she simply restates her opinion that biological women are women and biological men are men.
A week she did apologize for some sort of tweet in which she criticized the appearance of a transgender woman (biological male) who had been convicted of assaulting a feminist woman. But she did not back down from her opinion that biological women are women and biological men are men.
“Jun 10, 2020 · I want to continue to speak for trans rights — I really do — but my voice is hoarse. I am tired. “JK Rowling released a statement today on her views of transphobia.
She originally posted this statement on Medium and then deleted it and apparently has gone dark now. Which is sad that a billionaire who will still get her books published and read doesn’t have have more courage.
I don’t think Rowling has caved. Her original statement on the subject is still in her website (instant). She continues to support Maya Forstater. Her latest children book (which I read with my young daughter) is also an allegory of how power elites manipulate information to scare the masses. I think her silence is strategical, but wonder why she is not in the board of FAIR, she should be.
I think she’s basically gone dark and silent even though she is the kind of person that could stand up and fight because She’s basically insulated. Perhaps she doesn’t like the vitriol spewed her way. I think the bullies have won.
When I hear a book Is having these issues and it is even remotely close to what I would want to read I buy it. That is what I did for Irreversible Damages. I am having a hard time actually reading it as I am afraid it will make me angry and sad.
Ok I read the book and it is excellent. It gave excellent information and perspective. I told my daughter in law and son about as I have a 5 year old granddaughter and want them prepared. They said this was very timely as a situation has developed in an extended family member young girl (12 years old) where she has declared she is transgender and her family is joyfully affirming it. 12 years old!!! It is obscene.
So glad you read the book, and that you're making sure your kids are ready for your granddaughter. I'm so sorry to hear about the 12 year old girl in your extended family. It's sad and infuriating that children are being brainwashed by the woke mob today and that parents are going along with it. We all need to push back on this madness.
Well done. It is hard to speak up. But I will do my best to have those hard conversations. I think what is missing is the open dialog. No longer is it acceptable to have a different opinion. Groupthink has taken over. But. What if more people came to a point of curiosity? What if instead of trying to make our point, we ask questions? Come from a place of humility and grace and see that other person as a human. We may disagree, but there is freedom when we can have discourse. Let’s shed light on issues rather than covering them up. I admire the work of so many and they give me courage to walk this tough road with grace and hope that there are people fighting for truth. Keep up the good work.
I started a social science PhD program in 2002, and let me tell you, you could not undertake that enterprise at a major research institution without having to read A LOT of Marxian theory. Especially stuff falling under the heading of Critical Theory. If you wanted to be successful on the job market, you had to be fluent in Critical Theory.
Critical Theory is ultimately really simple to understand: instead of the old-fashioned Marxian idea of the workers taking control of the means of production, you have oppressed groups (non-white, non-western, queer, etc.) taking control of the means of discursive production. Basically, if you control the language, you control the reality.
Gender Theory is a perfect example of this neo-marxist doctrine. Under this theory, gender is considered to be nothing more than a cultural construct, a construct that oppresses people. Biology has nothing to do with gender. People are, in essence, only cis-gendered because they are dupes, and they enjoy having privilege. And the are oppressors, insofar as they insist that everyone must accept the gender binary.
Among the woke (the drinkers of Critical Theory Kool Aid), trans people are pretty much the highest of holies. They have not only seen through the oppressor's lies, but have taken truly radical steps to attain liberation. Of course, being BIPOC trans means you have all the victim cards, basically you're playing the game of victim poker with a royal flush of oppression.
Let's be honest: people under the sway of this ideology are using trans people as pawns in a power game. Some trans people are actively trading on their own victim status in this power game. If you get in their way, they will definitely go after you if they can manage it. I stay off social media. It's an arena in which their power is magnified to maximum extent.
There's no arguing with glassy-eyed zealots. I've made the mistake of feeding the trolls here and regret it. It's a waste of time and vital energy.
Folks like Abigail and Bari are right: those of us who don't care for the notion of living under totalitarian conditions need to organize. The woke are actively creating totalitarian conditions wherever they have the power to do so. For now, it's a soft version. But for people who lose their jobs, or find themselves being terrorized on social media, that's not much comfort.
I work in nonprofit, in a rural state. My organization was very nearly torn apart by woke trouble makers. They eventually quit, but they wreaked havoc before they left, actually destroying two colleague's careers. Before they left, they created a horrible climate of fear and distrust. It's going to take months to undo the damage. It took me way too long to stand up to them, I'm not proud of that, but better late than never.
Right now, I'm getting people at work talking about the importance of enlightenment values and classical liberalism. I'm forging alliances between conservatives, libertarians, and liberals (actual liberals, not wokesters). I'm part of my organization's DEI team, which has now become a hub of enlightenment education. We talk a lot about ideological diversity and inclusion. I'm getting other people on the leadership team engaged in these discussions. And we're educating the board of directors on the dangers that lie ahead.
We're crafting a strategy for our hiring practices (especially leadership positions), figuring out how to best identify and avoid candidates who are woke. We're not going back if we can at all help it, but it's going to take vigilance and long-term commitment.
I'm afraid I'm not going to be sticking my neck out on social media, it's just not worth it. High risk, low reward. But, everyday, I do something to advance the enlightenment agenda at work. I never miss an opportunity to organize.
We all need to educate ourselves, to be able to effectively articulate enlightenment values. We all need to organize. Especially at work.
This comment deserves gold stars and neon lights around it. You’ve condensed CRT down to its essence in the most concise and cogent way possible. Excellent job. And GOOD FOR YOU, organizing intelligently to put the ogre back in its cage and dump it in the deep blue sea.
I also agree with you that it is a waste of time and energy to feed the trolls here. We know who they are. They know where our buttons are and how to push them. Don’t take the bait, there’s nothing to be gained. Ignore them. Starve them.
You're absolutely right, there is zero benefit in feeding the trolls. It's that much less time we can spend actively organizing people who are opposed to this madness.
This discussion has really brought out the troll brigade. It seems like radical gender theory produces a special brand of zealotry.
What most concerns me is how predatory gender theory activists are. Of course, if you want to propagandize and create converts, it makes the most sense to pursue vulnerable young people.
I think the gender zealots are the most likely to engage in ruthless campaigns of reputational destruction, but I'm not sure about that. My gut sense is that people who get hooked by radical gender have a lot of personal pain that they're desperate to project onto other people, so they have a far more personal stake in orthodoxy sniffing and heretic burning. It's not just cynical deflection for them, it's deeply personal. They base their entire identify around this stuff, so any dissent is an existential threat.
From reading the first-hand accounts of former trans people, I’ve learned that within the trans community there is a status tree, with masculine trans women at the top. By this I mean trans-identified males who are attracted to women and employ bullying and coercion to satisfy their sexual needs. These are the autogynephiles (transvestites) who refer to lesbians and radical feminists as TERFS, and who use doxxing, death and rape threats, and physical intimidation to exercise good old fashioned male privilege. I believe their malevolence stems from jealousy because they are not females, and rage because females are not attracted to them, leaving them sexually frustrated. In this respect, they are similar to incels, but with a lot more social standing and power.
This isn’t the whole story, of course, but it is a significant part of it, IMO.
Wow, that's a fascinating perspective. I'd say it says a lot about the dynamics of totalitarian movements. And cults. And perhaps hormones as well.
And the irony therein is just mind blowing: it's the very epitome of toxic masculinity, perpetrated by people who identify as women, in the name of liberation from traditional gender norms. In their efforts to dismantle the gender binary, they are reproducing the crudest stereotypes contained within that model. You couldn't make that up! Perhaps the weirdest irony of all: within radical gender politics, the only legitimate arbiters of femininity are people who were born with penises. Is that not a tremendous step backwards for women? And by women, I mean actual women, aka people who menstruate.
I should clarify my own position: I'm perfectly OK with more than two genders. It seems like four is a reasonable typology: women, men, trans-women, and trans-men. An enormous amount of variation on themes can live within that simple framework. And it doesn't deny the fundamental biological reality of the vast and overwhelming majority of humanity. And it doesn't necessitate constantly having to learn new and ever more fine-grained non-sensical distinctions. The endless proliferation of gender categories is completely unworkable for any but the zealots.
I'm not OK with the ritual of everyone having to state their pronouns all the time. I believe that ritual is an admission that gender is nothing more than a cultural construct (which is rubbish), that we can't trust common sense and our own eyes and ears (if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and was born with feathers, webbed feet and a bill, it's a duck and will most likely remain a duck), and that we should all be considering changing genders as an option on a regular basis. It's stealth indoctrination.
This is right on the money: "And the irony therein is just mind blowing: it's the very epitome of toxic masculinity, perpetrated by people who identify as women, in the name of liberation from traditional gender norms. In their efforts to dismantle the gender binary, they are reproducing the crudest stereotypes contained within that model. You couldn't make that up! Perhaps the weirdest irony of all: within radical gender politics, the only legitimate arbiters of femininity are people who were born with penises. Is that not a tremendous step backwards for women? And by women, I mean actual women, aka people who menstruate." I actually read somewhere that the only people who should be allowed to attach the word "vagina" to their anatomy are trans women.
I'm an old lesbian and I have about 45 years of experience dealing with this category of person. I definitely didn't come up with this analysis yesterday, or by myself.
Your gender philosophy is very charitable. I see nothing wrong with it, although personally I don't think in terms of gender, I think in terms of sex, in my case, woman. I don't have to identify as a woman, because I just am one. I'm with you on the pronoun thing. If you can't tell what my pronouns are from looking at me, we're doomed anyway.
Gender as a concept is important to some people and frankly, who cares what we call ourselves as long as we live and let live? Sounds simple and friendly, doesn't it? I truly am more than willing to respect people's pronouns and to leave them alone to do their thing, as long as they do the same for me. This is where the trouble starts, because it requires accepting that ones beliefs are opinions, and opinions vary. It's the compelled speech, the harebrained dogma and the insistence that the Emperor is wearing a beautiful suit of clothes that spoils my good mood.
My insights into this have benefited greatly from the writings of folks like Bari Weiss and Andrew Sullivan. I try to work out the ramifications, but I'm standing on the shoulders of giants, so to speak.
I think your perspective is eminently sensible, as sex and gender are pretty well aligned for nearly all of humanity. And, live and let live is about as good as we can expect as far as shared moral frameworks in any large-scale society. It requires so little of us, aside from not being hateful and just minding our own beeswax--it's not terribly complicated or demanding as moral imperatives go!
Yes, compelled speech is a serious threat to a free society, I very much agree with you there! If someone wants me to call them by some special pronouns, I'm willing to try my best in the interest of civility, but don't expect me to get onboard your Maoist happy train and recite your religious catechisms.
I actually consider myself TERF adjacent--I may be a dude, but I also consider myself a feminist ally, and I'm really not OK with women losing the prerogative to define themselves and their reality as they see fit (by implication, I'm not OK with men losing that either). So, to the extent that I believe actual women have the right to define femininity for themselves, I'm not OK with people who are not women usurping that prerogative. I consider trans to be a gender category outside of the binary (wasn't that their goal in the first place? It's all so bloody confusing!!), so yes, I suppose I'm excluding them and I'm OK with that.
One of the most disturbing new trends is labeling gay and lesbian folks as 'trans-phobic' if they don't have any desire to date trans people. How on earth is that progress? To the extent that this trend gains currency, this ideology becomes a threat to individuals choosing their own sexual orientation without fear of persecution and harassment. That's just crazy! Accusations of being trans-phobic are way too often just another libelous attack that is used to cow people into submission. That's how the post-modern, critical theory crowd rolls: by any means necessary, with the end always justifying the means.
I’m sorry. There are no such things in real life as a trans man or a trans woman. There are men. There are women. There are women who think they are men. And there are men who think they are women. The latter two categories are mentally ill. Full stop.
The "comfortable" Western world is largely populated by frightened cowards. It takes bravery (a sense of humor is also real handy) to be a real leader and agent for positive growth and change. For the most part, the brave and humorous do not typically seek positions of authority, and that vacuum is filled in most organizations by the insecure, the sociopaths, the personality-disordered, the neurotics, etc.
I have commented many times that this vile thought repression can ONLY exist in systems where those in authority have abdicated all responsibility for principled leadership. College presidents, CEOs, clergy, and even an occasional politician used to actually take pride in the parts of their jobs that required a steady moral compass, but no more. The twin evils of careerism and corruption now reign most everwhere. There are always going to be bad actors that take pleasure in causing problems for others. It is only because they are allowed to run the store that any of this exists.
Thanks for pushing back on this issue. I am pessimistic about the near term outcome but perhaps a few confused adolescents can avoid making a grave mistake.
There's now some major pushback against transgender activism in the UK. The courts recently decided one case against the Tavistock gender clinic and in favor of detransitioner Keira Bell, and the Stonewall transgender activist organization appears to be in retreat.
Now we just need a little more of that good, old British moxie on this side of the pond.
Thanks Bari for opening your column to Abigail Shrier. Freedom of speech is threatened indeed in this country.
I have been contributing financially to your Substack even though I disagree with you on a number of subjects. My hope is that one day you will say and do something in return in defense of Julian Assange free speech right.
Bari, Your column just continues to get better and better...in my opinion the best Substack out there. This particular column brought me to tears and I cannot even particularly point out why: Loss of American innocence? My inability to suffer fools gladly?
I was intrigued that Abigail made a special case for physicians. I am a physician that refuses to stand down to this idiocy. It has cost me a handful of relationships but, surprisingly, has strengthened many more. I do not deal with social media which is probably why I get away with this, but, especially in medicine, truth matters...and may be the only thing that matters when dealing with life and death. I am embarrassed by the actions of many of my fellow practitioners but have to hope that most will see the light before it is too late because the consequences of their silence are dire. One by one I have brought some around, but it is tough teaching people to swim upstream.
Part of the medical decline can, I expect, be attributed to the recent predilection to admit to medical school based on social justice warrior/victim-du-jour status rather than passion to heal, conviction to always put patients first, and ability to learn that has been part of the medical school experience since Abraham Flexner pointed out the consequences of doing otherwise over 100 years ago. These admission changes may be politically popular with some but will have long-term ramifications for the health of the country.
It is interesting that over the past week compelling articles about there being value for ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in COVID have been published. These are drugs with minimal side effects that should have had the same level of investigation (or more) as other alternatives but were deprecated for, essentially, political reasons. This surely cost lives...and that is unforgivable politics. I am not a tinfoil hat person, and this is not even in the "disputed"(?) area of gender transition for children -- these are well established medications for other indications with preliminary information that showed some efficacy in a disease situation where no option should have been greeted with anything other than profound curiosity and urgency to study. But those who suggested this (not that it was a cure -- who knew? [although both medications now appear useful properly timed and dosed] but because it might have been) were de-Twittered, ostracized and otherwise censored. Shame on their peers for doing so...I feel for Dr. Hall but she has many discouraged peers. Since when has scientific "truth" been the provenance of a bunch of bureaucrats or social justice bigots -- doctors or not?
In any case, I continue to send your pieces to anyone who might read them. Perhaps some of the newer social media networks like Odysee will help as well. Please keep it up. You are doing something really important (besides trying to get pregnant...!)
Thank you, Dr. K, for your kind words. I am honored that you are a fan of the newsletter and admire your commitment to speak out and follow your conscience. I hope your example emboldens colleagues in the medical field.
I couldn't agree more. In my medical career, I was taught even as a pre-med to call bullshit on anything that didn't seem to make any scientific medical, or even organizational sense. As students, we actively emulated the attendings and senior residents who were fearless protectors of their patients well-being. In turn, we grew into those same roles. Indeed, it's really the only thing that keeps one going on the path of medical practice--what other point is there?
I am beyond saddened when, over and over, I am made aware of the current headlong rush to abandon these deep and valuable traditions of medical professionalism in favor of the toxic culture of identity politics, racism, and totalitarianism. This a catastrophe--there is no other way to describe it.
Thank you for your courage!
Thank you ! It is tough to be a doctor these days...
Great Comment. I fear that intellectual curiosity and the employment of the scientific method have been politicized out of existence.
I am not afraid to speak out, probably because I have very little to lose. I am not married, nor do I have children, and my Black Labs and Bearded Lizard are impervious to threats and social media trolling. My employer is a friend, and a decent person who is not afraid of the mobs. My clients understand who I am, the lawyer helping them with their asylum and immigration cases, and they do not call me a bigot or a homophobe or a white supremacist for my conservative and counter cultural views. I know that it is easy for me to speak out, and I will continue to do so. I actually have empathy, but no respect, for those who say they are upset about what is happening and yet will remain silent. They are like the "good Germans" who saw what was happening, were inwardly repulsed but refused to speak out, or the Hutus who were disgusted by what was happening to the Tutsis yet remained silent, or the Serbs who wanted to live side by side with their Bosnian neighbors, but didn't do anything, (and frankly, if your job is more important than your integrity, you need to find another line of work.) Yes, social shunning and deplatforming is much less serious than genocide, but they are creatures of the same genus, and the harm and toxicity only differ in degree. I will continue to write what I want about a society that is selling out its soul for some fabricated version of "equity" and social justice, and I really don't give a damn about what happens. The consequences of silence are worse.
Social shunning and de-platforming are only the early stages. If it goes much further, it will become public harassment, violence, incarceration, and, yes, mass murder. History has shown this to be the path many times. We are no different than any other population who preceded us. I can only pray that only difference will be that we woke up in time and stopped the movement.
The Cultural Revolution Part II.
Bravo. Unapologetic people standing up and speaking out will lead to more of the same. I am heartened by how many of various stripes are doing so. It's more than I expected and it is growing.
Excellent post!!
Thank you so much, as an asylum attorney I am used to seeing the more obvious ways that people are erased. It seems that the US Left is employing the more subtle variety, although some on the right tend to do the same thing, but with far less efficacy
Thank you both for this article. I have yet to read Abigail's book, but as a female who spent the first twenty years of her life dysphoric, I share the concerns regarding significant upward trend in dysphoria diagnoses among young girls. As someone who knows firsthand the psychological agony of dysphoria, I don't wish it on anyone, and I sincerely hope for betterment, health, and relief for anyone subject to it.
However, I worry that it is still a very poorly understood condition, especially by activists. We are doing our children a disservice by insulating them from all possible information and scientific study regarding this condition; and we are further dis-servicing children by potentially conflating "non conforming" behavior/preferences/feelings with what was once considered a very rare psychological disorder. Real, but rare.
Of course, as someone who has now lived on both sides of the dysphoria fence (it's been a decade now since I've struggled with it to the point of distress), neither my experience nor my opinion is welcome in activist circles - left or right. One side refuses to believe dysphoria exists at all, and the other side is far, far too quick to diagnose on superficial evidence and push for permanent bodily change in patients.
But I am once again encouraged by people like Katie Herzog and Abigail Shrier for continuing to provide a voice to those of us who chose treatment, solutions, approaches, and conclusions regarding this issue outside the current cultural dogma.
Keep up the good work. Thank you all for your courage.
K
"... we are further dis-servicing children by potentially conflating "non conforming" behavior/preferences/feelings with what was once considered a very rare psychological disorder."
Very important point.
I should also add, I'm a big fan of Dr. Harriet Hall and was glad to see that she continues to work tirelessly in the pursuit of scientific truth!
Thanks for your perspective
Best wishes to you Jump!
I have long held the belief that these two ideas can indeed coexist: protecting the rights and dignity of transgender individuals while simultaneously allowing for scientific objectivity.
I know about this phenomenon; my books have been, literally, burned and the videos posted to Facebook. The crime, speaking out against CRT's effects on my community. And I, too, received a large number of similar email messages. Many of those who openly spoke up in support of my work and commentaries were themselves attacked. Some of them then retreated for fear of what would happen to them if they did not. What is most discomfiting about it all is that I have known and been friends with many of the people who are doing this or who are publicly agreeing with positions they do not agree with at all AND in years past they adamantly insisted that were they in Germany when Hitler took power they would NEVER go along with it but would speak out. I am incredibly ashamed of their cowardice, ashamed of them.
I am continually thankful that people like Abigail Shrier and Brett Weinstein and Heather Heying and others, as well as so many of the writers on substack are speaking up. It seems to me that the impetus to do so is spreading, that more people are gathering what courage they can and stepping up. That people are doing so has helped me immensely over the years, as the radical left members of my liberal tribe became insane, as I became the subject of their attacks, as I saw them fervently insist that the Constitution of the US was an antiquated document, that everyone who did not agree with them must be destroyed.
we are in tough times, it is going to be a bumpy ride. I don't think it is going to get better for a very long time.
A critical mass of opposition is building. I don't think this situation is going to take as long as that. Don't let go of possibility.
Perhaps I am naive, but I believe in Americans. We can be shallow, tempestuous, silly, bigoted, and impatient. But we are a generous people and a hopeful one. And we are fighters. It just takes a bit to rouse us. Hang in there.
Speaking of having the courage to speak up against tyranny, here's the powerful two minute "I Am Spartacus" slave revolt scene from the 1960 movie Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis. Interestingly, the film's two authors, Dalton Trumbo and Howard Fast, had previously been attacked during the McCarthy era in the 1950s.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=i+am+spartacus&t=ffab&atb=v225-1&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-8h_v_our_Q
I just bought the book. Whether I agree or not, in whole or in part, no one is going to dictate to me what I can read, think or write.
Bari, so delighted you're interviewing Abigail Shriver. I've watched all her youtube interviews and listened to every word of her terrific audio book, Irreversible Damages. You two are so brave to tackle the transgender craze now threatening the long term health and well being of many thousands of teenage girls and young women across our country and in Canada and Europe.
I'm not a parent, but this issue hits home for me. A young man I dated in college many decades ago eventually had two young biological daughters at Brown who became trans men around the time my old boyfriend was dying of cancer last year. He was a handsome, liberal, brilliant medical doctor, and on the Asperger's end of the autism spectrum. His daughters are equally brilliant and also on the spectrum. which made them especially vulnerable to the trans craze. One daughter is also bipolar and has other problems.
When I learned my old boyfriend was dying, we exchanged a few emails. He never told me his daughters were trans men, but his death announcement made that more than clear. He must have felt his "wonderful daughters," which is how he always referred to them, were making a serious, irreparable mistake. But he was obviously powerless to stop it, and he was such a devoted father, I know it broke his heart. Just thinking about this now breaks my heart.
Anyway, thank you so much for covering this story. I'm off to read the article now.
Thank you for sharing. My husband has a friend, also a professor (genius), in a similar situation with his daughter. She was so academically precocious as a little girl--and extremely thin. She began to transition in 9th grade after her girlfriend and another friend transitioned.
As a mother of young kids this is terrifying. I quietly reach out to people at work to see how they stand on issues. I quietly pass on articles like this to those who are just unclear of what is going on.
These activists are organized. They are small but mighty because people are too afraid to stand up to them.
We need to be more organized. When they call to have something banned, there needs to be more of us that call for it reinstated.
We know there is strength in numbers. We know people are waiting for others to speak up first — waiting until there’s enough in numbers where they no longer feel threatened.
If none of us stand, we have only ourselves to blame.
So true. We must stand up. And it's beginning to happen with the recent pushback against Critical Race Theory in which parents are now speaking out against CRT during school board meetings. This week, the mainstream press must have gotten their marching orders because articles attacking the pushback suddenly appeared in the NYT, WaPo, the Atlantic, the New Yorker -- even Vanity Fair, which by the way is now so shamelessly woke, the only fashion models allowed to wear lipstick and high heels are the men.
"We need to be more organized. When they call to have something banned, there needs to be more of us that call for it reinstated."
truth
FAIR speaks of the strength in numbers and wants to create a sort of grassroots movement against CT, CRT and related ideologies. I encourage everyone to check it out —it provides with resources to organize as well as links to local chapters across the country.
You are so right. There are so many of us. We need to be as loud as the activists and we need to stick together. Many thanks to Bari and Abigail for their own bravery.
Well said. They are on the front lines in this
Some of us are. I've signed this pledge and am planning to donate: https://www.fairforall.org/
Thank you. I just joined.
The people excoriating others are bullies. Bullies don’t stop until they are punched in the nose.
Bizarre things are going on these days by bullies. Remember when gay and lesbians said, you can’t disrespect me, I was born this way. Okay, fine. But now we have those misguided souls saying I’m a girl in a boy’s body or Vice versa. So I guess they weren’t born that way. Hard to keep up. But mashing those born that way with those not born that way into one group called GLAAD or LGBTQWTF sets everything up for conflict.
But what it all comes down to is patriarchy. Men Uber alles. Boys not making it with boys sports so they take over girls sports, dominating females. Girls thinking to make it in life they have to become male. It’s madness all the way around but normal people are not only supposed to accept it, they have to embrace it sayeth the bullies. There’s a whole lot of mental illness going around and no one bats an eye.
The real question is - where are the feminists? Where are the women’s groups advocating for women? No one in their right mind can say a man can ever become a woman. No one can also ever say that a woman can ever become a man. The women’s groups have gone crazy as well.
There are some brave feminists who are still advocating for women. The opposition calls them TERFs for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. But there's nothing at all radical about these women. They simply believe that biological men are men, that biological women are women, and that biological women and children must be kept safe from attack by men in places like women's prisons and women's shelters.
Where are the feminists? See: JK Rowling.
One person, maybe two if you count Martina. And what happened to them? They caved and apologized abjectly. And their heads have never been raised since.
You must never apologize to the woke mob. The more you grovel and humiliate yourself, the more the woke mob claps their hands in glee at one more craven adversary brought down. You haven't gained anything by groveling -- you'll still be defenestrated, and the woke mo will become even more emboldened.
But if you stand up and refuse to apologize, the woke mob is more likely to give up in frustration and ignore you. That's what happened when Trader Joe's refused to remove its "racist" line of Trader Jose's ethnic foods from its stores. The woke mob picked up their toys and searched for an easier target.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trader-joes-says-it-will-keep-trader-mings-and-trader-jose-products-because-we-disagree-they-are-racist/
When did Rowling cave?
I don't believe JK Rowling ever did cave in. Here's an article I found that's dated 6/10/2020. It's not an apology. In the piece she simply restates her opinion that biological women are women and biological men are men.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/j-k-rowling-doubles-down-what-some-critics-call-transphobic-n1229351
A week she did apologize for some sort of tweet in which she criticized the appearance of a transgender woman (biological male) who had been convicted of assaulting a feminist woman. But she did not back down from her opinion that biological women are women and biological men are men.
“Jun 10, 2020 · I want to continue to speak for trans rights — I really do — but my voice is hoarse. I am tired. “JK Rowling released a statement today on her views of transphobia.
She originally posted this statement on Medium and then deleted it and apparently has gone dark now. Which is sad that a billionaire who will still get her books published and read doesn’t have have more courage.
I don’t think Rowling has caved. Her original statement on the subject is still in her website (instant). She continues to support Maya Forstater. Her latest children book (which I read with my young daughter) is also an allegory of how power elites manipulate information to scare the masses. I think her silence is strategical, but wonder why she is not in the board of FAIR, she should be.
I think she’s basically gone dark and silent even though she is the kind of person that could stand up and fight because She’s basically insulated. Perhaps she doesn’t like the vitriol spewed her way. I think the bullies have won.
When I hear a book Is having these issues and it is even remotely close to what I would want to read I buy it. That is what I did for Irreversible Damages. I am having a hard time actually reading it as I am afraid it will make me angry and sad.
Please read the book. It's excellent.
Ok I am almost through with Hard Hat riot and then I will read this
Ok I read the book and it is excellent. It gave excellent information and perspective. I told my daughter in law and son about as I have a 5 year old granddaughter and want them prepared. They said this was very timely as a situation has developed in an extended family member young girl (12 years old) where she has declared she is transgender and her family is joyfully affirming it. 12 years old!!! It is obscene.
So glad you read the book, and that you're making sure your kids are ready for your granddaughter. I'm so sorry to hear about the 12 year old girl in your extended family. It's sad and infuriating that children are being brainwashed by the woke mob today and that parents are going along with it. We all need to push back on this madness.
It’s an excellent piece of work but it will make you angry and sad. It should be a call to action though
The idea that a child, years & years away from puberty, knows anything about being a man or woman is just crazy. Yet somehow it’s become reasonable?
Well done. It is hard to speak up. But I will do my best to have those hard conversations. I think what is missing is the open dialog. No longer is it acceptable to have a different opinion. Groupthink has taken over. But. What if more people came to a point of curiosity? What if instead of trying to make our point, we ask questions? Come from a place of humility and grace and see that other person as a human. We may disagree, but there is freedom when we can have discourse. Let’s shed light on issues rather than covering them up. I admire the work of so many and they give me courage to walk this tough road with grace and hope that there are people fighting for truth. Keep up the good work.
I want to recommend the book "The Scout Mindset" by Julia Galef to you; I think you'll find it very resonant.
Love this.
I started a social science PhD program in 2002, and let me tell you, you could not undertake that enterprise at a major research institution without having to read A LOT of Marxian theory. Especially stuff falling under the heading of Critical Theory. If you wanted to be successful on the job market, you had to be fluent in Critical Theory.
Critical Theory is ultimately really simple to understand: instead of the old-fashioned Marxian idea of the workers taking control of the means of production, you have oppressed groups (non-white, non-western, queer, etc.) taking control of the means of discursive production. Basically, if you control the language, you control the reality.
Gender Theory is a perfect example of this neo-marxist doctrine. Under this theory, gender is considered to be nothing more than a cultural construct, a construct that oppresses people. Biology has nothing to do with gender. People are, in essence, only cis-gendered because they are dupes, and they enjoy having privilege. And the are oppressors, insofar as they insist that everyone must accept the gender binary.
Among the woke (the drinkers of Critical Theory Kool Aid), trans people are pretty much the highest of holies. They have not only seen through the oppressor's lies, but have taken truly radical steps to attain liberation. Of course, being BIPOC trans means you have all the victim cards, basically you're playing the game of victim poker with a royal flush of oppression.
Let's be honest: people under the sway of this ideology are using trans people as pawns in a power game. Some trans people are actively trading on their own victim status in this power game. If you get in their way, they will definitely go after you if they can manage it. I stay off social media. It's an arena in which their power is magnified to maximum extent.
There's no arguing with glassy-eyed zealots. I've made the mistake of feeding the trolls here and regret it. It's a waste of time and vital energy.
Folks like Abigail and Bari are right: those of us who don't care for the notion of living under totalitarian conditions need to organize. The woke are actively creating totalitarian conditions wherever they have the power to do so. For now, it's a soft version. But for people who lose their jobs, or find themselves being terrorized on social media, that's not much comfort.
I work in nonprofit, in a rural state. My organization was very nearly torn apart by woke trouble makers. They eventually quit, but they wreaked havoc before they left, actually destroying two colleague's careers. Before they left, they created a horrible climate of fear and distrust. It's going to take months to undo the damage. It took me way too long to stand up to them, I'm not proud of that, but better late than never.
Right now, I'm getting people at work talking about the importance of enlightenment values and classical liberalism. I'm forging alliances between conservatives, libertarians, and liberals (actual liberals, not wokesters). I'm part of my organization's DEI team, which has now become a hub of enlightenment education. We talk a lot about ideological diversity and inclusion. I'm getting other people on the leadership team engaged in these discussions. And we're educating the board of directors on the dangers that lie ahead.
We're crafting a strategy for our hiring practices (especially leadership positions), figuring out how to best identify and avoid candidates who are woke. We're not going back if we can at all help it, but it's going to take vigilance and long-term commitment.
I'm afraid I'm not going to be sticking my neck out on social media, it's just not worth it. High risk, low reward. But, everyday, I do something to advance the enlightenment agenda at work. I never miss an opportunity to organize.
We all need to educate ourselves, to be able to effectively articulate enlightenment values. We all need to organize. Especially at work.
This comment deserves gold stars and neon lights around it. You’ve condensed CRT down to its essence in the most concise and cogent way possible. Excellent job. And GOOD FOR YOU, organizing intelligently to put the ogre back in its cage and dump it in the deep blue sea.
I also agree with you that it is a waste of time and energy to feed the trolls here. We know who they are. They know where our buttons are and how to push them. Don’t take the bait, there’s nothing to be gained. Ignore them. Starve them.
You're absolutely right, there is zero benefit in feeding the trolls. It's that much less time we can spend actively organizing people who are opposed to this madness.
This discussion has really brought out the troll brigade. It seems like radical gender theory produces a special brand of zealotry.
What most concerns me is how predatory gender theory activists are. Of course, if you want to propagandize and create converts, it makes the most sense to pursue vulnerable young people.
I think the gender zealots are the most likely to engage in ruthless campaigns of reputational destruction, but I'm not sure about that. My gut sense is that people who get hooked by radical gender have a lot of personal pain that they're desperate to project onto other people, so they have a far more personal stake in orthodoxy sniffing and heretic burning. It's not just cynical deflection for them, it's deeply personal. They base their entire identify around this stuff, so any dissent is an existential threat.
From reading the first-hand accounts of former trans people, I’ve learned that within the trans community there is a status tree, with masculine trans women at the top. By this I mean trans-identified males who are attracted to women and employ bullying and coercion to satisfy their sexual needs. These are the autogynephiles (transvestites) who refer to lesbians and radical feminists as TERFS, and who use doxxing, death and rape threats, and physical intimidation to exercise good old fashioned male privilege. I believe their malevolence stems from jealousy because they are not females, and rage because females are not attracted to them, leaving them sexually frustrated. In this respect, they are similar to incels, but with a lot more social standing and power.
This isn’t the whole story, of course, but it is a significant part of it, IMO.
Wow, that's a fascinating perspective. I'd say it says a lot about the dynamics of totalitarian movements. And cults. And perhaps hormones as well.
And the irony therein is just mind blowing: it's the very epitome of toxic masculinity, perpetrated by people who identify as women, in the name of liberation from traditional gender norms. In their efforts to dismantle the gender binary, they are reproducing the crudest stereotypes contained within that model. You couldn't make that up! Perhaps the weirdest irony of all: within radical gender politics, the only legitimate arbiters of femininity are people who were born with penises. Is that not a tremendous step backwards for women? And by women, I mean actual women, aka people who menstruate.
I should clarify my own position: I'm perfectly OK with more than two genders. It seems like four is a reasonable typology: women, men, trans-women, and trans-men. An enormous amount of variation on themes can live within that simple framework. And it doesn't deny the fundamental biological reality of the vast and overwhelming majority of humanity. And it doesn't necessitate constantly having to learn new and ever more fine-grained non-sensical distinctions. The endless proliferation of gender categories is completely unworkable for any but the zealots.
I'm not OK with the ritual of everyone having to state their pronouns all the time. I believe that ritual is an admission that gender is nothing more than a cultural construct (which is rubbish), that we can't trust common sense and our own eyes and ears (if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and was born with feathers, webbed feet and a bill, it's a duck and will most likely remain a duck), and that we should all be considering changing genders as an option on a regular basis. It's stealth indoctrination.
You've got a lot of insight into this phenomenon.
This is right on the money: "And the irony therein is just mind blowing: it's the very epitome of toxic masculinity, perpetrated by people who identify as women, in the name of liberation from traditional gender norms. In their efforts to dismantle the gender binary, they are reproducing the crudest stereotypes contained within that model. You couldn't make that up! Perhaps the weirdest irony of all: within radical gender politics, the only legitimate arbiters of femininity are people who were born with penises. Is that not a tremendous step backwards for women? And by women, I mean actual women, aka people who menstruate." I actually read somewhere that the only people who should be allowed to attach the word "vagina" to their anatomy are trans women.
I'm an old lesbian and I have about 45 years of experience dealing with this category of person. I definitely didn't come up with this analysis yesterday, or by myself.
Your gender philosophy is very charitable. I see nothing wrong with it, although personally I don't think in terms of gender, I think in terms of sex, in my case, woman. I don't have to identify as a woman, because I just am one. I'm with you on the pronoun thing. If you can't tell what my pronouns are from looking at me, we're doomed anyway.
Gender as a concept is important to some people and frankly, who cares what we call ourselves as long as we live and let live? Sounds simple and friendly, doesn't it? I truly am more than willing to respect people's pronouns and to leave them alone to do their thing, as long as they do the same for me. This is where the trouble starts, because it requires accepting that ones beliefs are opinions, and opinions vary. It's the compelled speech, the harebrained dogma and the insistence that the Emperor is wearing a beautiful suit of clothes that spoils my good mood.
My insights into this have benefited greatly from the writings of folks like Bari Weiss and Andrew Sullivan. I try to work out the ramifications, but I'm standing on the shoulders of giants, so to speak.
I think your perspective is eminently sensible, as sex and gender are pretty well aligned for nearly all of humanity. And, live and let live is about as good as we can expect as far as shared moral frameworks in any large-scale society. It requires so little of us, aside from not being hateful and just minding our own beeswax--it's not terribly complicated or demanding as moral imperatives go!
Yes, compelled speech is a serious threat to a free society, I very much agree with you there! If someone wants me to call them by some special pronouns, I'm willing to try my best in the interest of civility, but don't expect me to get onboard your Maoist happy train and recite your religious catechisms.
I actually consider myself TERF adjacent--I may be a dude, but I also consider myself a feminist ally, and I'm really not OK with women losing the prerogative to define themselves and their reality as they see fit (by implication, I'm not OK with men losing that either). So, to the extent that I believe actual women have the right to define femininity for themselves, I'm not OK with people who are not women usurping that prerogative. I consider trans to be a gender category outside of the binary (wasn't that their goal in the first place? It's all so bloody confusing!!), so yes, I suppose I'm excluding them and I'm OK with that.
One of the most disturbing new trends is labeling gay and lesbian folks as 'trans-phobic' if they don't have any desire to date trans people. How on earth is that progress? To the extent that this trend gains currency, this ideology becomes a threat to individuals choosing their own sexual orientation without fear of persecution and harassment. That's just crazy! Accusations of being trans-phobic are way too often just another libelous attack that is used to cow people into submission. That's how the post-modern, critical theory crowd rolls: by any means necessary, with the end always justifying the means.
I’m sorry. There are no such things in real life as a trans man or a trans woman. There are men. There are women. There are women who think they are men. And there are men who think they are women. The latter two categories are mentally ill. Full stop.
"not going to be sticking my neck out on social media".
Good. They're total cesspools, and I'm grateful that I was warned off of them by friends, over a decade ago.
The folks I most respect are, those who make a point of staying clear of them.
Those who I least respect are, those NON-public figures who suck-up to them.
I take it, that public figures like Bari are sort of stuck with them.
Very well said.
The "comfortable" Western world is largely populated by frightened cowards. It takes bravery (a sense of humor is also real handy) to be a real leader and agent for positive growth and change. For the most part, the brave and humorous do not typically seek positions of authority, and that vacuum is filled in most organizations by the insecure, the sociopaths, the personality-disordered, the neurotics, etc.
I have commented many times that this vile thought repression can ONLY exist in systems where those in authority have abdicated all responsibility for principled leadership. College presidents, CEOs, clergy, and even an occasional politician used to actually take pride in the parts of their jobs that required a steady moral compass, but no more. The twin evils of careerism and corruption now reign most everwhere. There are always going to be bad actors that take pleasure in causing problems for others. It is only because they are allowed to run the store that any of this exists.
Another brilliant essay from Ms. Shrier! Needless to say, I agree wholeheartedly - and do so publicly and under my own name.
Thanks for pushing back on this issue. I am pessimistic about the near term outcome but perhaps a few confused adolescents can avoid making a grave mistake.
There's now some major pushback against transgender activism in the UK. The courts recently decided one case against the Tavistock gender clinic and in favor of detransitioner Keira Bell, and the Stonewall transgender activist organization appears to be in retreat.
Now we just need a little more of that good, old British moxie on this side of the pond.
Thanks Bari for opening your column to Abigail Shrier. Freedom of speech is threatened indeed in this country.
I have been contributing financially to your Substack even though I disagree with you on a number of subjects. My hope is that one day you will say and do something in return in defense of Julian Assange free speech right.