Joanna Santos reveals how the advice and practice of Sasha Ayad of The Metaphor of Gender YouTube channel stop gender variant people from reaching an understanding of their true selves.
Guest post by Joanna Santos
Recently I wrote a comment on the Metaphor of Gender YouTube channel regarding my objection to its dogmatic roots. The channel is run by Sasha Ayad. After having caught the gist of the approach, I realized the channel was about using a soft-pedaled and "kind" approach towards questioning gender variance and more specifically transitioning.
I had looked up the author's previous appearances and discovered unsurprisingly that they subscribed to the gender critical school more broadly. More specifically they make use of the Ray Blanchard two type taxonomy model where the variance is supposedly steeped in sexual dysfunction rather than in essence or a way of being.
The need for help
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| Sasha Ayad runs The Metaphor of Gender channel |
Gender variant people have historically needed help from others, therapists included. As undesirable members of society they save suffered from guilt and shame at one end of the spectrum to crippling dysphoria at the other.
This angst has been used as confirmation of the idea that their dreams are sourced in mental illness rather than being primarily caused by the rejection from others.
When gender variance is presented as a mental illness it is easier for gender critical "therapists" to present their "care" as a possible solution to thier suffering.
I have always advocated that every person is unique and that transitioning is not for everyone. I do not think all people who experience any kind of gender variance should go through hormone replacement therapy and undergo surgery. We are facing a broad and diverse spectrum of gender identities and expressions here.
But in this case even gender dysphoric clients may be led to believe that there is a chance that they can overcome their suffering through "exploratory therapy", rather than by transitioning medically and/or socially. They are encouraged to put their transitioning process on hold in hope of becoming "normal".
Talk therapy is a natural part of many transgender people's journeys, and can be of great help in such processes. But it makes a huge difference if the therapist is respectful of transgender identities as opposed to having a hidden agenda of trying to stop as many from transitioning as possible.
Gender critical dogma
Gender critical dogma is very much founded on the idea that transgender women usurp the role of cisgender women. Trans women represent bad faith actors trying to inhabit a place where they have no business being.
Despite the small fraction of gender variant people who fully transition medically, the entire spectrum of gender variance is seen as a threatening avalanche on the brink of destroying the social order in general and the traditional roles of women in particular. This is a type of moral panic.
Gender critical thinking is based on the idea that the concept of gender is a cultural invention. Gender identity is not real. Gender should always be reduced to what they call "biological sex" (a socially constructed concept that glosses over intersex variation and the reality of gender incongruence). In this way traditional gender roles and differences become biological, "natural" and unchangeable.
Even if some of the gender critical activists see themselves as feminists, or even "radical feminists", their overall project is at the core very conservative. If this is your basis, gender variance can only be seen as a mental illness.
If you see gender variance and gender dysphoria as an illness, the logical goal is to "cure" it. But the fact is that the international health manuals, the DSM-5 and the ICD-11, do not consider gender dysphoria or gender incongruence mental illnesses. They stress that any therapy should give the patient room to be who they truly are.
Authenticity should be a main goal
Expression and identity combine differently in each person. Authenticity should be a main goal of every person's journey. Hiding is an unnecessary and destructive evil.
It is so much easier to explore and express yourself in a culture where the old rigid binary model is replaced by a more elastic and tolerant approaches.
Are there those who experiment with modes of transition they might later rethink? Sure, that might happen. Life is messy. But note that the percentages of transition regret are at much, much, lower levels than regular plastic surgery. Large systematic reviews of gender-affirming surgeries typically find regret rates around about 1 percent overall. Reviews of cosmetic surgery outcomes among cis people reveal regret rates around 5–20 percent, depending on the procedure and follow-up period.
Abusing client openness
Some gender criticals have decided that a "kinder and gentler" approach towards dissuading transitions is a good way to derail the validity of decisions others have made. The crises that some people face for a time are used as ammunition to question the validity of the entire transgender experience.
Some people do indeed have fetishes which they regale in or suffer in angst from, and some of these fantasies are associated with their gender variance. Some of these people fall victim to dysfunction models until they come to a baseline where peace and balance are restored. This does not stop the gender critical activists from using these experiences as archetypes for what is wrong with the imaginary "transgender ideology" movement.
As soon as you see gender variance as a natural phenomena and not an aberration, respect for the individual's choices becomes essential.
Only each person knows what is right for them and the often difficult period of indecision some face should not be used as fodder for a badly intentioned push to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Joanna Santos
Trans activist Andrea James on Sasha Ayad
"Sasha Ayad is a conservative American psychologist and a key figure in anti-transgender extremism. Ayad and collaborator Stella O’Malley are world leaders in the gender critical movement attacking transgender people, especially children....
Ayad is connected to a number of anti-trans organizations, most of which are just part of a web farm with reciprocal links to make Ayad’s allies and their fringe ideologies seem more numerous and influential than they are."
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