I am an admirer of ’s writings, but I cannot agree with his assertion that “There is actually no stable, coherent definition of what and who trans is that doesn't amount to the positing of unprovable and unfalsifiable pseudo-mystical essences knowable only through self-testimony for which no evidence has been or can ever be adduced.”
I recently wrote a tweet whose entire purpose was to demonstrate that transsexualism can and has been defined without reference to gender identity. Here is how I defined transsexualism 39 years ago:
“The term gender dysphoria (Fisk, 1973) refers to discontent with one’s biological sex, the desire to possess the body of the opposite sex, and also to be regarded by others as a member of the opposite sex. Transsexualism may be defined as extreme gender dysphoria that has persisted without fluctuations for a considerable time — 2 years, according to the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). In practice, it is sometimes difficult to decide whether a given patient’s gender dysphoria is severe or persistent enough to be labeled transsexualism.”
Blanchard, R., Steiner, B. W., & Clemmensen, L. H. (1985). Gender dysphoria, gender reorientation, and the clinical management of transsexualism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 295–304.
This formulation deliberately avoided the notion of gender identity, which I found a slipperier concept than gender dysphoria.
Mr. Yang might reply that my 1985 definition was in a typically obscure academic article and that it had no major influence, such as incorporation into the DSM; for practical purposes, therefore, it could not be considered as contradicting his assertion. He would be correct about the obscurity, but I don’t think that negates my main point.
Alternatively, Mr. Yang might or might not reply that the symptoms of gender dysphoria are known through self-report and therefore no evidence of this condition “has been or can ever be adduced.” (I do not wish to put words into his mouth.) I would then point out that the diagnosis of various other psychiatric conditions depends on self-report; there is nothing unique about gender dysphoria. We also routinely accept self-report as the basis for believing other things about people, for example, their sexual orientation. We usually believe that people are homosexual when they say so; we do not require them to demonstrate this with a sexual partner or by undergoing psychophysiological testing.
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Wesley Yang
@wesyang
If you don't support this act, it's because you don't support self-ID, which puts you in conflict with the transgender movement. But if you instead support some other criterion of what makes a person "trans" (such as having your genitals cut off), you are just as much in conflict x.com/wesyang/status…
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