Far worse than the insanity of men believing that dresses and earrings make them women, is the insanity of treating them like women to the extent of letting them compete with biological women and utterly dominate them. As you have pointed out, transgenderism is anti-woman. As a 70yo gay man I can assure you that it is homophobic as well. Mutilating surgery for those attracted to their own sex? Even the Nazis during the Holocaust did not go that far! (Although Mengele came close). To be accused of homophobia for pointing out that the transgendered have mental issues (very high rates of suicide and suicidal ideation) is prima fascia evidence that no logical discussion of the subject is possible.
I talked to a 77 year old gay women who has a complex history that made her have "transgender inclinations". Specifically, she had a dislike for her breasts and wished to remove them to prevent herself from being overtly sexualized the way women are by straight men. But even she realized that the idea of "transitioning" is a hyper fixation and neurotic behavior. I think the only way most people become identified as "trans" is if they have deeply self destructive beliefs towards their own biological sex. I think many of them won't want to admit their goal isn't "self actualization" but rather "self negation". Get rid of the part of you that is opposed to your wellbeing as though that thing will be "the cure" to your problems.
Shouldn't it be somewhat obvious that more trans that get surgery aren't upset about the destruction of their reproductive capacities that somewhere in their mental schema, they oppose having kids or seeing themselves as sexually reproductive? No truly happy or sane person would explicitly want to deny themselves the opportunity to have kids. Biologically speaking, the impulse to have children is "my life was good. Let there be more life because mine was good". I feel quite awful about the dark place most trans people must live in order to go so far as they do. So much time spent working against one's self. So much money spent looking to "get to the other side". So many years wishing things were different than they statically are... Not an easy burden to carry.
A cogent and powerful viewpoint. I had never considered "self-negation" to be a driver of trans-mania, but once it has been pointed out it cannot be un-seen.
The youngsters that feel and convey self-dislike or discomfort aren’t allowed, much less shown or validated, that they don’t have to look, portray, behave like anyone else, any particular sex (gender) if you will. All they need is to be themselves, as they are, as the sex they are, regardless of whether they conform. If you’re a girl and you feel masculine or boyish, then so be it. Be a masculine girl! And vice versa. I hated dolls and dresses. I loved playing football with my brother and his friends, catching tadpoles, snakes and anything in nature. I still don’t particularly like dresses. But I’m a woman; married to a man and we have a son. I shudder to think what my future may have been like if I was a middle schooler in 2023. Thank goodness my parents let me just be a kid - except for that one time my dad forced me to wear a dress. Grrr! I cried all the way to school (riding my bike wearing shorts underneath that dumb dress). Unfortunately, there are too many crazy adults, activists and influencers that are filling the minds of these children with self-destructive beliefs. The children don’t stand a chance with nutball adults “in their corner.” It’s sad and maddening.
Haha, I most certainly do not capture the traditional masculine "machismo" that is "how a man has to be". I very much ascribe to the "beautiful boy" syndrome. I'd much rather prefer seeking and finding beauty over flexing my muscles and showing how big my truck is haha. But I think it's usually a lot easier to be an odd male than an odd woman. Sure, it comes with a lot of not so pleasant disagreements and teasing from the guys, but at the same time, romantic markets for men are usually pretty simple. "Find a niche you can excel at, you win". Eventually if you're really good at what you do, you'll be attractive. I don't think women have the same latitude. Looks matter a lot more to guys so if she doesn't "look the picture", it's gonna be a bad time. Male sexual psychology of "looks are king" versus female sexual psychology of "looks are good, but companionship matters too".
Anywho, I do like my girls enjoying being pretty romantically, but it's always the tomboys who have the best sense of humor and ways of looking at things. I also, despite being very liberal minded, have a high value of traditional and antiquated ways of behaving. "Women be beautiful and look nice, men be tough and sturdy". Maybe it is bigoted and ignorant, but I do think both sexes are wired to fill those roles beyond just social convention. But good fucking lord, dresses/dressing up pretty everyday? How the fuck are you ever supposed to get anything done like that? And men who can't express healthily express emotions? Why do women still interact with them?
"In their corner" is a good capturing phrase. We now officially have adults acting like children and not in the "openminded and youthful" manner. They're actually children pretending to be adults about adult things and implying they are somehow helpful...
It’s nice to see the compassion and clear thinking in this comment. Trans women are a complicated situation, but not when it comes to sharing women’s spaces, including sports, jails, locker rooms, women’s resource centers and the like. I’m still dazed that this is even happening.
I think a commentor from DHD described this event best (roughly said) "it's like if men can't do it, nobody can." To think this sort of behavior is surprising? I think if you understand generalized male psychology, it's pretty predictable. Testosterone is made to compete and succeed by force. Where a man fails, he fails hard. If men can't succeed, why should they compete fairly? Cheating is a common male tactic when seemingly unfair gifts are distributed. Is it disappointing? Yes. Should we be surprised? Since when have people decided that men were "all that and a bag of chips"?
Where mankind has failed to be thoughtful, apes have taken over. The entire "trans ethos" is ascribing to a more "hermaphroditic" culture. Where once the two sexes were distinct, interplay is being given a chance. Men and women, although different, are ever closer to being equals. The "trans" label, much better fits the "transformation" of men and women into a more balanced world. AKA this means men being more in touch with femininity. Women being more in touch with their masculinity. Basic Jungian psychology. Take that one step further, we can reference the concept of "The Hunter and Gatherer's guide to the 21st Century". An idea that brings back fond memories of equality between the sexes. After humanity started to develop society, the mind took over and the minds controlling need to protect things manipulated nature deeply. We are now just around the corner to returning to that "women's purpose=men's purpose" society. Men are just working against that however they can. So perhaps "the patriarchy" really is a corruption in the system. It just so happens the "apparent haters" of said patriarchy are themselves becoming the most patriarchal (masculinity as superior to femininity, function>over nature. Nature has her decrees, mankind's will has theirs. Mother Nature will always win, but mankind can try with their "reasoning" to upend that harsh reality. True reason works in tandem with nature because there's no other option. "Mind over matter" only works in regards to feelings, not the facts as we are now learning.)
This is a wonderful essay ...thank you! From my perspective as a biological psychologist, it is astounding to me that this controversy is ongoing. As you point out, we've understood the detailed biological (hormonal and developmental) bases of the differences between male and female athletic performance for at least half a century. For instance, "Steroids, ‘Gender,’ and Fair Play" https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/steroids-gender-and-fair-play . And, of course, we've recognized the obvious performance differences for at least, well, forever. I'm actually at a loss to understand why this controversy persists, and the degree to which people's ideological points-of-view can blind them to the obvious. Again, thank you. Sincerely, Frederick
Heather, thank you for being on the front lines of this battle. Like most battles in most wars it is tragic, unnecessary and in a way absurd. Ultimately though someone has to stand the ground. I hope you feel supported because there is widespread support even if it is currently too quiet.
If others have not seen this already, a 14-year-old girl in Ireland who goes by the pseudonym, "Brandubh," wrote a powerful poem, "I Am Not A Dress." The link that follows is her performance of the poem at #LetWomenSpeak in April in Belfast. (Megyn Kelly retweeted it earlier this month.)
Honestly, this feels like a great "out of place" conservative subtext headline. "How to BEAT women in the 21st Century". Although I don't think the title was intended to put as much emphasis on the "beat" part, I think the emotional weight carries the same "punch" that more "traditional" forms of sexism display. This being forms of physical violence to threaten or marginalize women. And I do think the subtext or "reading between the lines" shows how sexist what is happening really is. Specifically the part about "where an average man might lose, he might be better than most women". And I don't take this stance in the leftist, postmodernist way. I agree with Heather that the game being played is "how can we keep out the women?" but in less overt ways than history used to do. And somehow, because it is covert sexism, it is being justified and defended...
What women in the modern world would like to have their transitioning male to "female" partner be able to hit them, and the courts not see the actively embodied hate and malice towards women clearly implied? And yes, even here, beyond the physical abuse of "hitting your wife" there is sexism. And the very powerfully overt claim Austin Killips is making is "see guys, I can do a better job of being a woman than other women can." If you can't see that, I don't think you're looking because there is most certainly a growing maliciousness towards the behaviors women being capable. This is just a sneaky example which is more upsetting than strong disagreements because there's no discussions with a snake. They come out and bite you before you even have the opportunity to fight back. And for any woman competing on that day who had to go through decades of being a woman, they were most certainly cheated out of competing with other WOMEN who also shared that same experience.
And as good as it might be to defend the underdog in their desire to be seen and heard, the actual underdogs have yet to really be heard. And yes, actual women are the underdogs of history and until real feminism makes its mark, how about we DON"T let men back into the fighting ring where women are trying to make their mark and find their place in this deeply disordered hellhole we now live in? One of the saddest parts about women's rights is the fact our system at the time of aspiring equality was getting worse and self destructive. Real revolution was going to be hard to ever save the current state of affairs. Now people are just finding ways to make it impossible while pretending they are on the side of the "oppressed".
Women are not slaves to any political system. Let's keep it that way please lol. Should have been a basic concept of human rights...
Thanks, Heather, for writing clearly and firmly about the biological realities of sex, yet again, though at this point I would think you're probably sick and tired of talking about it. I know I sure am sick of seeing this endless assault on women's and girls' basic rights. Cheaters will always try to find a way in, but it's unfathomable that so many previously "sane" people celebrate and support this. I think they've lost their brains.
They haven’t lost their brains. They honestly believe the nonsense that there is little difference between men and women.
Both my kids are high level runners. Both have competed in the national championships. My kids’ school had their athletics carnival in March. Because of the small size of the school, they ended up competing together in the 1500. My son is 18 and was in Year 12 and my daughter is almost 16 and was in Year 10. Unsurprisingly, my son finished first with a time of 4:30 and my daughter finished second with a time of 4:56 with the third place finisher (another Year 12 boy) finishing another 30 seconds behind. A teacher came up to me to congratulate the kids on their victory and then stated “how great it would be if my daughter beat my son.” I turned to the teacher and told her firmly “That would never happen.” She recoiled and mumbled something along the lines of “I know but wouldn’t it be great if she did?” I replied again that it would never happen because my son was cruising to get the win (4:30 was at least 15 seconds off his best time) and if my daughter ran what he did she would be a national champion.
Imagine if in 1972 they said yes to women's sports to only allow men who felt like women on the inside join the "female" teams! Can you imagine how ludicrously farcical that would be 😂
Austin Killips is a cheater and will cheat in a variety of ways to win. Check out the 2022 video of the UCI Cyclocross Champsionships where Mr. Killips body checks Hannah Arensman with his bike. Several witnesses lodged a complaint that he should be disqualified but crickets from UCI.
Simply put, what’s his name is not only a cheat but a fraud, and misogynist to boot. At 81 years of old, I don’t take fools of Austin’s ilk lightly . I read somewhere that there was a society where the women when confronted with an annoying and menacing man would just waylay him and sit on his face thus humiliating him before all. Let’s find an up to date equivalent.
I have loved all of your contributions on this topic. (And on other topics.). You may find interesting and relevant to your approach an article I just published on the ethical frame that we need for evaluating the transgender debates:
TRANS & ETHICS. (1) Dr. Marci Bowers, WPATH, the transgender debate, and the ethic of autonomy
How should the Western ethical tradition evaluate the controversies over 'affirmative care' for transgender minors?
Those of us women who have played on a team with men know that although we can kick ass and play well, we'll (usually) not be able to hit as hard, run as fast, or throw as far but, we can certainly use our intelligence and skill to improve our competitive advantage. That said, I would always ask to play the outfield in the corporate league because fielding a line drive at 2nd base was too unnerving. Men who compete against women in sports have no honor. And the cowards who chose not to call this out are facilitating the dismissal of everything we've fought to achieve. Check, please!
Far worse than the insanity of men believing that dresses and earrings make them women, is the insanity of treating them like women to the extent of letting them compete with biological women and utterly dominate them. As you have pointed out, transgenderism is anti-woman. As a 70yo gay man I can assure you that it is homophobic as well. Mutilating surgery for those attracted to their own sex? Even the Nazis during the Holocaust did not go that far! (Although Mengele came close). To be accused of homophobia for pointing out that the transgendered have mental issues (very high rates of suicide and suicidal ideation) is prima fascia evidence that no logical discussion of the subject is possible.
I talked to a 77 year old gay women who has a complex history that made her have "transgender inclinations". Specifically, she had a dislike for her breasts and wished to remove them to prevent herself from being overtly sexualized the way women are by straight men. But even she realized that the idea of "transitioning" is a hyper fixation and neurotic behavior. I think the only way most people become identified as "trans" is if they have deeply self destructive beliefs towards their own biological sex. I think many of them won't want to admit their goal isn't "self actualization" but rather "self negation". Get rid of the part of you that is opposed to your wellbeing as though that thing will be "the cure" to your problems.
Shouldn't it be somewhat obvious that more trans that get surgery aren't upset about the destruction of their reproductive capacities that somewhere in their mental schema, they oppose having kids or seeing themselves as sexually reproductive? No truly happy or sane person would explicitly want to deny themselves the opportunity to have kids. Biologically speaking, the impulse to have children is "my life was good. Let there be more life because mine was good". I feel quite awful about the dark place most trans people must live in order to go so far as they do. So much time spent working against one's self. So much money spent looking to "get to the other side". So many years wishing things were different than they statically are... Not an easy burden to carry.
A cogent and powerful viewpoint. I had never considered "self-negation" to be a driver of trans-mania, but once it has been pointed out it cannot be un-seen.
The youngsters that feel and convey self-dislike or discomfort aren’t allowed, much less shown or validated, that they don’t have to look, portray, behave like anyone else, any particular sex (gender) if you will. All they need is to be themselves, as they are, as the sex they are, regardless of whether they conform. If you’re a girl and you feel masculine or boyish, then so be it. Be a masculine girl! And vice versa. I hated dolls and dresses. I loved playing football with my brother and his friends, catching tadpoles, snakes and anything in nature. I still don’t particularly like dresses. But I’m a woman; married to a man and we have a son. I shudder to think what my future may have been like if I was a middle schooler in 2023. Thank goodness my parents let me just be a kid - except for that one time my dad forced me to wear a dress. Grrr! I cried all the way to school (riding my bike wearing shorts underneath that dumb dress). Unfortunately, there are too many crazy adults, activists and influencers that are filling the minds of these children with self-destructive beliefs. The children don’t stand a chance with nutball adults “in their corner.” It’s sad and maddening.
Haha, I most certainly do not capture the traditional masculine "machismo" that is "how a man has to be". I very much ascribe to the "beautiful boy" syndrome. I'd much rather prefer seeking and finding beauty over flexing my muscles and showing how big my truck is haha. But I think it's usually a lot easier to be an odd male than an odd woman. Sure, it comes with a lot of not so pleasant disagreements and teasing from the guys, but at the same time, romantic markets for men are usually pretty simple. "Find a niche you can excel at, you win". Eventually if you're really good at what you do, you'll be attractive. I don't think women have the same latitude. Looks matter a lot more to guys so if she doesn't "look the picture", it's gonna be a bad time. Male sexual psychology of "looks are king" versus female sexual psychology of "looks are good, but companionship matters too".
Anywho, I do like my girls enjoying being pretty romantically, but it's always the tomboys who have the best sense of humor and ways of looking at things. I also, despite being very liberal minded, have a high value of traditional and antiquated ways of behaving. "Women be beautiful and look nice, men be tough and sturdy". Maybe it is bigoted and ignorant, but I do think both sexes are wired to fill those roles beyond just social convention. But good fucking lord, dresses/dressing up pretty everyday? How the fuck are you ever supposed to get anything done like that? And men who can't express healthily express emotions? Why do women still interact with them?
"In their corner" is a good capturing phrase. We now officially have adults acting like children and not in the "openminded and youthful" manner. They're actually children pretending to be adults about adult things and implying they are somehow helpful...
It’s nice to see the compassion and clear thinking in this comment. Trans women are a complicated situation, but not when it comes to sharing women’s spaces, including sports, jails, locker rooms, women’s resource centers and the like. I’m still dazed that this is even happening.
I think a commentor from DHD described this event best (roughly said) "it's like if men can't do it, nobody can." To think this sort of behavior is surprising? I think if you understand generalized male psychology, it's pretty predictable. Testosterone is made to compete and succeed by force. Where a man fails, he fails hard. If men can't succeed, why should they compete fairly? Cheating is a common male tactic when seemingly unfair gifts are distributed. Is it disappointing? Yes. Should we be surprised? Since when have people decided that men were "all that and a bag of chips"?
Where mankind has failed to be thoughtful, apes have taken over. The entire "trans ethos" is ascribing to a more "hermaphroditic" culture. Where once the two sexes were distinct, interplay is being given a chance. Men and women, although different, are ever closer to being equals. The "trans" label, much better fits the "transformation" of men and women into a more balanced world. AKA this means men being more in touch with femininity. Women being more in touch with their masculinity. Basic Jungian psychology. Take that one step further, we can reference the concept of "The Hunter and Gatherer's guide to the 21st Century". An idea that brings back fond memories of equality between the sexes. After humanity started to develop society, the mind took over and the minds controlling need to protect things manipulated nature deeply. We are now just around the corner to returning to that "women's purpose=men's purpose" society. Men are just working against that however they can. So perhaps "the patriarchy" really is a corruption in the system. It just so happens the "apparent haters" of said patriarchy are themselves becoming the most patriarchal (masculinity as superior to femininity, function>over nature. Nature has her decrees, mankind's will has theirs. Mother Nature will always win, but mankind can try with their "reasoning" to upend that harsh reality. True reason works in tandem with nature because there's no other option. "Mind over matter" only works in regards to feelings, not the facts as we are now learning.)
This is a wonderful essay ...thank you! From my perspective as a biological psychologist, it is astounding to me that this controversy is ongoing. As you point out, we've understood the detailed biological (hormonal and developmental) bases of the differences between male and female athletic performance for at least half a century. For instance, "Steroids, ‘Gender,’ and Fair Play" https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/steroids-gender-and-fair-play . And, of course, we've recognized the obvious performance differences for at least, well, forever. I'm actually at a loss to understand why this controversy persists, and the degree to which people's ideological points-of-view can blind them to the obvious. Again, thank you. Sincerely, Frederick
. .
Heather, thank you for being on the front lines of this battle. Like most battles in most wars it is tragic, unnecessary and in a way absurd. Ultimately though someone has to stand the ground. I hope you feel supported because there is widespread support even if it is currently too quiet.
My gay friend says she and all her gay friends are not into this shit at all.
If others have not seen this already, a 14-year-old girl in Ireland who goes by the pseudonym, "Brandubh," wrote a powerful poem, "I Am Not A Dress." The link that follows is her performance of the poem at #LetWomenSpeak in April in Belfast. (Megyn Kelly retweeted it earlier this month.)
https://twitter.com/brandubh4/status/1664996421458616322
Honestly, this feels like a great "out of place" conservative subtext headline. "How to BEAT women in the 21st Century". Although I don't think the title was intended to put as much emphasis on the "beat" part, I think the emotional weight carries the same "punch" that more "traditional" forms of sexism display. This being forms of physical violence to threaten or marginalize women. And I do think the subtext or "reading between the lines" shows how sexist what is happening really is. Specifically the part about "where an average man might lose, he might be better than most women". And I don't take this stance in the leftist, postmodernist way. I agree with Heather that the game being played is "how can we keep out the women?" but in less overt ways than history used to do. And somehow, because it is covert sexism, it is being justified and defended...
What women in the modern world would like to have their transitioning male to "female" partner be able to hit them, and the courts not see the actively embodied hate and malice towards women clearly implied? And yes, even here, beyond the physical abuse of "hitting your wife" there is sexism. And the very powerfully overt claim Austin Killips is making is "see guys, I can do a better job of being a woman than other women can." If you can't see that, I don't think you're looking because there is most certainly a growing maliciousness towards the behaviors women being capable. This is just a sneaky example which is more upsetting than strong disagreements because there's no discussions with a snake. They come out and bite you before you even have the opportunity to fight back. And for any woman competing on that day who had to go through decades of being a woman, they were most certainly cheated out of competing with other WOMEN who also shared that same experience.
And as good as it might be to defend the underdog in their desire to be seen and heard, the actual underdogs have yet to really be heard. And yes, actual women are the underdogs of history and until real feminism makes its mark, how about we DON"T let men back into the fighting ring where women are trying to make their mark and find their place in this deeply disordered hellhole we now live in? One of the saddest parts about women's rights is the fact our system at the time of aspiring equality was getting worse and self destructive. Real revolution was going to be hard to ever save the current state of affairs. Now people are just finding ways to make it impossible while pretending they are on the side of the "oppressed".
Women are not slaves to any political system. Let's keep it that way please lol. Should have been a basic concept of human rights...
Thanks, Heather, for writing clearly and firmly about the biological realities of sex, yet again, though at this point I would think you're probably sick and tired of talking about it. I know I sure am sick of seeing this endless assault on women's and girls' basic rights. Cheaters will always try to find a way in, but it's unfathomable that so many previously "sane" people celebrate and support this. I think they've lost their brains.
Ruth,
They haven’t lost their brains. They honestly believe the nonsense that there is little difference between men and women.
Both my kids are high level runners. Both have competed in the national championships. My kids’ school had their athletics carnival in March. Because of the small size of the school, they ended up competing together in the 1500. My son is 18 and was in Year 12 and my daughter is almost 16 and was in Year 10. Unsurprisingly, my son finished first with a time of 4:30 and my daughter finished second with a time of 4:56 with the third place finisher (another Year 12 boy) finishing another 30 seconds behind. A teacher came up to me to congratulate the kids on their victory and then stated “how great it would be if my daughter beat my son.” I turned to the teacher and told her firmly “That would never happen.” She recoiled and mumbled something along the lines of “I know but wouldn’t it be great if she did?” I replied again that it would never happen because my son was cruising to get the win (4:30 was at least 15 seconds off his best time) and if my daughter ran what he did she would be a national champion.
Imagine if in 1972 they said yes to women's sports to only allow men who felt like women on the inside join the "female" teams! Can you imagine how ludicrously farcical that would be 😂
Thank you for being a fearless defender of women.
Beautifully written despite being a frustratingly obvious subject.
Do you know the story on the photograph of women bicyclists by any chance?
Austin Killips is a cheater and will cheat in a variety of ways to win. Check out the 2022 video of the UCI Cyclocross Champsionships where Mr. Killips body checks Hannah Arensman with his bike. Several witnesses lodged a complaint that he should be disqualified but crickets from UCI.
Simply put, what’s his name is not only a cheat but a fraud, and misogynist to boot. At 81 years of old, I don’t take fools of Austin’s ilk lightly . I read somewhere that there was a society where the women when confronted with an annoying and menacing man would just waylay him and sit on his face thus humiliating him before all. Let’s find an up to date equivalent.
I would love to ask one of these men when we should get of weight classes in men's boxing and MMA.
Bravo!
I have loved all of your contributions on this topic. (And on other topics.). You may find interesting and relevant to your approach an article I just published on the ethical frame that we need for evaluating the transgender debates:
TRANS & ETHICS. (1) Dr. Marci Bowers, WPATH, the transgender debate, and the ethic of autonomy
How should the Western ethical tradition evaluate the controversies over 'affirmative care' for transgender minors?
https://franciscogilwhite.substack.com/p/bowers-wpath-transgenderism-ethics
Those of us women who have played on a team with men know that although we can kick ass and play well, we'll (usually) not be able to hit as hard, run as fast, or throw as far but, we can certainly use our intelligence and skill to improve our competitive advantage. That said, I would always ask to play the outfield in the corporate league because fielding a line drive at 2nd base was too unnerving. Men who compete against women in sports have no honor. And the cowards who chose not to call this out are facilitating the dismissal of everything we've fought to achieve. Check, please!