This is just outstanding, thank you Arty. I've not seen a better summary of where we are, and how we got here. Thanks for your bravery and for telling the truth. I've subscribed and look forward to more of your writing.
That's a lot of anger and superiority to feel towards a stranger who happens to appreciate something you don't, Kat. Maybe take a little break from the internet, go for a walk?
In any case, I'll continue to enjoy Arty's thoughtful writing (not all of which I agree with, but I appreciate anyway) and ignore you from now on. The best of luck to you.
I will refer anyone who asks about the topic to this piece as it is so comprehensive.
I identify with your remarks towards the end. I too was a rebel, gender wise, when young. I simply didn’t accept that any activity was gendered (before knowing that word obvs).
‘Tomboy’ was the usual name attributed to my condition and I would grow out of it, according to the grown ups. Well I never did.
Being restricted from doing something simply because of gender is now old hat.
If you believe that you will believe anything.
I am now 68, and attribute successful parts of my life to my refusal to accept that I can be excluded from something simply because I am a woman.
E.g., first job. Computer operator in 1972. Crew room had nudes on wall. I brought a nude pic from Cosmo and proudly pinned it on the wall. Next day all the nudes had disappeared.
Such narcissistic condescension and sophomoric absolutism can only mean one thing: you're an undercover trans activist trolling for bigots who'll make it easier for you to discredit the audience for this absolutely astonishing piece of writing.
Dec 11, 2023·edited Dec 11, 2023Liked by Arty Morty
Many thanks Arty. This is not only a good read, but ideal for reference so saved.
I see daily rl confusion caused by the gender BS e.g. on BBC tv news a couple of days ago. Presenter intro' for next story: " ... the Scottish government has lost an appeal challenging Westminster's blocking of The Gender Reform Bill, which would make changing legally recognised sex easier ..."
This is an excellent summary and rationale for what we know so far. Does anyone know how to send a copy to such deluded souls as India Willoughby, Katie Montgomery, Ellie Gomersal, Heather Herbert et al.
I agree. it's excellent. Although I'm afraid the truly committed Gender Cultist wouldn't read anything that defies the precepts of their religion, so those you name, like many others, won't read it. More's the pity.
You are probably right but I suspect that Willoughby at least follows Glinner because I’ve noticed on his poisonous comments he responds quickly to what we read on Glinners Substack. I think he likes to know what everyone is saying or doing so as to be able feed his followers. He’s not that bright and has no ability to properly research anything despite regularly declaring his qualifications as a journalist.
Yah, I've met people who buy a digital camera and suddenly announce their "a Journalist". That said I did take great deal of joy in deflating their sudden, and momentarily over-inflated, sense of their own self importance.
Excellent write-up, Arty. One of the parts that caught my eye is this:
"Gender Fundamentalists encourage people to interpret their preference to present in ways more typical of the opposite sex as proof that they somehow are the opposite sex: either spiritually, metaphysically, or literally.
They go on to interpret anyone and anything that contradicts that view as a threat. This can lead to severe and debilitating gender dysphoria — psychological distress at the sight or thought of their bodies’ sex characteristics..."
What I found interesting there is a reordering of psychological events. The Gender Fundies would have it that gender dysphoria is caused by a mismatch between a person's "assigned" sex and their gender soul - the dysphoria is inevitable (unless, perhaps, the child is raised as a "theyby.") In your analysis, the dysphoria is caused, or at least amplified, by the Gender Fundies' construction of a theoretical world in which sex is superficial. Genderwoo doesn't ameliorate gender dysphoria, it exacerbates it, by creating a wedge within the individual - a wedge between sex and gender, which the ideology insists already existed.
This seems like a pretty key shift to me. It is, after all, the difference between a feminine gay man coming to terms with his sexuality, his sex, and his body, and an endless quest to achieve the impossible.
Being outside the norm is a reconcilable difference; being at war inside your own self is not. And, of course, the genderwoo ideology being pushed out to elementary school kids everywhere is that they are all already at war - there has always been a war between sex and gender.
Indeed, I've heard many times that among this new cohort of teens, that first they discover gender identity ideology and decide they are "transgender," and THEN they develop severe (and ever-worsening) gender dysphoria. The belief system they've subscribed to is what's CAUSING their distress.
The first hint people (adults, peers...) have that a child might be gay is usually gender atypical behavior. A lad acts feminine, and the adults give each other that knowing look. These days, they typically don't say much about it (used to be, they'd freak out and sign the boy up for boxing lessons).
How many times does a young man "come out" to his parents, only to have them not be the least bit surprised? He may even be the last person to know. All this because actual sexuality is something that typically develops much later than the gender atypical behavior. Sexuality may develop at different ages for different people - you surely know some people who weren't really in tune with their actual sexuality until they were well into adulthood - but typically it's after puberty at the least.
These days kids are obsessed with ideas of sexuality and gender, far before such an obsession is developmentally relevant to them. They're not obsessed with thinking about people they're attracted to (as we once were, amirite?), they're obsessed with the categories of definition they might fall into, the ever-expanding Pokemon-like taxonomy of sex and gender. It's bad enough when kids are going on about which twelve year-old boy might be gay because he acts feminine. Compound that if kindergartners are being made to declare their pronouns, and thus obsess about whether they're really boys or girls inside. There is nothing sadder than seeing a young person who has never actually felt sexual attraction, fundamentally because they're just not old enough, triumphantly displaying a bizarre flag whose meaning you have to look up twice.
In the annals of carts being put before horses, this stands out with an asterisk. The actual sexuality of these boys and girls is something they will figure out over years, starting probably when they're teenagers. Sometime after that would be the time to talk about whether they have transgender feelings, because that's downstream from sexuality. But that is inconvenient to the bishops of Gender Fundamentalism, who would Jazz up as many Jennings as it takes to make us say they're women.
I know this is completely bonkers but I knew my grandson was gay when we were walking around the garden when he was maybe 11 or 12 and he said to me; 'That red and that yellow just don't go together'. And I thought to myself : 'No kid has ever said anything like that to me before!!'😂
I think this is akin to what Dr Miriam Grossman says that gender dysphoria is actually a symptom ( like a fever for example) and not the actual condition. You need to work out what has caused the symptom e.g. autism, being gay or lesbian, ADHD, homophobic parents etc
Many also seem to suffer more gender dysphoria after they begin the process of medical transition, pushing them further and further, with each step (surgery) supposedly the one that will make them happy, then the dysphoria returns even stronger.
Bravo Arty! Your very well-informed essay has brilliantly detailed, and illustrated the war we are in, and the history that brought us here. May your essay be shared widely, and understood by those questioning and criticizing the current abuse of gender questioning children and youth, and inspire those who have been too afraid to speak up, to find the courage to do so.
Superbly written; I very much appreciate how much of yourself you have in this. Almost every gay man I know - to the person - had precisely the same experience as a child you and I did. And today, they have identically the same perception of the mutilation children (just like we were) are being subjected to.
When I spoke in public progressive forums of my life history as you have here, simply stating “I thought I was a girl, but of I wasn’t” was the key statement. Unconcealed violent rage was the typical response. It’s amazing, and many people told me in private messages they were horrified at the response. I said “imagine you’re a ten-year-old boy exposed to one of these people on a public forum.”
Thank you for sharing. Growing up as a female with non-stereotypical interests, I often was hostilely asked why I hated being a girl. I also kept getting the message (openly and subtly) that I was supposed to be a lesbian (I'm straight). The same pathological lunatics of the trans cult today were the same ones that wanted my sexuality to match my interests back in the 60's-80's. I still get hostility occasionally today (I'm 63) and told I don't "act" like a female. Some fighting this cult today are making the same mistake by implying most of the kids that are "transed" are ones that will grow up to be gay or lesbian. Some will, but it's falling into a pothole to try and suggest those who don't "fit in" are all gay or lesbian.
No one's saying they're "all" gay and lesbian. But it's a documented fact that most kids who are atypical enough that they experience distress about their sex from a young age, grow up to be homosexual. Certainly not all do. Many "tomboy" girls are straight, even ones who experienced gender dysphoria. But I won't shy away from stating the statistical connection between extreme gender nonconformity and homosexuality.
I believe almost all the distress and "dysphoria" stems from trying to fit in and please the herd. Then adults react by trying to mold an explanation that is palatable. You state many "tomboy" girls are straight, but you don't state that many typically feminine girls are lesbians. Why did you feel the need to state that about tomboys? Can you point me to the research where the connection you point out is made?
You sound like my mom, vis-a-vis butch. She kept her hair almost in a crew cut until her death, she maintained a woodworking shop in our house for her carpentry, after 1970 or so she rarely wore dresses unless they had pockets. At the same time she also had a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor and played that up when it was convenient. She and really liked the company of men as peers, very much an alpha female. I still have a painting of her very much in the style of Victor Trechtikoff https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Girl with eerie blue skin, though mom was more German in facial structure. (She told me, when I asked as a child if I’d ever have a brother or sister, that it would be the first child born with a knitting needle through its head. I kid you not.). Thanks for the response, brought up fun memories.
You are amazing. Thank you so much for your six part piece. I read every word. My beautiful 13 and 16 year-old American daughters have been swept up in this and it has involved pediatricians, school sex education/health class in 7th grade, and at least one psychologist who is part of the Gender Fundamentalists. Praying for logic to click in for them. If not, #thelawsuitsarestarting
Arty - this is brilliant! I didn't realize you were Canadian - I've watched you with Glinner many times - don't know how I missed this. I've shared this on the Gender Critical Canadian Women FB group. This needs to be shared far and wide. I'm keeping it on the ready to pass on whenever (hopefully sooner rather than later) and wherever I can. Thanks for this!!
This is a very thorough analysis of all the players in this mess. Queer theory belongs in the waste bin of history, along with its evil child "transgender." The above is an attack on all of us: gay, straight, lesbian, transvestite and cross-dresser.
This is just outstanding, thank you Arty. I've not seen a better summary of where we are, and how we got here. Thanks for your bravery and for telling the truth. I've subscribed and look forward to more of your writing.
Another group of LGB people fighting against gender ideology is LGB United:
https://www.thedistancemag.com
Some gender critical women well worth reading:
Kara Dansky: https://karadansky.substack.com
Lisa Selin Davis: https://www.broadview.news
Eva Kurilova: https://www.evakurilova.com (also writes for LGB United)
Eliza Mondegreen: https://elizamondegreen.substack.com
All brilliant and I subscribe to as many as I can afford. It would be great if a few could somehow get together and offer a group rate.
That's a lot of anger and superiority to feel towards a stranger who happens to appreciate something you don't, Kat. Maybe take a little break from the internet, go for a walk?
In any case, I'll continue to enjoy Arty's thoughtful writing (not all of which I agree with, but I appreciate anyway) and ignore you from now on. The best of luck to you.
Winning hearts and minds, I see...
Excellent 👏
I will refer anyone who asks about the topic to this piece as it is so comprehensive.
I identify with your remarks towards the end. I too was a rebel, gender wise, when young. I simply didn’t accept that any activity was gendered (before knowing that word obvs).
‘Tomboy’ was the usual name attributed to my condition and I would grow out of it, according to the grown ups. Well I never did.
Being restricted from doing something simply because of gender is now old hat.
If you believe that you will believe anything.
I am now 68, and attribute successful parts of my life to my refusal to accept that I can be excluded from something simply because I am a woman.
E.g., first job. Computer operator in 1972. Crew room had nudes on wall. I brought a nude pic from Cosmo and proudly pinned it on the wall. Next day all the nudes had disappeared.
Best article I've ever read on this whole thing.
WOW. Thank you!
Such narcissistic condescension and sophomoric absolutism can only mean one thing: you're an undercover trans activist trolling for bigots who'll make it easier for you to discredit the audience for this absolutely astonishing piece of writing.
You know, attacking your potential allies is not the wisest strategy.
Many thanks Arty. This is not only a good read, but ideal for reference so saved.
I see daily rl confusion caused by the gender BS e.g. on BBC tv news a couple of days ago. Presenter intro' for next story: " ... the Scottish government has lost an appeal challenging Westminster's blocking of The Gender Reform Bill, which would make changing legally recognised sex easier ..."
Excellent analysis, Arty. We need to get this out there.
ANNIHILATE SEX!!!
If only this was hyperbole 😥
This is an excellent summary and rationale for what we know so far. Does anyone know how to send a copy to such deluded souls as India Willoughby, Katie Montgomery, Ellie Gomersal, Heather Herbert et al.
I agree. it's excellent. Although I'm afraid the truly committed Gender Cultist wouldn't read anything that defies the precepts of their religion, so those you name, like many others, won't read it. More's the pity.
You are probably right but I suspect that Willoughby at least follows Glinner because I’ve noticed on his poisonous comments he responds quickly to what we read on Glinners Substack. I think he likes to know what everyone is saying or doing so as to be able feed his followers. He’s not that bright and has no ability to properly research anything despite regularly declaring his qualifications as a journalist.
Yah, I've met people who buy a digital camera and suddenly announce their "a Journalist". That said I did take great deal of joy in deflating their sudden, and momentarily over-inflated, sense of their own self importance.
🎈+📌=💥≅😂
Ach I don’t do any sm so I just rely on what I read here and wos ( wings over Scotland )
Excellent write-up, Arty. One of the parts that caught my eye is this:
"Gender Fundamentalists encourage people to interpret their preference to present in ways more typical of the opposite sex as proof that they somehow are the opposite sex: either spiritually, metaphysically, or literally.
They go on to interpret anyone and anything that contradicts that view as a threat. This can lead to severe and debilitating gender dysphoria — psychological distress at the sight or thought of their bodies’ sex characteristics..."
What I found interesting there is a reordering of psychological events. The Gender Fundies would have it that gender dysphoria is caused by a mismatch between a person's "assigned" sex and their gender soul - the dysphoria is inevitable (unless, perhaps, the child is raised as a "theyby.") In your analysis, the dysphoria is caused, or at least amplified, by the Gender Fundies' construction of a theoretical world in which sex is superficial. Genderwoo doesn't ameliorate gender dysphoria, it exacerbates it, by creating a wedge within the individual - a wedge between sex and gender, which the ideology insists already existed.
This seems like a pretty key shift to me. It is, after all, the difference between a feminine gay man coming to terms with his sexuality, his sex, and his body, and an endless quest to achieve the impossible.
Being outside the norm is a reconcilable difference; being at war inside your own self is not. And, of course, the genderwoo ideology being pushed out to elementary school kids everywhere is that they are all already at war - there has always been a war between sex and gender.
Indeed, I've heard many times that among this new cohort of teens, that first they discover gender identity ideology and decide they are "transgender," and THEN they develop severe (and ever-worsening) gender dysphoria. The belief system they've subscribed to is what's CAUSING their distress.
The first hint people (adults, peers...) have that a child might be gay is usually gender atypical behavior. A lad acts feminine, and the adults give each other that knowing look. These days, they typically don't say much about it (used to be, they'd freak out and sign the boy up for boxing lessons).
How many times does a young man "come out" to his parents, only to have them not be the least bit surprised? He may even be the last person to know. All this because actual sexuality is something that typically develops much later than the gender atypical behavior. Sexuality may develop at different ages for different people - you surely know some people who weren't really in tune with their actual sexuality until they were well into adulthood - but typically it's after puberty at the least.
These days kids are obsessed with ideas of sexuality and gender, far before such an obsession is developmentally relevant to them. They're not obsessed with thinking about people they're attracted to (as we once were, amirite?), they're obsessed with the categories of definition they might fall into, the ever-expanding Pokemon-like taxonomy of sex and gender. It's bad enough when kids are going on about which twelve year-old boy might be gay because he acts feminine. Compound that if kindergartners are being made to declare their pronouns, and thus obsess about whether they're really boys or girls inside. There is nothing sadder than seeing a young person who has never actually felt sexual attraction, fundamentally because they're just not old enough, triumphantly displaying a bizarre flag whose meaning you have to look up twice.
In the annals of carts being put before horses, this stands out with an asterisk. The actual sexuality of these boys and girls is something they will figure out over years, starting probably when they're teenagers. Sometime after that would be the time to talk about whether they have transgender feelings, because that's downstream from sexuality. But that is inconvenient to the bishops of Gender Fundamentalism, who would Jazz up as many Jennings as it takes to make us say they're women.
I know this is completely bonkers but I knew my grandson was gay when we were walking around the garden when he was maybe 11 or 12 and he said to me; 'That red and that yellow just don't go together'. And I thought to myself : 'No kid has ever said anything like that to me before!!'😂
Dusty
I think this is akin to what Dr Miriam Grossman says that gender dysphoria is actually a symptom ( like a fever for example) and not the actual condition. You need to work out what has caused the symptom e.g. autism, being gay or lesbian, ADHD, homophobic parents etc
Dusty
Many also seem to suffer more gender dysphoria after they begin the process of medical transition, pushing them further and further, with each step (surgery) supposedly the one that will make them happy, then the dysphoria returns even stronger.
Bravo Arty! Your very well-informed essay has brilliantly detailed, and illustrated the war we are in, and the history that brought us here. May your essay be shared widely, and understood by those questioning and criticizing the current abuse of gender questioning children and youth, and inspire those who have been too afraid to speak up, to find the courage to do so.
Superbly written; I very much appreciate how much of yourself you have in this. Almost every gay man I know - to the person - had precisely the same experience as a child you and I did. And today, they have identically the same perception of the mutilation children (just like we were) are being subjected to.
When I spoke in public progressive forums of my life history as you have here, simply stating “I thought I was a girl, but of I wasn’t” was the key statement. Unconcealed violent rage was the typical response. It’s amazing, and many people told me in private messages they were horrified at the response. I said “imagine you’re a ten-year-old boy exposed to one of these people on a public forum.”
Indeed.
Good piece.
Thank you for sharing. Growing up as a female with non-stereotypical interests, I often was hostilely asked why I hated being a girl. I also kept getting the message (openly and subtly) that I was supposed to be a lesbian (I'm straight). The same pathological lunatics of the trans cult today were the same ones that wanted my sexuality to match my interests back in the 60's-80's. I still get hostility occasionally today (I'm 63) and told I don't "act" like a female. Some fighting this cult today are making the same mistake by implying most of the kids that are "transed" are ones that will grow up to be gay or lesbian. Some will, but it's falling into a pothole to try and suggest those who don't "fit in" are all gay or lesbian.
No one's saying they're "all" gay and lesbian. But it's a documented fact that most kids who are atypical enough that they experience distress about their sex from a young age, grow up to be homosexual. Certainly not all do. Many "tomboy" girls are straight, even ones who experienced gender dysphoria. But I won't shy away from stating the statistical connection between extreme gender nonconformity and homosexuality.
I believe almost all the distress and "dysphoria" stems from trying to fit in and please the herd. Then adults react by trying to mold an explanation that is palatable. You state many "tomboy" girls are straight, but you don't state that many typically feminine girls are lesbians. Why did you feel the need to state that about tomboys? Can you point me to the research where the connection you point out is made?
You sound like my mom, vis-a-vis butch. She kept her hair almost in a crew cut until her death, she maintained a woodworking shop in our house for her carpentry, after 1970 or so she rarely wore dresses unless they had pockets. At the same time she also had a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor and played that up when it was convenient. She and really liked the company of men as peers, very much an alpha female. I still have a painting of her very much in the style of Victor Trechtikoff https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Girl with eerie blue skin, though mom was more German in facial structure. (She told me, when I asked as a child if I’d ever have a brother or sister, that it would be the first child born with a knitting needle through its head. I kid you not.). Thanks for the response, brought up fun memories.
You are amazing. Thank you so much for your six part piece. I read every word. My beautiful 13 and 16 year-old American daughters have been swept up in this and it has involved pediatricians, school sex education/health class in 7th grade, and at least one psychologist who is part of the Gender Fundamentalists. Praying for logic to click in for them. If not, #thelawsuitsarestarting
♥♥♥
HOLY SMOKES! Pulitzer at minimum, but Nobel wouldn't be inappropriate either. Brutal AND compassionate.
Arty - this is brilliant! I didn't realize you were Canadian - I've watched you with Glinner many times - don't know how I missed this. I've shared this on the Gender Critical Canadian Women FB group. This needs to be shared far and wide. I'm keeping it on the ready to pass on whenever (hopefully sooner rather than later) and wherever I can. Thanks for this!!
ANNIHILATE SEX --- and sense.
This is a bloody great article, Arty! A superb primer for anyone new to issue.
I have no doubt I will reference this often and send it to others to read, and it will be further inspiration for me to write more too.
Excellent
This is a very thorough analysis of all the players in this mess. Queer theory belongs in the waste bin of history, along with its evil child "transgender." The above is an attack on all of us: gay, straight, lesbian, transvestite and cross-dresser.