Excellent stroll through Maslow's hierarchy of needs -- brilliant li'l piece of writing! I'd said something along these lines with regard to feminism for years -- "Can't we take the win?" We ladies here in the first world already HAD power and privelege. (I graduated in Chemical Engineering in 1994, in a class that was already 60% women -- and the chicks got all the good jobs!) Now, however, the power dynamic has shifted, and womens' rights (and women's sports, and gay rights, and same-sex spaces, etc.) are being undermined by so-called "trans-rights." So good, pointing out the leather jackets, tattoo sleeves, and nose rings... LOL, well done!
YES!! Thank you for breaking this down. I've been writing about how privilege is necessary to truly adopt the narrative that sex is fluid, since women and LGB people who live in far more violently homophobic and sexist countries cannot afford to play with this ideology, much less actually put it into practice.
The trans movement was spurred by white, middle to upper class academics, mostly men. And, the young folks who champion transgenderism are usually those who fetishize oppression, because being oppressed makes you cool, interesting, raw and tough...not to mention morally superior.
When someone is lacking the sense of purpose and identity that is born through healing and synthesizing challenges/lived experience, it makes them vulnerable to gender ideology and the package deal that is sold to them through it.
Me, me, me, and who cares about the suffering of others? Palestinians? Who are they? Are they trans? Homeless people are freezing in this old? But are they trans? Animals are abused every day…are they trans?
Terrific essay! It makes me think of Roísín Michaux’s excellent piece “You Meet More Perverts When You’re Poor.” Imagining that single-sex spaces and other protections for women and girls serve no useful purpose is a luxury belief held only by the very fortunate.
Spot on the money. In our new normal post-reality world - "words" are rebranded as "violence" if someone simply prefers not to hear them. Expressing that one feels "unsafe" because one has "heard" such "words," or asserting that one has experienced a "micro-aggression" because one has "heard" such words - are the mark of a level of privilege few in human history can ever have laid claim to. We live in a world filled with real "violence" including mass murder - in which real "aggression" leaves many people actually "unsafe." I must admit that I find myself struggling to muster much empathy for those whose narcissistic self-absorption conveniently blots out or marginalizes these painful "realities" faced by literally billions of their fellow humans - in order to maintain a studious preoccupation with their own navels - and with their ever changing designer micro-identities tethered by their oh so important - "feelings" - to that navel.
Don't forget how a painting of George Washington displayed in a public space, or a hotel named after Sir Francis Drake, or a high school named after Abraham Lincoln, does real harm.
Wow. A dose of reality, and highly potent. I wish I could have shown this to the non-binary trans activist I dated for a few months, before she decided I was too normal for her tastes and dumped me.
Non-binary is such utter nonsense as to be hilarious! There are non-binary living organisms : bacteria are an example…slime molds also can be in that category. And God? Sure… if you consider trans to be sacred! It’s amazing the amount of dementia now obvious in some young people! Also the pure selfishness !
Noticing that we live the safest, richest lives in human history is currently equated with oppressor guilt, something to be avoided at all cost. Although he was speaking mostly about race, I consider this insight extremely valuable to the trans issue too: "Innocence is power. In a society like America, with our history, we have this combination of unparalleled greatness and almost unbelievable evil. The pressures of being an American involve grappling with innocence. We have wealth; now we want innocence—that’s where power lies at the moment. So much of our politics and culture really come out of this struggle with innocence. Wokeness is nothing more or less than this struggle for innocence—a way to be innocent, and therefore to have power. This leads to dark things. We have wealth, but we don’t have the legitimacy innocence gives us." https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-conversation-with-shelby-and-eli-steele
Maybe he would, if he didn't know it was mine. He once went on a completely unexpected tirade against me for reasons that remain unclear. It was part of the inspiration for this: https://shannonthrace.substack.com/p/im-not-your-victim
That's a shame. He can be hot-headed for sure... maybe he'd rise to an opportunity to calmly re-visit the misunderstanding; one would hope, in any case. I've seen him beg his own imperfections and I think he's trying to improve on his impulsivity.
Amen! 🙌🏼
Excellent stroll through Maslow's hierarchy of needs -- brilliant li'l piece of writing! I'd said something along these lines with regard to feminism for years -- "Can't we take the win?" We ladies here in the first world already HAD power and privelege. (I graduated in Chemical Engineering in 1994, in a class that was already 60% women -- and the chicks got all the good jobs!) Now, however, the power dynamic has shifted, and womens' rights (and women's sports, and gay rights, and same-sex spaces, etc.) are being undermined by so-called "trans-rights." So good, pointing out the leather jackets, tattoo sleeves, and nose rings... LOL, well done!
YES!! Thank you for breaking this down. I've been writing about how privilege is necessary to truly adopt the narrative that sex is fluid, since women and LGB people who live in far more violently homophobic and sexist countries cannot afford to play with this ideology, much less actually put it into practice.
The trans movement was spurred by white, middle to upper class academics, mostly men. And, the young folks who champion transgenderism are usually those who fetishize oppression, because being oppressed makes you cool, interesting, raw and tough...not to mention morally superior.
When someone is lacking the sense of purpose and identity that is born through healing and synthesizing challenges/lived experience, it makes them vulnerable to gender ideology and the package deal that is sold to them through it.
Me, me, me, and who cares about the suffering of others? Palestinians? Who are they? Are they trans? Homeless people are freezing in this old? But are they trans? Animals are abused every day…are they trans?
Terrific essay! It makes me think of Roísín Michaux’s excellent piece “You Meet More Perverts When You’re Poor.” Imagining that single-sex spaces and other protections for women and girls serve no useful purpose is a luxury belief held only by the very fortunate.
https://4w.pub/you-meet-more-perverts-when-poor/
Great article. Thanks for sharing it.
The crisis of meaning in the modern world
Spot on the money. In our new normal post-reality world - "words" are rebranded as "violence" if someone simply prefers not to hear them. Expressing that one feels "unsafe" because one has "heard" such "words," or asserting that one has experienced a "micro-aggression" because one has "heard" such words - are the mark of a level of privilege few in human history can ever have laid claim to. We live in a world filled with real "violence" including mass murder - in which real "aggression" leaves many people actually "unsafe." I must admit that I find myself struggling to muster much empathy for those whose narcissistic self-absorption conveniently blots out or marginalizes these painful "realities" faced by literally billions of their fellow humans - in order to maintain a studious preoccupation with their own navels - and with their ever changing designer micro-identities tethered by their oh so important - "feelings" - to that navel.
Don't forget how a painting of George Washington displayed in a public space, or a hotel named after Sir Francis Drake, or a high school named after Abraham Lincoln, does real harm.
Absolutely bang on. This has been on my thoughts for a long time.
Fantastic piece - so very well written and spot on, thanks Shannon!
Great piece!
Excellent point! Let's do it!
Wow. A dose of reality, and highly potent. I wish I could have shown this to the non-binary trans activist I dated for a few months, before she decided I was too normal for her tastes and dumped me.
Non-binary is such utter nonsense as to be hilarious! There are non-binary living organisms : bacteria are an example…slime molds also can be in that category. And God? Sure… if you consider trans to be sacred! It’s amazing the amount of dementia now obvious in some young people! Also the pure selfishness !
excellent piece of writing and bang on the money. bravo
Noticing that we live the safest, richest lives in human history is currently equated with oppressor guilt, something to be avoided at all cost. Although he was speaking mostly about race, I consider this insight extremely valuable to the trans issue too: "Innocence is power. In a society like America, with our history, we have this combination of unparalleled greatness and almost unbelievable evil. The pressures of being an American involve grappling with innocence. We have wealth; now we want innocence—that’s where power lies at the moment. So much of our politics and culture really come out of this struggle with innocence. Wokeness is nothing more or less than this struggle for innocence—a way to be innocent, and therefore to have power. This leads to dark things. We have wealth, but we don’t have the legitimacy innocence gives us." https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-conversation-with-shelby-and-eli-steele
This is a coherent distillation of the collective discomfort with the cognitive dissonance of this movement.
Brilliant!
Excellent article.
So well said!
I'm assuming you're familiar with Joshua Slocum of Disaffected? He'd love this piece, I think.
Maybe he would, if he didn't know it was mine. He once went on a completely unexpected tirade against me for reasons that remain unclear. It was part of the inspiration for this: https://shannonthrace.substack.com/p/im-not-your-victim
That's a shame. He can be hot-headed for sure... maybe he'd rise to an opportunity to calmly re-visit the misunderstanding; one would hope, in any case. I've seen him beg his own imperfections and I think he's trying to improve on his impulsivity.
I doubt it