📘 2+2=4 Vol. 2: We need to talk about trans
This week: A round-up of some excellent articles and podcasts exposing the cultural, moral and ethical danger posed by gender ideology and transgenderism.
Who would have thought just five or ten years ago that in 2023 we would seriously be arguing about what a woman is or what a man is? Gender ideology has taken hold in many of our institutions, both in the Anglosphere and elsewhere, heavily funded by powerful actors, and has trickled down into our society where it is wreaking havoc. Gender ideology promotes the delusion that biological sex is arbitrary, that men can morph into women by self-identifying as one, that you can be “non-binary” (i.e. neither male nor female), that gender stereotypes not only constitute an “identity” but even hint at your real biological sex, that children should be free to mutilate their bodies and much more. It is, as I have argued extensively, an ideology that is anti-scientific, irrational, illogical, dangerous especially to women and children, and against any common sense.
While the consequences of gender ideology can sometimes lead to utter despair and frustration (and rage) – check out Reduxx if you want to get an idea about what is going on in the world of gender madness – there are more and more courageous men and women speaking up against it. Today’s round-up features famous and important voices in the trans debate such as J.K. Rowling, Lionel Shriver and Jordan Peterson, as well as writer Mary Harrington and MIT professor Alex Byrne.
#1 The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling
by Megan Phelps-Roper (The Free Press, published in February/March 2023)
In what is easily one of the best podcast series of the year 2023 so far, Megan Phelps-Roper talks to none other than world-famous Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling who has faced massive backlash – including the call for the burning of her books and threats of violence – ever since her “controversial statement” that biological sex matters. The audio series does a fantastic job not only in outlining how cancel culture exists both on the alt-right and alt-left but also manages to bring much needed nuance to the transgender debate, thanks to Phelps-Roper’s own complicated biography as a former member of the sect-like Westboro Baptist Church, which makes her uniquely qualified to host this podcast. Witch Trials takes you on a fascinating journey from the early controversy of Harry Potter to the current controversy surrounding Rowling, shedding a light on the power of social contagion and the complexity of the trans debate, and ultimately gives Rowling the platform she deserves to poignantly voice her concerns about women’s rights and the importance of biological sex. Riveting.
#2 Is trans the new anorexia?
by Lionel Shriver (UnHerd, published on April 27, 2023)
Written in her usual sharp and eloquent prose, novelist Lionel Shriver makes a very convincing case for the argument that the transgender phenomenon is largely driven by social contagion and that parallels to other kinds of body dysmorphia such as anorexia are anything but farfetched. By outlining how anorexia became the “prestige diagnosis” of the 1980s and 1990s, she shows how the wish of “becoming someone else” has become deeply ingrained in our culture where “normal” is the worst adjective you can think of. Shriver, thankfully, has become another powerful voice speaking out against the dangerous madness of gender ideology.
#3 Philosophy’s No-Go Zone
by Alex Byrne (Quilette, published on April 17, 2023)
We live in a time where saying that a woman is an adult human female can get you effectively shunned and cancelled, especially in academia. MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne provides yet another testimony of an academic being shut down for stating exactly that, refusing to follow the rules imposed by gender ideology. He recounts his experience of trying to publish a book about the connection between philosophy, sex and gender with the Oxford University Press as well as a chapter on pronouns for the Oxford Handbook of Applied Philosophy of Language. Spoiler alert: It didn’t quite go as planned.
#4 Parentcare
by Mary Harrington (Reactionary Feminist, published on April 23, 2023)
“Reactionary feminist” Mary Harrington superbly explains how today’s feminists fail to see that negating biological differences between men and women means the continuous erosion of womanhood itself. The erasure of women comes in the guise of a so-called “fight for equality” and “emancipation” which, however, ignore some important details such as the fact that it is women – and only women – who give birth. Whether it be the Pill, surrogate motherhood or praising Dylan Mulvaney’s charade of “girlhood”: In a post-sex world where individuals are decoupled from the reality of their bodies, the meaning of womanhood will be nullified.
#5 Parental Trauma in a World of Gender Insanity | Miriam Grossman MD
by Jordan Peterson (The Dr. Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, published on April 10, 2023)
Dr. Miriam Grossman became known to a wider public thanks to her appearance in Matt Walsh’s brilliant documentary What is a Woman? where she spoke about the incredible damage that gender ideology and transgenderism cause to society in general and to young people specifically. In her conversation with Jordan Peterson, she puts the spotlight on a group of people whose lives have been destroyed by this ideology, but who have been either vilified and defamed or ignored and abandoned throughout the whole trans debate: the parents. With deep empathy and insight, Dr. Grossman outlines the devastating effect that a transitioning child can have on its parents, who have to grapple with an exceptionally gruesome kind of trauma, loss and desperation.