Push and pull factors in transitioning

[GCScot]

People's motivations in making a change can be categorised into 'push' and 'pull' factors. 'Push' factors are your dissatisfaction with your current state. 'Pull' factors are the perceived advantages of another state.

I started thinking about the possible push and pull factors for people transitioning their gender. It made me realise that there are two distinct groups:

Group 1 = mainly motivated by push factors. i.e. they are unhappy with their sexed body. They include:

• Women/girls with internalised misogyny

• Gay people with internalised homophobia

• Non-genderconforming autistic people who have internalised sexist stereotypes as fact

• Survivors of abuse/trauma who are trying to protect themselves from future abuse/trauma

Group 2 = mainly motivated by pull factors. i.e. they are attracted to being/being perceived to be the opposite sex. They include:

• People who are sexually aroused by the idea of themselves being the opposite sex (AGP/AAP)

• People who think they can gain a personal advantage (sporting/competitive/sexual access) by claiming to be the opposite sex

Group 1 are mainly children and young adults, especially girls. They have gender dysphoria. Because they are trying to permanently and convincingly escape their sexed bodies, they are more likely to undergo medical modifications (surgery, artificial hormones). They have a diverse range of vulnerabilities as a result of their own personal life experiences and the prejudices of society

Group 2 are mainly adult men. We might say they have gender euphoria. Because they aren't trying to escape their sexed bodies they are unlikely to undergo medical modification, preferring temporary and superficial modifications such as clothes, make up, prosthetics, names and pronouns. The majority of the aggressive vocal TRAs come from this group

TRAs deliberately merge the two groups

They know they can utilise the sincerity, vulnerability and innocence of Group 1:
Trans appears in childhood - it must be innate!
Trans appears in childhood - it can't be sexually motivated!
Trans people have gender dysphoria - they're vulnerable!
Look at the lengths they'll go to (surgery, hormones) - they must be genuine!

But when it comes to the motivations of trans people, the TRAs suddenly switch track. They emphasise the pull factor acting on Group 2 ("wanting to be a wo/man") rather than the push factor acting on Group 1 (trying to escape your sexed body). Because any detailed discussion of just why someone might want to escape their body would raise awkward questions about whether wanting to transition is really a cause for celebration and affirmation.

I think it's very important we distinguish between the two groups when discussing objections to gender ideology. They are very different groups with different motivations and consequences. I think part of the reason so many trans allies are resistant to changing their opinions or even discussing the issue is because most of the trans people they know are Group 1s. They recognise these people's sincerity and vulnerability and have been duped by Group 2 TRAs into not examining the underlying push and pull factors of transition

So is Paula a 'transperson' or not?

He's one of the trans-est I've seen.

At that point they stop being trans and become a cis man. You have to stay in character.

I am speaking from experience of trans people in my family, as well as observing the online behaviour of many others.

Yes, unfortunately he is

Right.

So why are you calling him 'he'? Wouldn't that make him 'she' according to you?

And 'she' should have access to women's spaces, correct?

So how do you explain that to biological women? Why are you making their spaces less safe by subjecting them to Paula? What have they done to deserve that? How is that right or fair?

I think we'd all like an answer to this.

It follows the brilliant saying: women run from things and men run toward things.

There’s one other type of people who identify as trans. They are what I would once have called the ‘misfits’ of society. They would have been kids on the periphery of all the different social groups in their teens, not sporty, not clever, not musical, not attractive. They would have been children who went under the radar in school.
Now, those very same people have discovered that if they self identify as trans (and often physically disabled and ND), they garner a great deal of attention because suddenly it’s cool to be ‘marginalised’; they see celebrities championing their cause, MPs telling parliament that these people deserve love, and kindness, and support - even going so far as telling them that these people deserve laws to be changed so that men can have unfettered access to women’s spaces, and women should be able to get their breasts removed as its empowerment. So now, those once considered misfits are at the apex of the pyramid of identity.

No, I feel no obligation to call that person ‘she’. He is a serial sex offender and I think it’s offensive to refer to him as ‘she’.

I haven’t said anywhere that women should share spaces with him or other trans women…

Your OP is very well put and it makes really important strategic points about who is vulnerable and who isn’t and who is benefiting from the conflating and obscuring that is being done. Thank you so much for this.

I'm interested in the boundary between push and pull. When does not wanting to be your actual sex cross-over into wanting to be, or even believing you are, the opposite sex? Why do some people not stop at removing or reducing or trying to hide their sex characteristics? Why do they then move on to trying to mimic opposite-sex characteristics and stereotypes?

But what's the difference between him amd other transwomen? Sexual assault aside? If you call some she, surely you have to call then all she.

Your willing cognitive dissonance is baffling if not surprising to me. It's all a bit Sturgeon.

Don't you get bored of coming here, to a place that has seen through this style of reasoning, making cases that get dismantled, and then repeating it forever?

It's like reading an anti-vaxx ramble.

Imagine telling someone to put 'sexual assault aside' just so you can argue about pronouns. Their behaviour is way more important than their identity to me.

Nice try. By allowing tranwomen into women's spaces YOU are putting sexual assault aside. You want to deal with it after the event. We hold that this is unacceptable. See the issue?

Exactly, we don't know which of them are like this, so it's a hard no to all.

But you also think he's a woman ...

So you can understand our confusion, I'm sure

I have said multiple times now that I don’t think trans women should have access to women’s spaces

I have said he’s a trans woman

So a man then?

Yes, a trans woman is male

So why use the word 'woman'?

Or she for any of them.

I don’t believe it’s as black and white as you think it is. The reality for a lot of trans people is that they are female and live as a man, or male and live as a woman.