Lady Brain Science

Or you could just send your friend this meme and then go make some new friends.

The thing is, I don't actually struggle with the idea that there's some biology underpinning this. In fact, I would welcome that. I'd love it if young people presenting to GIDS could get an MRI to show that they actually had GID (which should be treated medically) rather than socially induced body disphoria (which should be treated with psychotherapy). I welcome a proper diagnostic test for this condition. The fact that none exists should be a pretty big clue that this research is, at best, tenuous and in its infancy. Take the first paper for example:

"Results revealed that regional gray matter variation in MTF transsexuals is more similar to the pattern found in men than in women. However, MTF transsexuals show a significantly larger volume of regional gray matter in the right putamen compared to men."

So they have some cerebral patterns more in common with men and some more in common with women? So what? All that proves is that there might be a neurological basis for their feelings. Does that mean they literally are women? Why does having more gray matter in the right putamen than man make you a woman? Especially when overall the gray matter variation is more male than female? Does your friend actually believe that every other mammal on the planet is sexually dimorphic with their sex class classified according to their genotype and reproductive function, but humans exist on a sex spectrum according to the quantity of gray matter they have in their right putamen? Is that really the stance they want to take?

I suspect the rest of those links will say something similar, that MtF brains have more in common with male brains than female brains, but are still different in a few ways to male brains. And that's fine, that in no way proves or even suggests that MtF trans people actually are female. Even if MtF transpeople had a brain that was significantly more similar in every single regard to a female brain than a male brain. Even if they were identical, in fact. They'd still be a male brain because they belong to a male person because we don't assign sex classes based on cerebral patterns. It matters not one jot to me why a person identifies as trans, not one jot. The aetiology, whilst interesting, is irrelevant to the question of whether they actually are the opposite sex.

I'd also point out that that study was done on people with "strong feelings of being the opposite sex and a belief that their sexual characteristics do not reflect their true gender". So, the gender dysphoria crowd then? The farthest most extreme end of the trans spectrum. And still the MRI found basically no significant cerebral variations. So now what do you think we'd find if we did MRI on the rest of the people under the trans umbrella, like transvestites, drags queens, and "feminine men". People who aren't severely gender disphoric. Do you think we'd find that they all had more gray matter they have in their right putamen than "cis" men as well? If it turns out that they don't do we eject them from the trans umbrella. Where exactly does this shifting of the biological goal posts end?

Here’s an article from the Guardian about Gina Rippons work:-
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/02/the-gendered-brain-by-gina-rippon-review

Her research shows that brains are plastic - they mould according to the environment they find themselves in. She also shows that studies of personality traits/abilities find that there is no cluster of traits that women have and a separate cluster of traits that men have. There is no construct of ‘female gender identity’ or ‘male gender identity’. This makes perfect sense - if there was a ‘female gender identity’ it would mean that all women have the same personality and abilities which clearly they don’t. And if you ‘feel like a woman’ that would mean you could mindread and know what all women feel like inside. Clearly none of this makes sense.

Sorry cross post - she's right about climate change but whilst the Uk government is focused on Brexit the trans ideology is coming through the back door.

You could refer her to recent legal movement in Canada, US and NZ. I assume she's aware of the questions around prisons and women's refuges and Mermaids and Stonewall.

I've had similar debate with old friends and I haven't succeeded in changing their minds, nor have they changed mine, so don't tie yourself in knots with it. It's a very divisive issue - at least she hasn't #nodebate'd you, even if her tone was condescending - she is unlikely to shift her position based on a few online articles.

Does she have children? I think the issues around children and safeguarding peak many when you consider your own. Even if she doesn't she should consider the threat to lesbians. The conflating is racism with transphobia has always been a weak argument. Some trans you tubers say their suffering is the same as black slaves (Alok)

As a slight aside men who are transwomen an are still attracted to the same visual sexual stimuli post op as they are before (Ray Bradbury/Benjamin Boyce you tube interview). So whatever surgery they have they are the same 'on the inside'.

Fine is one of the authors of that post I linked to. Another is Gina Rippon. It summarises all the main points one by one so it’s an excellent go-to for rebutting nonsense online.

But definitely read Fine and Rippon’s books because they go into more detail.

Try Cordelia Fine's 'Delusions of Gender' as a resource.

This one is good:

sfonline.barnard.edu/neurogenderings/eight-things-you-need-to-know-about-sex-gender-brains-and-behavior-a-guide-for-academics-journalists-parents-gender-diversity-advocates-social-justice-warriors-tweeters-facebookers-and-ever/

Can you share the links they've posted? Would be interesting to see what "lady brain science" is floating around out there.