Snippets from the Latest Trans Culture Wars
Dave Chappelle, Trans Issues and Free Speech
Anyway, what I found most important about this episode is that, once again, some people are out to pit free speech and trans people against each other. It really feels like last year's Harper's Free Speech letter drama is being replayed all over again. It appears that, the people behind the cause of 'cancel culture' are finding trans people to be good fuel for their cause. And I am indeed describing 'cancel culture' as a political cause: its roots go all the way back to the logic found in Herbert Marcuse's infamous 1965 essay Repressive Tolerance. Its objective is to change the way we think about free speech, free debate and freedom of conscience. Indeed, I believe that cancel culture is ultimately about cancelling liberalism itself, something in line with the objectives of radical critical theory.
Most people are passionately opposed to cancel culture, and with very good reason. My concern here is, if trans people are seen as supporters of cancel culture, we will bear the brunt of the backlash. While I am certain that the majority of trans people don't support cancel culture, I am concerned that we are being portrayed that way by the actions of certain activists. I don't think it's fair to us that this is being done to us.
From JK Rowling to Detrans: How Trans Activists Are Doing It Wrong
The problem with the trans community's overreaction to people like Rowling is that, it doesn't do us any favors. Firstly, as many have observed, the trans community's overreaction has only pushed Rowling further into the other side, and she might have actually brought many people with her. Therefore, the whole exercise has only served to decrease trans acceptance. Secondly, perhaps even more importantly, in a liberal democracy, the undecided people generally make their minds up by observing the debate, and seeing which side makes more rational sense. Therefore, keeping calm and cool, arguing rationally, and being charitable to those who disagree with you are always good strategies to adopt. Sadly, the trans activist community is taking a maladaptive stance, a stance that would lose us support, and delay acceptance of trans people in the general community. It really is the opposite of how gay marriage was done, and this is why I'm so concerned.
Most Trans People Probably Don't Care About Dave Chappelle or JK Rowling
The truth is, trans people come from all cultural backgrounds. Trans people are found in both big cities and rural communities alike, and are represented in all age brackets and demographic groups. They are also represented across the political spectrum. Hence, it isn't surprising that there are plenty of trans people who didn't care too much about the Chappelle or Rowling controversy. In fact, there are plenty of trans people who disagree in one way or another with the activists who supposedly represent us in the mainstream media. For example, there are plenty of trans people who continue to stand against cancel culture, and believe that free speech is the key to understanding, acceptance and rights. And of course, many trans people also want to see a stronger focus on the experience of gender dysphoria, in media coverage of trans issues, because that could contribute to much improved understanding among the general public. All this continues to be ignored by much of the mainstream media. The result is that many people have a stereotype of what a trans person is, and how a trans person thinks, which does not fit the reality of many trans lives.
Pronouns and Free Speech: A Trans Woman's View
In recent years, there has been a push by some to make a very big deal out of the use of pronouns in relation to trans people. This has turned the whole thing into a culture war battleground, linked to the wider debate around free speech outside the trans community. I personally think this is a regrettable development: I mean, as I have said, if we explain that using our preferred pronouns is a compassionate thing that helps us experience less dysphoria, most people out there do accept it. However, now that it's been turned into part of the free speech wars, some people are now deliberately resisting it. And so, the activists who are supposed to represent us have made a mess of the whole thing, and effectively made life harder for many of us.
For those who think that not using a trans person's preferred pronouns is 'standing for free speech' or something like that, please hear me out: the reason why we support free speech is that it is essential for free thought and free debate. Free speech means that you are free to articulate any idea, in the free market of ideas. If you have read my other writing, you would know that I am a big defender of free speech. The way we take a stand for free speech is to be unafraid to voice our own beliefs, and hence take a meaningful stance, in the debate of ideas, even if unpopular. Deliberately refusing to use a trans person's preferred pronouns is not this, however, because pronouns are not a debate of ideas, and no meaningful stance is actually being taken here. (Nor should pronouns be used as a 'proxy' for debate about ideas around gender, because that would just dumb down the debate so much as to make it a meaningless shouting match.) Conversely, by calling a trans woman 'she', you are not actually endorsing any idea, because as described above, it is simply an act of compassion.
How Trans Activism Limits our Models of Possibility
I guess, just by using my voice to provide my perspective, an alternative trans perspective to the dominant 'picture' out there these days, I am also providing a 'model of possibility' in the process. I am trying to demonstrate that it is possible to be committed to trans rights and still embrace a more diplomatically inclined method of resolving differences. I am also trying to demonstrate that, if you reach out to people who might not be entirely in agreement with you, you might still find plenty of common ground and even some friendship. Above all, I am trying to demonstrate that the world doesn't have to feel like a hostile place for trans people, if that's not how you want to see the world. I hope my work can inspire more trans people to embrace the complete picture of who they really are, rather than just accepting what the activist establishment and some parts of society think we ought to be like.
How The Culture Wars Make Us Dumb and Powerless
Basically, it comes down to the fact that culture war politics make many people choose a team based on one or several issues, and they often decide to follow the other positions of that team. What I mean is like, for example, people who choose a side for economic reasons but also adopt all their social or foreign policy positions.
The problem is that, these people are choosing social convenience over independent thinking. It is because of this choice that tribalism and polarization are on the rise. Eventually, a situation develops where those who pick a side and stick with their side all the time become the norm, and independent thinkers become the exception. Politics becomes a battle between two unthinking masses.