Gender gentrifiers: The Starbucks theory of sexual identity

[IwantToRetire]

I began to wonder if socioeconomic status affects how much you overcomplicate things, from your coffee order, to your choice of bread, to your conceptualisation of gender. If you are a regular at the De Beauvoir deli, you are likely to have some kind of “privilege” or have had some in your life cycle. This changes how you interact with the world. You have been socialised to be picky, with countless experiences of going to restaurants that encourage you to express niche tastes. You have reached the self-actualisation stage of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, with the economic bandwidth to meditate upon your identity — maybe even explore it with an expensive shrink. “I’m a tomboy who has kissed a few girls” can easily turn into a lengthy, multifaceted identity, not least because the latter sounds more interesting. This, in turn, feeds into the media landscape, where the new descriptions for gender identity are quickly disseminated. One Guardian writer last year, for instance, celebrated the “non-binary finery” of Joan of Arc in the play I, Joan.

https://thecritic.co.uk/gender-gentrifiers/

For some reason the word ‘bandwidth’ makes me want to punch a wall.

This just sounds like ignorant nonsense.

Ime I think this holds some truth. I work with people who don't have the most basic of needs and they are certainly not worrying about there gender identity. I think there is a degree of privilege to have the head space to think about this. I also think naval gazing and social media massively contributes to how dominant and toxic this issue has become.

It's a bit of a word salad, but I think there's something worth of consideration there.

The people I know of who are heavily bought into gender/identity ideology are certainly in a position of privilege in respect of having a lifestyle where far more basic needs are taken as given as is the consequences of policies like self id ever likely to have a negative impact on them personally.

The people I know of who are heavily bought into gender/identity ideology are certainly in a position of privilege in respect of having a lifestyle where far more basic needs are taken as given as is the consequences of policies like self id ever likely to have a negative impact on them personally.

My experience too.

Although I do remember reading in the letter a few years ago written by the former therapist at the Tavistock in Leeds (think that's where it was, not London), that she had at least one client who lived in extreme poverty and there was a possibility that a gender identity of the opposite sex provided a route to them having to have new clothes and focussing on the needs of their body (soap was mentioned). But I definitely think that's rarer than university educated, middle class (white) people identifying into the most victimised of victims group and becoming special.

And, critically, in many (not all) cases, their parents becoming special too.

I have wondered this myself. I was watching The Last of Us with my dd and she commented on the fact that no one has time for mental health issues when you are trying to survive even though the situation breeds mental health issues. And of course she is right to an extent, the issues are there, they just come out in different ways or are delayed. No one has time for navel gazing and identifying into more difficult roles because they need to eat and their role is difficult enough.
All the trans women I've known personally (only 3 admittedly) were sexually abused as boy and are now essentially performing a role. I don't get the nuances or psychology of it but it seems reasonable to assume that the Café navel gazers of the metropolitan youth have too much headspace to fill and not enough decent education or self awareness to fill it.

I was rather disappointed that the writer didn't explore this further. When I got to the end, it was 'oh, is that it?'

I'd certainly agree that it's an affliction, generally speaking, of those who have too much time and headspace - the extremely disadvantaged women I've worked with were too busy trying to survive & make sure their children did also to spend time with such fripperies.

Does the world really care about who I am? I don't think so.

Thinking of some of my Scottish friends who are indeed at the self-actualisation level of the pyramid (a lot of the time). I suspect they find it easier to relate to someone who is like them, with a generally naice laife, but has issues with their gender identity or body dysmorphia. Those problems, although a bit outside of their ken, are relatable, because they can imagine (or know) friends having those problems.
It would be harder for them (and me, to be quite honest) to relate to someone who has grown up (usually with some kind of traumatic background) and ended up in Cornton Vale. I don't know people like that, my friends don't know people like that.
Yes, we privileged. I grew up with a supportive family, although we were quite poor. That was great fortune for me.

If gender ideology was more than a religious belief system, it would apply across the world to all societies In some form or other. Like, off the top of my head, the sex binary. That reads like something you'd make up on the toilet during a boring but untroubled day.

I think it’s generally right that you need a degree of economic and social freedom to head down this path - as pp’s say, it’s not so much evident in poorer countries, or generally in poorer or less privileged communities in the UK. I also think, as certain identities become more familiar (trans, say) then additional identities are developed either to refine, or provide (‘interesting’) alternatives. Trans then becomes an umbrella term either as charities such as Stonewall battle to stay relevant, or different groups still claim allegiance to institutions such as Pride.
if everyone still adhered to the social contracts of respecting the rights of other groups and not harming children, I think it would all be celebrated as part of a colourful, energetic, diverse society.

I have only read the quoted para, but I completely agree that gender ideology is a luxury belief.

All the trans women I've known personally (only 3 admittedly) were sexually abused as boy and are now essentially performing a role.

I think this is significant and I wonder how many trans-identifying people were abused as children. The self-loathing and ultimate rejection of their own bodies is a symptom.

I'm sure Douglas Adams touched on something like this in one of the Hitchhiker books. I'll have a look.

I'm not convinced by that article. Coming from a place of privilege, and being aware of that, the writer uses privilege as a lens and doesn't look more widely.

It does sound perfectly reasonable as a theory: 'You must have a lot of free time and no other worries to be able to spend time and energy on something trivial'. And it may be true when it comes to obsessing over endless microvariations.

But it doesn't fit with the data for the overall phenomenon of massive increases in trans identity. They show a correlation with autism, sex abuse, care experience - hardly markers of privilege and a life otherwise unburdened.

Yup

‘The history of every major galactic civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Enquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. ‘For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question How can we eat?, the second by the question Why do we eat?, and the third by the question Where shall we have lunch?’

I think she's right, but I also think this is just a fancy way of saying that gender identity is an indulgence adopted by well-off middle-class young adults with too much time on their hands. You rarely see working-class children claiming to be non-binary or demanding to be called "ze". And outside of Western consumerist society the notion would simply be laughed at. Does anyone imagine that the average 18-year old in Ethiopia is putting their pronouns in their email?

I was interested that she also referenced the recent increase in people reporting their 'diagnosis' on the Myers-Biggs test, an archaic parlour game that it seemed incredible anyone could ever have taken seriously when I first encountered it more than 20 years ago.

It's all caused by the internet isn't it? back in the day when the only tools we had for analysing our personalities were multiple choice questionnaires in Jackie or Cosmopolitan everyone knew they were nonsense.

If you were marooned on a desert island, the sole survivor of a shipwreck, I don’t think you’d be worrying about your pronouns or gender identity. You’d be trying to survive from one day to the next. There’d be nobody there to affirm your gender identity anyway.

So yes, if someone declares themselves as a non-binary pansexual furry demiboy with He/They pronouns, it’s hard to imagine they’re coming from anywhere other than a very privileged background.

I think it would be useful to be able to categorise the different types of trans identities. There is, and always has been, people for whom it is a trauma response after a lot of homophobic or sexist bullying or abuse. This is the only group consistently found in different countries, rich and poor.

There are vulnerable people, like those with autism, for whom it is sold as a solution to their issues, but the issues didn't start with their gender non conforming, like the first group. These are western kids with higher expectations and more free time, but for whom the pieces don't quite fit to meet the potential they are told they have.

Then there is the TRAs, who enjoy the power and platform to shout at people. They like that the old system, where the most listened to people had the most knowledge and experience, is flipped on its head and the loudest voices are those with the most time to piss about on line. These type of reactionary inadequates are very much only found in rich countries where parents can indulge their children to piss about. This group would not exist if they were needed to fetch water or look after the farm animals.

I think she's refering to one particular type of people who have gender identities - the privileged studenty types in the now-deleted BBC article referred to. You can read it in the archives if you post this into the search box:

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230327-how-young-people-are-shaking-off-gender-binaries

Like many members of Gen Z, 20-year-old Rain Ashley Preece views gender outside of the Western established norms.“I think it is limiting everyone in society by saying there are only two genders – male and female,” says Cardiff-based Preece, who identifies as transgender male and uses he/they pronouns. “People may feel like they are both, neither or a bit of one or the other. I don’t personally feel completely masculine, even though I mostly see myself as a boy.”

“I feel like everyone experiences gender a little differently, and it's almost impossible to place people in a definitive box,” says 21-year-old Carden Cappi, a student who identifies as “trans, demiboy and genderqueer” and uses they/them pronouns. “The idea of a spectrum enables people to be more individual and express their identity and experience a little better.”

Archive link to BBC article
https://archive.is/ilc6X

God, I cringe reading this stuff. And to think I’m embarrassed about photos existing of me with my mullet.

How does this explain why 'looked after' children are over represented at gender clinics as they're unlikely to be privileged. Hence Blackpool, very deprived and containing more than its fair share of children's homes, has relatively huge numbers of children claiming trans identities.

I agree and it also doesn't explain the co-morbidity between autism and gender issues.

I think this is because there are a number of different reasons that people identify as trans.

I think that adults, particularly males, who discover they are trans at a later stage in life do so for different reasons to some kids.

I do think that the social contagion element, where it doesn't apply to vulnerable children, is a based on privilege.

Isn't it a pity that the tavi didn't keep appropriate records.

They're a different, unrelated group to the privileged young people who are trying to make themselves seem more interesting. Are those students in the BBC article getting referrals to gender clinics? Most of them are just labelling themselves with new names, identities and pronouns, getting a new hairstyle and wardrobe and posting on social media.

This article isn't about troubled children. And it's not about middle-aged men (with children) suddenly declaring that they've always 'felt like a woman'. The 'trans umbrella' is very wide and covers numerous groups of people which have little in common with each other.