Category Archives: Gender Warfare

Sex and Gender

Gender Warfare

 

Ignorance is the mother of bigotry. Most bigotry and prejudice is founded on ignorance. That was why I decided to learn a little bit about gender issues that have become so much a part of the culture wars not just in the west but nearly everywhere. That was why I attended the event in Steinbach about Gender experiences. I am glad I did because I learned a lot. According to the Sexual Education Resource Centre of Manitoba Sex and Gender are not the same thing. Here is how it explains the difference:

 

“The words sex and gender mean very different things.  Sex is the difference in biological characteristics of males and females, determined by a person’s genes.  For example, only some bodies produce sperm.  This is a biological characteristic determined by the person’s genes.  Alternatively, only some bodies have egg cells and can come become pregnant.  This is another biological characteristic determined by a person’s genes.  A person’s sex is typically assigned at birth by a doctor or a medical professional.  Designations are usually “male” or “female”, despite there being many variations between them (this is called “intersex” or a “difference in sex designation” and there are over 47 known versions).  Sex is not the same as gender.

 

Gender refers to socially or culturally defined ideas about masculinity and femininity.  Society has its own ideas of what makes a girl a girl and a boy a boy.  For example, there may be roles, attributes, or behaviours associated with masculinity – like enjoying sports.  And there may be roles, attitudes, or behaviours associated with femininity – like wearing makeup.  These ideas are learned from family, friends, communities, opinion leaders, religious institutions, schools, the workplace, advertising, and the media, and can be very limiting for individual people.  But these expectations do change over time.  For example, less than one hundred years ago, people thought that pink was the best colour to dress boys in, and blue for girls.  Typically, pink is now considered to be a feminine colour.  Gender is not the same as sex.

 

How people identify their gender is called “gender identity”.  Gender identity is about how someone thinks and feels about the sex they are.  It’s about a person’s core sense of who they are.  It’s about whether someone identifies emotionally and spiritually as a man or a woman or both or neither.  Gender identity is not determined by a person’s biological sex.  Most people have a gender identity that matches their biological sex.  For example, a biological male might identify as a man.  Sometimes, a person’s gender identity does not match their biological sex.  For example, someone born with a penis and testicles may identify as a woman.  Gender identity is self-determined, and may change over a person’s lifetime.

A simple way of explaining the difference between sex and gender is: sex = what is between our legs, and gender = what is between our ears.  SERC values and respects all gender identities, and provides affirming supports and services for folks of all genders.”

I remember years ago when on of my sons wanted to have purse.  A pink purse at that. two of his uncles were appalled.  Boys don’t do they they insisted. We insisted to let play with whatever he wanted to play with. I don’t think it ever harmed him. At the time we did not understand the issues aIt is unfortunate but true, that many people experience stigma, abuse, prejudice, discrimination and even assault or death as a result of their gender or gender identity. All of these can have profound adverse health consequences for people, none of which are earned or justified. Transphobia is world-wide and real and it can be a serious menace. Many of  us had transphobia at one time. I admit that in the days of my youth I had transphobia because I did not understand gender issues. Frankly, I was ignorant.  I am still woefully ignorant but at least I am no longer consciously choosing to express transphobia. I choose instead to be an ally of trans people, though acknowledge I have a long way to go be a very good ally.

 

I think the key is that people should allow other people to be the person they want to be. None of us should try to impose our views of gender on others, even parents with their children. Let the children choose when they are old enough to do so.

Gender Experiences

Culture Wars, Gender Warfare

 

The issue of gender has become a hot political subject, particularly in the United States. Particularly among conservatives there is a lot of hysteria around the issue and that is unfortunate. Unreasonable fears seldom benefit anyone.

I remember a television series many years ago. It was called The Naked City. It told the story of people in New York City. They always said at the beginning of each show: There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. This is one of them.  Well sex and gender  is sort of like that.

These comments are inspired by a talk given recently by own former family doctor Darren Reimer at event in Steinbach hosted by a wonderful organization called Neighbours for Community. I tried to take notes as best I could but failed miserably so I had to do my own independent research. This post is based on both of those. So the mistakes in these comments are my own and I take responsibility for them. Don’t blame Dr. Reimer for anything I say; blame me.

 

Gender identity is not the same thing as gender expression. Gender expression refers to how a person outwardly expresses his or her or their gender. This can be evinced by clothes, hairstyles, or attitudes. Gender identity is what a person feels inside. Gender identity can be different than gender expression. For example, a person may be repressing a gender identity by choosing to wear clothes that hide the gender identity. On the other hand, gender expression can be employed by a person who is not sure of his or her or their gender identity but wants to explore it. A person may just want to choose a gender identify rather than having one imposed by others.

A person’s gender is determined early in life, but probably not at birth.  Gender is not as simple as many people choose to believe. The natural world, which includes humans, is astonishingly diverse. Not only that, it is fluid and dynamic.  Nothing in nature necessarily remains the same. As I always like to say, the only thing constant in nature is change.

 

There are more than 2 gender identities.  People are gender diverse. This is an umbrella term that includes, queer, non-binary and gender fluid. Physicians say that about 0.5% to 4.5% of adults are in this category and 2.5% to 8% among children and adolescents.  And people have been gender diverse for centuries and probably millennia. As my family doctor said, “This was not invented by the woke crowd.”

Indigenous people have another category that they refer to as “two spirited.” Most first nations recognized 3-5 gender roles when they first contacted Europeans. The categories are subject to change.

Many people prefer worlds of black and white and  have difficulty with a world of colour.  Such people also prefer worlds where all questions can be answered with simple answers: yes or no for example. Sadly for them, often life is not that simple.

 

Some people think God never makes mistakes. Surprisingly, some people even believe this though they have seen Ted Cruz.  As a result on this view, since God never makes mistakes it would be wrong to try to change the gender God assigned us at birth. However, what if the gender God assigned us at birth is not as clear cut as we ordinarily expect?  What if the gender or sex of a person is not absolutely clear? Does that mean God made a mistake? Why?

 

People who insist on a black and white world have trouble accepting that there can be ambiguity about gender, but such ambiguities are common and have been with us forever! Again the woke crowd did not invent this phenomenon. This used to be referred to as Hermaphroditus, but today is usually referred to as intersex. Many people think everyone has clear male or female markers, but that is not the case. There is sometimes a significant overlap between the two which makes it difficult for physicians to assign sex at birth. This actually happens frequently. This also happens with other animals. Farmers know that sometimes animals are born with both male or female genitals or genitals that are not clearly male or female. People with intersex characteristics have several variations of their sexual characteristics. About 1% of people are ambiguous in their sex.

 

People can also be ambiguous about their gender. Remember, gender is selected by the individual and not  assigned by physicians. A person might not be sure what their gender identity is. Such people may want to explore the possibilities before they choose an identity. And then, in some cases, the gender identity they have chosen may change later. What is wrong with that?

At  times shame, fear, and guilt led people to request physicians “correct” these “defects” by surgery. Frequently, such surgeries ended in disasters. Playing God often does not work out well. Nowadays, physicians recognize that there is no such thing as Gender identity disorder. It is not a disorder! It is merely an ambiguity.

Gender dysphoria is a term that describes a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This sense of unease or dissatisfaction may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life. Some people prefer a sexual identity other than the one ordinarily assigned to them.

Many people, not just those identified by the woke crowd, experience stigma, abuse, prejudice, discrimination, and death as a result of stress imposed upon them by the majority for their perceived inadequacies of gender identity. This is horrifically cruel. We can do better!

Such actions by majorities can lead to profound physical or psychological harms. Transphobia is the infliction of harm on gender minorities by majorities. As the name suggests, such harms are inflicted out of fear and misunderstanding of what is perceived as different from us. Transphobia has led to violence against sexual or gender minorities around the world. Transphobia is international and real. 4,000 people were known to have died as a result between 2005 and 2021 but it is acknowledged the real numbers are much higher on account of under reporting.  1 out of 4 of these were murdered in their own homes. It is time to stem the tide.

We must do better.

 

Gender Affirming Care

Gender Warfare, Social Issues, The Sleep of Reason

 

According to my former personal physician, Dr. Darren Reimer, who spoke at an event in Steinbach, “There is lots of evidence that gender affirming care is helpful.” Yet sadly, gender affirming care has been viciously and relentlessly attacked by conservatives around the world–from Russia to the United States. Dr. Rimer  said that much of this evidence is clinical. That means it has been tried and has worked! According to Dr. Reimer, “gender affirming care is real and effective.” It reduces gender dysphoria.

Some people experience debilitating  gender dysphoria which is the acute and chronic distress some persons experience of living in a body that does not reflect one’s gender and the desire to have bodily characteristics of that gender. This is not something invented by the libs. It is real. It exists. Conservative hysteria won’t make it go away.

Yet, notwithstanding it’s general acceptance by the medical community, conservatives have attacked gender affirming care with relentless hostility. I think the reason is that conservatives fear liberals will take advantage of such care to impose their presumed agenda to get as many people as possible to change their identity. I don’t know why liberals would want to that, but conservatives seem to believe this is part of the liberal agenda. On the other hand, I believe that the conservative view is part of their hysteria about sexuality. Hysteria is their agenda. Many conservatives believe that the only permissible sex is that between men and women and then only when each maintains their birth sex and gender.

In part the problem here is the fact that this battle is being conducted in the world of the internet gone mad. As John Oliver said, “So much of the fear of and arguments against transgender people comes from misinformation and misunderstanding. And maybe the biggest and most dangerous area of ignorance comes from the concept of gender affirming care.”

In US four states have already scratched access to such care and 15 more are considering similar legislation. According to Oliver, “They have been fuelled by a lack of basic knowledge about what of gender affirming care actually consists.”

As Michael Knowles, the host of his own TV show: said If a child walked into a doctor’s office and said Doc I want you to cut my fingers off, the Doc would say ‘you’ve got some problems kid we need to refer you to a psychiatrist.’ If the child walked into the same doctor’s office and said, ‘Doc I want you to cut my uterus out, that Doctor would say, ‘Oh you’re a wonderful brave person. You’re right we do need to cut you uterus out as soon as possible. Let’s get this young lady over to the operating room.’

That of course is nonsense in hi def. Many conservatives believe that as soon as child declares that he or she is trans, an immediate irreversible decision is made  to make the surgery happen. That just  is not the  way these things work.

This is what I understand about gender affirming care: In young children gender affirming care consists mainly of things like a social transition where the child is allowed to use a new name ,with the parent’s consent, or have a new hair cut or wear new clothes. They might get psychological supports to help them to avoid bullying or harassment. When puberty is onset a child, with parental consent, might be given puberty blockers to delay puberty. This can buy time for the young person to make a decision when older about gender identity.

If that treatment is later suspended endogenous puberty will resume.  It is not irreversible. It just gives time to think about it.

The next medical intervention is usually hormone therapy which boosts levels of testosterone or estrogen as the case may be. Opponents of such treatment claim this is experimental medical treatment, but that is not true. Some falsely claim it sterilizes people. There are some specific rare risks to fertility in some cases but according to the Yale School of Medicine, the effect is anticipated to be reversible if medication is discontinued.

Nonetheless, as a result of conservative hysteria many states are making efforts to ban gender affirming care.

According to Heather Boerner, in her article in Scientific American, earlier this year,  “A decade of research shows such treatment reduces depression, suicidality and other devastating consequences of trans preteens and teens being forced to undergo puberty in the sex they were assigned at birth).” Scientific American also said this in an introduction to the her article: “Laws that ban gender-affirming treatment ignore the wealth of research demonstrating its benefits for trans people’s health.”

As Michelle Forcier, a pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at Brown University, said,

“The bills are based on “information that’s completely wrong…[Those laws] are absolutely, absolutely incorrect” about the science of gender-affirming care for young people. “[Inaccurate information] is there to create drama. It’s there to make people take a side.”

 

 

Here is the truth according to Heather Boerner in her Scientific American article:

“The truth is that data from more than a dozen studies of more than 30,000 transgender and gender-diverse young people consistently show that access to gender-affirming care is associated with better mental health outcomes—and that lack of access to such care is associated with higher rates of suicidality, depression and self-harming behavior.”

 

This aligns nicely with what our own Steinbach physician Dr. Darren Reimer said. In other words, (these are my words now) the misinformation is part of a culture war, not a rational argument, and as we all know, in any war, even a cultural war, truth is the first casualty.