I enjoyed listening to all of the episodes of wider lens but am disappointed with the activist tone and narrow mindedness of this reboot. The hosts are convinced there is no rational possibility a brain could be wired in such a way to make someone more aligned with the opposite sex, and that any resulting medicalization could positively impact those identifying as trans. It’s all a “delusion” in their minds and must be treated as such. No exceptions.
Feelings of gender incongruity, and the resulting expression there of, has a long history yet the hosts seem to dismiss this believing it can all be explained by the experiences of ROGD tweens or middle aged autogynephiles “newly discovered” in the 90s by Blanchard. It’s just that simple to them. Try explaining why a 7 year old child, having had no exposure to social media or awareness of impending puberty can have gender dysphoria. No, there is currently no validated brain structure, neural pattern, or genetic test to explain why people feel this way but they do and it’s not necessarily due to a social contagion, sexual fetish, or unrealized same sex attraction. Please stop gaslighting them. In a related context, we don’t understand why same sex attraction exists but most now accept it as normal variation. It seems hypocritical not to do the same for those with gender issues.
Yes, many trans people have been taken advantage of by medical sheisters but there is no nefarious woke conspiracy at work here regardless of how convinced the hosts are of WPATH’s intentions. Get out of your bubble, take your tin foil hats off, and get back to viewing this issue from a wider lens.
I’ve always thought Stella was open minded and enjoyed her perspective but now she’s mainlining the de-trans Genspec kool-aide and can be heard gasping while clutching her pearls at the many travesties committed against those who feel duped. I feel for them too but you affirm their victimhood riotously yet criticize those affirming gender identity. Mia even believe’s there should be a reckoning akin to the Nuremberg trials for anyone in the medical community participating in affirming care. Her words. Speaking of Mia, she is a train wreck and at times infuriating with her own cognitive dissonance and inability to open her mind up to the remote possibility of alternative explanations for “trans”. It’s complex and, aside from the current the social contagion, is likely rooted in neuroscience that we just don’t understand. It’s not always black and white.
Then there’s the way they conflate gender ideology with medical policy. If the hosts want to argue the merits of gender ideology that’s fine but they shouldn’t weaponize a very nuanced and subjective concept to dismiss the needs of those with an innate sense of gender inconsistent with what their chromosomal sex would otherwise dictate. There seems to be two camps, those that want to argue about gender and those that care about understanding the nature of what it is to feel this way at a deep level. Both are important but the biology is murky and using anti-trans politics to inform decisions on healthcare is just as bad as promoting puberty blockers for every child struggling with their own identity. Anti-trans rhetoric is quickly becoming an ideology unto itself and both hosts continue to stoke the flames.
Finally, while I find Stella and Mia to be frustratingly single minded, I’ll keep listening because its an important topic and needs to be addressed above the political hype typically used to stir up both extremes. Many who identify as trans don’t feel owed any special privileges, want to live unassuming lives, and agree that allowing post pubescent boys, or men, competing in female sports as unfair. Trans people do however deserve equal freedoms, respect, bodily autonomy, and the ability to go to the bathroom in accordance with their presentation, just like everyone else. Those who abuse this to gain access to women’s spaces, can be dealt with like any other offender- harshly. Stella and Mia are however trying to engage with these complex issues responsibly and should be commended and respected for putting themselves out here in a hostile environment. I remain hopeful that they find guests with alternate viewpoints that aren’t just bitter for having felt “cancelled“. I’m also hopeful they can moderate their own vitriol and fear mongering. This only further drives a wedge in a continually misinformed society at the expense of misunderstood human beings. At the end of the day ROGD will disappear and arguments around the trans phenomenon will lose their luster. People struggling with their gender will still remain however. What then?
BTW, Who is the third host? He doesn’t seem to participate much but seems to be pretty level headed.
