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If I ever addressed it, it's scattered across different posts. I don't think 3) is a wishy-washy halfway house, I think it's a perfectly respectable position, and would be happy if this ends up being the new compromise. I also don't think it's a good idea to make decisions for adults, but I don't think this is what the controversy is about, nor do I think it's about the amount off attention paid to the issue. For me, it's two things:
I do have to admit I started leaning a bit towards 2), since I heard that anorexia essentially didn't exist, until one case was documented, covered by the media, and suddenly the whole thing became endemic. I started thinking that some people are just Not Well, and gravitate towards these self-harming behaviors, for reasons which might by unknown even to them. What to do about it is anyone's guess, the answer will depend on one's values rather than any evidence, and I heard compelling arguments for and against either approach.
But psychosurgery did not. It was a separate episode from lobotomies, and it really does look like a case of Culture War that went down the memory hole.
The idea that trans issues gained power on the back of being villanized strikes me as extremely ahistorical. I also don't see how pretending it's not there will take away it's power stemming from it being taught as fact at the local school.
I personally find it sensible.
But, I recall rejecting the gender binary was a fad among some online progressives. I've never seen a good contrarian following through with the obvious response to online trans people. "Trans women aren't women. No one is. There aren't two and only two categories. Gender is a spectrum not meaningfully described by this arbitrary binary. So no, a guy on estrogen is not a woman. People born with 2 X chromosomes aren't, so you transwomen also aren't."
Cool. Wouldn't it be great if people were free to embrace and reject philosophical views depending on which ones they find plausible, rather than being pressured to embrace them through social ostracism, threat of losing your job, and hate speech laws?
I'm not sure what's that suppose to achieve. Sure no one is a woman in the same way that chairs aren't really chairs, horses aren't really horses, and tulips aren't really tulips. Every category can be deconstructed until it ceases to exist, but none of that changes the material reality around us.
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A huge portion of blue tribe culture is oppositional to red tribe culture, and vice versa.
For comparison, a local middle school student started a "Satan Club," people got upset about it. Local evangelical churches held prayer meetings about it. I was pulling my hair out at the sheer obtuse stupidity of publicly announcing how much the annoying middle schoolers who set out to annoy you had annoyed you. Ignored, the Satan Club was lame, the lamest most annoying goth neckbeards at your local school. Opposed, they were hilarious and awesome. Watching church moms get their panties in a twist about it, against myself I was kinda impressed. When people are that easily trolled, how can you blame people for trolling them?
Right, but I maintain this is not what happened with trans issues. With your scenario the proper comparison would be the school itself implementing a curriculum teaching the kids Satan is our lord and savior, it's not something that can be won over by ignoring it.
Similarly when you ssend your kid to a psychologist, because they're having issues, and before you know it, the kid comes back with a prescription for blockers or hormones, that's not a problem you'll solve by pretending it's it's not there.
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