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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 26, 2025

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I'm like you in that I don't consider transgenderness valid at all, but I cannot really take that stance in the areas that I argue in. If they're going to wield studies and science to justify these horrible actions, someone else has to do the same to fight back against their worst excesses. I think I've made my peace with adults deciding to take hormones and wear the wrong clothing and try embarrassingly to talk like the opposite sex, though I resent having to pretend they are what they are pretending to be. But something like puberty blockers must be viciously fought in every place it pops up.

I don't consider transgenderness valid at all

What do you mean by "valid," and how did you come to the conclusion that transgenderism is not valid?

The idea that you can swap genders is a farce that is only enabled by anarchists who spent too much time thinking about sex, and invented a convenient concept that gender is opposite from sex. For pretty much anyone, undertaking the sex change journey is an incredibly bad idea. It marks you as a freak and you will spend your whole life trying and failing to fit in. Fighting one's nature is not fun. It also mostly puts you out of normal life paths like marriage and raising kids.

I think I've made my peace with adults deciding to take hormones and wear the wrong clothing and try embarrassingly to talk like the opposite sex

'Free, white, and twenty-one' as the saying used to be (though now that's racist for including 'white'). If you're a legal adult and not harming anyone else, okay, fuck your own life up. When it comes to minor children, we need to be a hell of a lot more careful.

Again, it’s not a scientific belief. Really it’s not a belief about science on either side, it’s a belief about ontology.

The correct rhetorical move is to point this out while holding on to the Cass report. What is a Woman did a pretty good job of showing the lack of sciencey-ness to trans beliefs amongst the proles; that’s the tack to take moreso than getting into the muck about the side effects of puberty blockers unless you, yourself, happen to be a doctor.

Thankfully, I am not a doctor. I appreciate the rhetorical suggestion. I don't know how much I can take it, though, because these are my friends and I try not to overly offend my friends (or anyone, I guess). Like Sonya from Crime and Punishment, I have recently realized that no matter how I conduct myself, I will never be able to totally avoid offending people.