Category: Trans
Assume humanity, then ask about happiness
Trans people‘s say-so is evidence of our happiness. But no one should ask for evidence that trans people are people. Previously, I used Lydia Polgreen’s opinion as an example, and I identified and extracted these writing tips for you. Please note this key distinction.
No one needs ‘evidence’ that transition improves trans people’s humanity
Let’s distinguish scientific uncertainty from value judgment. Anti-trans prejudice doesn’t justify demanding evidence about trans people’s humanity. When we let go of prejudice, some common ‘questions’ dissolve.
Can an identity be true and not true?
On ‘constitutive tension’ in our concepts. Picking apart someone else’s identity? First ask: Why do you want to? What would be gained? And lost? What happens to your own identity in the process?
Gödel is sure Bach, and trans people are sure their gender
Reflections on the Pulitzer-winning ‘Gödel, Escher, Bach’ (1979). Their objection is an infinite regress. They’re laying a trap. If we needed rules about rules about rules, none of us could ever use language at all.
How do we know who we are?
Do we learn it from a crystal ball—or from our guts? How do others state with certainty that they know who they are? Do they have a crystal ball? Of course, we’re jealous. How can we know ourselves, too?
Do we choose to be who we are?
And what, by the way, is choice? If you can’t snap your fingers to change, how do you change? What do we ask people to do when we ask them to change? Why should anyone change?
Richard Dawkins had Lawrence Krauss on his show
We are not ever going to hear a dialectic. Dawkins’s repetition of his transphobic claim has not advanced a useful dialectic. He hasn’t invited a podcast guest who might challenge it.
Richard Dawkins had Peter Boghossian on his show
They’re both involved with the University of Austin. Boghossian treats the word “trans” as a synonym for “fake.” In his view, there are no trans lives, thus no shred of evidence about trans lives.
Richard Dawkins had Helen Joyce on his show
I like to stay informed about what they’re saying about trans people. Richard Dawkins didn’t have a trans person on his show. To cast skepticism on trans people, he hosted Helen Joyce. She’s not trans. That was a choice.
How did Richard Dawkins undermine transgender people?
Once you read this long, in-depth exploration, you will know the answer. The prominent atheist made bad tweets about transgender people. If you learn to recognize why they are harmful, you can avoid committing similar offenses.
Why did Richard Dawkins tweet about Rachel Dolezal?
Some people did not recognize the reference. Here’s a quick refresher. An organization stripped Richard Dawkins of an award given to him 25 years previously because (in part) he trolled people about race and gender in a tweet.
‘We are in trouble,’ but not for the reason you think
Douglas Murray defends prejudice in ‘The Madness of Crowds’. If he were inclined to support trans people, he wouldn’t find basic affirmation ‘the hardest part.’ He wouldn’t say we need to argue more.