How much pressure do you feel to transition?
This is pretty much what clued me into becoming skeptical of the movement back when I was having a major gender crisis. There’s a lot of positive reinforcement but no critical analysis; encouragement to “be weird just like us” but no stopping to check if it’s right for you individually.
Unfortunately I think they don’t realise that being unquestioningly accepting of anything that sounds like it makes someone part of the demographic — is actually incredibly harmful. They seem to be too focused on increasing their numbers (“yay! More people like us!”) and not looking checking whether or not it’s right for the individual who may have issues that require a completely different set of treatment options. In some trans subcultures there’s even overwhelming encouragement to impose nonsensical pronoun sets onto others with no regard to ESL and disabled people’s ability to parse/remember them. Anything to make a vulnerable person part of the trans demographic, even if it’s zero-transition superficial word-bullying (~the trans umbrella allows for it after all~)
The word “gatekeeping” is demonised to a large degree in the trans community, because they’re scared of turning away someone who needs help. But not gatekeeping lets in predators and abusive people who take advantage of that kindness, people who by virtue of being skilled manipulators seat themselves in untouchable social standings (authority, tenure, trusted). It hurts people for whom transition is the wrong answer to their problems. If someone tries to express concern or dissent they get bullied and kicked out for “daring” to go against the ideology. Critical thought is completely stifled in the trans community. There’s actually no duty of care for questioning people who need help but for whom transition or language-buggering (by the latter of which I mean nounself pronouns and genders that don’t refer to the sex traits one needs their body to be) isn’t going to be the right path for them.
If I’d had the money and ability to travel, I might have been partially transitioned by now. I’m glad I didn’t. But I’m so angry that nearly every online trans community never questioned if transition would have been right for me, even though I was begging to be informed as to whether I was on the right track or not because I did not want to make expensive mistakes that’d “harm the community” by having to detransition.
I think that by billing themselves as the answer to gendered problems for GNC individuals like myself, the trans community is acting like a cult, and that’s regressive enforcement of gender roles.
“Critical thought is completely stifled in the trans
community.” And that’s what motivated me to start this blog. So grateful to you all.
