It’s confirmed: J.K. Rowling is not a transphobe
“In the postmodern worldview, knowledge is that which has been legitimised by dominant forces in society and this happens in the service of power. Consequently, established knowledge needs to be scrutinised closely for its inevitable oppressive qualities. Once something has been established as knowledge, the power dynamics embedded in it are enforced and policed on all levels of society by normal people who have internalised the knowledge as true and so speak and act as though it is true, usually unconscious of the implications. Postmodernism maintained that the primary way in which power/knowledge (as Michel Foucault had it) works is through the ways it is considered legitimate to speak about things: discourses.” — Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay
It took me a fortnight to finally decide to read J.K. Rowling’s essay titled “J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues” because I initially assumed she’s a transphobe because the Twitterati said so. I finally thought I’d open my mind to the possibility that it is me who’s the bigot. I read her essay, and yeah, it turns out that I was being a bigot. Shameful, I know. What can I say, I’m an ignorant trans woman (sometimes).
Last December was when she really felt the heat from transgender activists and allies for tweeting her support for Maya Forstater, a tax specialist who effectively lost her job for what were deemed transphobic tweets, by asking “But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?”.
Whilst I think that an employer should refrain from disadvantaging an employee because of speech exercised that the employer doesn’t agree with, Ms Forstater is wrong, if not completely wrong, and it would’ve behoved Ms Rowling to fact-check at the time. Yes, she’s right, biological sex is real. So real that it’s actually made up of chromosomes, gonads, genitalia, hormones, and secondary sex characteristics.
Only chromosomal sex is immutable; the other four aspect of biological sex are not immutable, rather they can be changed through hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Knowing these facts made it somewhat difficult for me as a trans woman to initially sympathise with both ladies last year. Whilst the non-chromosomal mutability of biological sex fact is not for social negotiation, gender identity and pronouns are.
Alas, I elaborated on these thoughts further in my blog instead, because I felt it’s a nuanced conversation deserving of a calm blog post, not a Twitter war where she’s told that she’s “literally killing trans people with [her] hate… called c*nt and b*tch… a TERF [who] deserves cancelling, punching and death”. Maybe Ms Rowling isn’t the issue, maybe it’s Twitter and Internet culture that’s the issue. After all, it appears that Ms Rowling’s interest in trans issues well pre-dates Ms Forstater’s case, including meeting trans people prior. So how did she end up rubbing people the wrong way on trans issues?
In the course of her research into trans issues as part of her profession, she would absent-mindedly ‘like’ allegedly anti-trans posts instead of screenshotting them, or following interesting people on social media who are allegedly anti-trans, and that’s where it all began. If she’s telling the truth, let’s cut her some slack here, and give her the benefit of the doubt. I’ve done what she’s done, including following political adversaries for opposition research purposes, and I’m sure we’ve all done that. Let’s not make George Orwell’s 1984 a reality, or am I talking to a brick wall here?
I hate to say this, but I think I’m talking to a brick wall here. Trans activists and allies have bigger problems than Ms Rowling that they are unaware of, or ignoring conveniently. Much bigger problems that affect the trans community to address. She received an “avalanche of emails and letters… from a cross-section of kind, empathetic and intelligent people, some of them working in fields dealing with gender dysphoria and trans people, who’re all deeply concerned about the way a socio-political concept is influencing politics, medical practice and safeguarding”.
This is not surprising. From what I’ve seen, trans activists and allies are spending too much time drowning out much-needed nuanced conversations with #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransLivesMatter and #TransWomenAreWomen. This does not win the hearts and minds of people who could adversely affect trans people, intentional or not. Real conversations about detransitioners and female-only spaces work both ways, and are done in good faith, not with militant intent.
On these trans topics she discussed in her essay, it appears that I have both agreements and disagreements with Ms Rowling, but that’s okay; it’s okay to have a nuanced conversation to bridge understanding with each other, to benefit everyone. But I’m afraid that this approach will probably be either ignored or ridiculed. Nuanced truth still matters though, so here goes:
Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a trans identification or gender transition, whether by social, legal, or medical means. The overarching common theme of the phenomenon in recent times is that there are much more female-to-male (FTM) detransitioners than there are male-to-female (MTF) detransitioners as Ms Rowling has pointed out. Why is that?
Based on my observations, it seems that more cisgender (non-trans natal) woman are transitioning as part of an unconscious, unhealthy coping mechanism only to realise this later, then detransition as a result. And since women are demonstrably more communicative, detransitioned women are probably talking about it more than detransitioned men. Women here are using transition to deal with various sorts of unaddressed trauma, and seem to be younger overall in this context. Perhaps these younger women see gender transition as a means to escape perceived sex-based oppression, usually brought on by one’s own misogynistic and/or homophobic thoughts. You’ll probably find that the worst cases of this can be found in Iran, where gender transitioning is sanctioned, but homosexuality is criminalised.
Males generally have less freedom to express themselves in gender-nonconforming (GNC) ways — a boyish female is more acceptable to the general social eye than a girlish male. As such, GNC (cisgender) males are more likely to think twice about gender transition. I vividly remember during my teenage years before my MTF transition, I overheard a girl at school wishing out loud jokingly that if she was a boy life would be easier for a variety of social reasons, whilst I was there too chicken to come out as trans. Indeed, men are shamed more strongly for stepping out the masculine role in any domain, which is why trans men generally face less discrimination than trans women. Compounding this problem is that men are less likely to communicate their issues, so maybe that’s why we don’t hear more MTF detransition stories.
Unfortunately direct, formal research into detransition is lacking, and professional interest in the phenomenon has been met with contention. But to be clear, detransitioning stories, raised by Ms Rowling or anyone else for that matter, are a good thing and not something trans activists and allies should get in the habit of shaming. There will always be some people who want to use the detransition phenomenon to delegitimise trans people as a whole. But in actual fact, the detransition debate legitimises the fact that there is a tangible, biological basis to being trans that cannot and will never be as simple as an arbitrary identity. Detransitioners show that not one person can simply choose to be trans. Trans people are born trans and typically figure it out during puberty or earlier. If you transition and you’re not trans, then unsurprisingly you’ll give yourself gender dysphoria.
Some FTM detransitioners argue that HRT has become too accessible, especially for young people, with many being able to get hormone prescription after just a couple of appointments. Perhaps it has become too accessible in some jurisdictions, however, I don’t think the real problem here is the availability of hormones or blockers. Rather, it’s clear that misunderstandings about gender identity is what drove these women to feel like transitioning to male, seeing it as the only way to avoid the perceived negative connotations of womanhood/femaleness.
Perhaps we as a society have some residual sexism left to combat through free discourse and debate, to remove the negative social pressures and connotations that these women feel, and in doing so we can both reduce FTM detransitions, and the harassment and anti-trans social pressures felt by trans women. Whilst some people detransition because transitioning genders wasn’t right for them, others detransitioned not because it wasn’t right for them, but because of reasons such as financial barriers to transition, and social rejection in transition. Science is iterative, with understanding changing as new evidence arises, but what does the current science have to say about such insidious residual sexism?
Humans are created following a male-female dimorphic template, a blueprint of instructions contained within DNA and genetics. Syncopated development in utero of the fetal sex and fetal brain gender can lead to miswirings, which originate in entropy and the mutations that drive species-level evolution. Hormonal profiles, namely testosterone and estrogen, are generated according to the gonadal development in utero, ie the sexing of the fetus yields hormone engines.
Hormone receptors are populated 6–8 weeks following fetal sexual differentiation. When hormone receptors differ from those expected by the gonad-driven hormonal profile, gender dysphoria arises. Gender stereotypes are the natural expectation or average response of estrogen acting on a ‘normal’ female and testosterone acting on a ‘normal’ male. Gender roles are a post-hoc analysis of observed gender stereotypes, and are used to discourage divergence from ‘normal’ gender identity as demonstrated by the experiences of (FTM) detransitioners. This manifests when society, unintentional or not, reinforces gender roles, which are ironically defined by naturally-occurring gender stereotypes.
Trans people (who wouldn’t detransition) are another natural consequence of living in a world governed by entropy, evolution, and mutation. Sex does not define gender; we are more than just chromosomes. So here’s the gender ‘chicken and egg’ riddle: are gender-stereotyped behaviors reinforced by society simply because they are the expectation/norm of the dimorphic human template, based merely on the way testosterone acts on the ‘normal’ male brain and the way estrogen acts on the ‘normal’ female brain? Or do they become the norm through the reinforcement of gender roles that are subconsciously created from our observations of naturally-occurring gender stereotypes? Feminists fought to abolish the latter, and rightfully so. But it seems the residual is still around to give rise to the detransition phenomenon.
There’s a difference in the manifestation of similar characteristics in women that are driven by estrogen acting on the female brain (gender stereotypes), and a woman being pressured into behaving in accordance with expected gender roles, defined by society through the projection of determinism onto gender stereotypes. The only reason people are forcing themselves into norms to begin with is out of the fear of society’s response, which ironically results from their misunderstanding of the natural, biochemical origin of human gender identity. Nature ‘chose’ to rebel by proxy through entropy (it can’t be helped). This is probably the most scientific explanation available at present for both the predominantly FTM detransition phenomenon and the harassment and anti-trans social pressures felt by trans women. Perhaps we as a society do have some residual sexism left to combat through free discourse and debate to protect everyone, trans or cisgender, young or old, from regret.
It’s clear that Ms Rowling and her supporters are onto something that’s complex and poorly understood by many involved in the detransition debate. We should at least sit down with her to discuss and address everyone’s concerns like proper people, and at some point apologise to her for the unwarranted online abuse. Having said all that, her statement that “studies have consistently shown that between 60–90% of gender dysphoric teens will grow out of their dysphoria” needs debunking. These studies randomly took a group of children from gender clinics and follow them, only to seemingly find that most aren’t trans when they grow up. But what does that mean?
It means that a lot of these studies are just studying children, at random, that attend these gender clinics, without differentiating between those who have a gender dysphoria diagnosis, those who identify as trans, with or without diagnosis, and those who don’t identify as trans at all. All these children attended these gender clinics for a wide range of reasons, not just for gender dysphoria diagnosis. These 60–90% weren’t trans to begin with. In fact, many of these 60–90% are LGB(-T)QIA in some way, shape or form, just not T.
Meanwhile in Australia where I’m from, there is some preliminary evidence to suggest that only 4% will grow out of it, thanks to The Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for trans and gender diverse children and adolescents. These are reasonable guidelines that take a comprehensive harm minimisation approach, which include the following:
“It is clear that further research is warranted across all domains of care for trans and gender diverse children and adolescents, the findings of which are likely to influence future recommendations… Every child or adolescent who presents with concerns regarding their gender will have a unique clinical presentation and their own individual needs. The options for intervention that are appropriate for one person might not be helpful for another… Clinical guidelines for the management of co-existing ASD and gender dysphoria have recently been developed…
When a child’s medical, psychological and/or social circumstances are complicated by co-existing mental health difficulties, trauma, abuse, significantly impaired family functioning, or learning or behavioural difficulties, a more intensive approach with input from a mental health clinician will be required. This form of psychological support should be undertaken by a skilled mental health clinician with expertise in child cognitive and emotional development as well as child psychopathology, and experience in working with children with gender diversity and gender dysphoria. This support requires an understanding of the child and their family through a comprehensive exploration of the child’s developmental history, gender identity, emotional functioning, intellectual and educational functioning, peer and other social relationships, family functioning as well as immediate and extended family support, in a safe and therapeutic environment…
Providing psychological care to trans and gender diverse adolescents requires a comprehensive exploration of the adolescent’s early developmental history, history of gender identity development and expression, emotional functioning, intellectual and educational functioning, peer and other social relationships, family functioning as well as immediate and extended family support… Managing distress during the assessment process can be difficult for adolescents and significant pressure is often experienced by clinicians from an adolescent who is certain of their need for treatment. This is often exacerbated by long waiting times to see clinicians who can provide treatment for gender dysphoria. Working with the adolescent to manage their expectations about progress and their distress is a necessity. Occasionally, counselling those who consider or do obtain hormone treatment from non-medical sources (e.g. online, via friends) on the risks of doing so should be undertaken whilst providing ongoing support and care to reduce vulnerability and risk…
An increased prevalence of disordered eating behaviours exists in trans and gender diverse adolescents, possibly due to a desire to adhere to the perceived ideals of one’s experienced gender… It is therefore important that the assessment of adolescents with gender dysphoria includes consideration of the possibility of co-existing eating disorders. It has been suggested that addressing an adolescent’s gender dysphoria may improve disordered eating behaviours..”
I don’t think it would hurt trans people to include the topic of detransition in these guidelines and others, but even so, these guidelines seem to strike a good balance that actively tries to prevent detransitions from arising. I’ve noticed that a lot of detransition stories that can be searched via Google are predominantly North American and European/UK, but barely any Australian stories. Is it just the case that Australia has a smaller population, or does Australia really have one of the best sets of trans healthcare practices in the world today?
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) Standards of Care (SOC) doesn’t reference detransition, although the majority of WPATH surgeons support the inclusion of detransition guidelines in the next (eighth) edition of the SOC. Perhaps in the detransition context, the next SOC edition should emphasise the gender ‘chicken and egg’ riddle: are gender-stereotyped behaviors reinforced by society simply because they are the expectation/norm of the dimorphic human template, based merely on the way testosterone acts on the ‘normal’ male brain and the way estrogen acts on the ‘normal’ female brain? Or do they become the norm through the reinforcement of gender roles that are subconsciously created from our observations of naturally-occurring gender stereotypes? The pie doesn’t need redistribution, it just needs to grow to benefit both trans people and detransitioners, and I’m sure Ms Rowling would agree.
I commend her for speaking out on her horrific experiences as a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor, and truly empathising with trans women who’ve had similar experiences. Having never had any of those experiences myself, I wouldn’t even know where to begin to fully understand. But surely any reasonable person with or without those experiences can see why she’s raised concerns around female-only spaces. I’ve blogged about my position on this trans topic, but I think Ms Rowling did a better job than me in just two paragraphs:
“I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable for all the reasons I’ve outlined. Trans people need and deserve protection. Like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of colour, are at particular risk. Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.
So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman — and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones — then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.”
In other words, J.K. Rowling has no issue with trans women having access to female-only spaces. Based on her writing, when she wrote “any man who believes or feels he’s a woman”, she is referring to cis men. She’s anything but a straight-up transphobe. If she is a radical feminist, she’s certainly not a trans-exclusionary one. Now that we know what she really thinks about trans issues, can we please stop piling onto her? All this does is give more political power to the real transphobes and TERFs, and that is not good for the health and well-being of trans people in the long-run.