In reply to Timmd:
> I have a friend with PTSD who can tend to block out aspects of her life a little bit, but I still know that she's much better than me at maths, even with her mental health problems. You're assuming that it's the same people she is working with after transitioning, too.
I'm not making that assumption. The woman in question is extrapolating observations (her students apparently asked her fewer questions after her transition) to mean something they very likely do not. There could be all sorts of reasons for their changed behavior - that she has transitioned from male to female (and not in the other direction) is one of the less likely ones. Some, feminists included, even question the validity of her female-identity.
> In saying there's 'a school of thought', how much scientific credibility does it have, exactly? There's a school of thought that crystals have medical properties, and that homosexuality can be cured - so without any details, it says nothing at all just to say there's a school of thought.
Until last year it was a disorder in the DSM-5 and remains as such outside of the US. Just because being trans might be considered a disorder doesn't in any way imply homosexuality should be too - that is a strawman argument if ever I heard one. Unfortunately, it is such a emotive issue, and because "acceptance" is seen as such an important corrective measure to lessen stigma, it is hard to have a rational debate on the issue. In fact, the criterion of "distress and dysfunction" that allowed it to be excluded from the DSM-5 may even be a result of relative stigmatisation - i.e. as stigmatisation reduces, the relative distress from internal factors might rise, with a high likelihood of it returning to the DSM-5. But as I've heard it said by trans people themselves, its not exactly a novel idea.
Considering we label anything from body dysmorphia to trichotillomania to anorexia as psychological disorders, I don't find it a stretch to consider someone feeling their body is wrong (most of us simply do not consider our gender right or wrong) to the point it requires dramatic surgical correction, as suffering a psychological disorder either.
We're supposed to be living in times where mental health issues are accepted. Doing everything possible to pretend transgenderism isn't a mental illness seems odd and may actually be counter-productive.
> What would they be, from your perspective?
Its impossible to say with any certainty because I can't find her study detailed anywhere. But the number of ways these sorts of claims can be flawed are surely obvious?
Without any evidence, I refuse to accept these sorts of headlines on face value. Why should I? Similar claims have been exposed as nothing other than clickbaity garbage before and the article itself provides zero detail to tease out the study itself.
GIven they are essentially saying any woman I work with in the same role is likely to be more highly skilled and capable than I am, unless you enjoy being a self-flagellating male, I don't see why it should be accepted without evidence. Reverse the genders in question, make the same claim, and its unlikely such an article would even see the light of day. At the least it would elicit howls of derision. In fact, you may just have a glowing example of "female privilege" right there!
> Don't forget that being a man in the first place, it's pretty understandable and logical that you won't be so aware of male privilege. Straight people can't know what it is to be gay for example, or women know what it's like to be kicked in the balls.
Women likely have no conceptualization of the privilege they carry, one that goes beyond immunity to a kick in the groin. The constant quest for victimhood or externalising differences or perceived inequality is tiresome.
I don't follow your response to my "is it even a privilege that men can't be mothers and are instead relegated to being income earners?"
Post edited at 03:31