If you were in online techie chat communities since at least "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog", you might think at least 10% of people were trans.
I figured the disproportionate representation was because it was easier to "pass" online, and/or easier to find acceptance.
And other people came to just treat them as people.
We also learned, from daily casual conversations, that being trans (like being gay, or other minority) can be really, really rough. Partly because the Real World wasn't nearly as accepting. Whether it's strangers who flip out and try to physically harm them, employers who don't want to hire them, or their own families.
To fix this, I think the Real World will have to swing the pendulum a bit, while everyone figures out how to be accepting and supportive.
I don't know what the answers are, but I assume some mistakes will be made, some of the loudest people will turn out to be mistaken, there will be some miscommunication as everyone gets to the same baseline understanding, some people will try with the best of intentions but do things that they later see as silly and counterproductive, a lot of people will have the rough right ideas and uncertainty but will be drowned out, etc.
Eventually, we'll hit critical masses of understanding, find the right notes and conventions, etc., and we'll collectively have advanced as people.
I suspect that the biggest risk in the figuring-out period in the US is actually politicians promoting news calculated to cause backlash. Consider a political operator/outlet a few years ago that decides to make the public bathroom sex/gender access (and spinning it in an awful way) a big news story right before elections. I could be mistaken, but I thought at the time that an actual trans rights activist would've been making a grave error to pick just before elections to make their big media push -- I didn't see it getting concessions from Democrats looking for the transgender vote nor generating much sympathetic understanding, but I did see it riling up some Republican voters, to get to the polls over "culture war".
We've come so far with accepting people as people, and supporting people how they need. Don't get discouraged from keeping doing that, by learning periods and malicious actors.
Because my response is to how I think the original piece would be picked up.
I think people aren't going to read that piece and think "let's only consider this one thing, in isolation, and not consider the context in which this is happening".
> If you were in online techie chat communities since at least "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog", you might think at least 10% of people were trans.
The actual number is very hard to measure. Two explanations for this off the top of my head are:
1) Some people will decline to publicly identify as trans for safety reasons. The safer it gets to be out as trans, even in pockets of the US, the more people will. (See the infamous graph of left-handedness over time.[1])
2) Many people aren't aware that what they've experienced lines up with trans identity or gender dysphoria until they encounter someone else who's experienced the same thing (whether in person or in the media).
Much as with LGB folks, there's a generational trend where younger folks are more likely to identify as trans and/or nonbinary. In a recent Pew Research survey[1], 5.1% of people from ages 18-29% identify that way; 1.6% of those 30-49; and 0.3% of those 50+.
> 2) Many people aren't aware that what they've experienced lines up with trans identity or gender dysphoria until they encounter someone else who's experienced the same thing (whether in person or in the media).
This is probably true. But I rather suspect that the reverse is also true. Many trans people don't realise that their feelings and experiences line up with lots of people who are happily cis-identifying (but were perhaps raised in an environment that was more accepting of gender-nonconformity).
I don't doubt it! I personally spent a long time trying to figure out if I was really a trans woman or simply an effeminate man, and believe me, things would have been easier (though not easy) and a lot less expensive if I were the latter. Also, as someone who experienced bullying in grade school for appearing to be an effeminate cis boy, I'm sure that a more accepting environment benefits everyone.
> trying to figure out if I was really a trans woman or simply an effeminate man
As someone who has also thought about this a lot, I'd be interested in what conclusion you came to about what the difference is between a trans woman and an effeminate man. The only differences I have been able to come up with are:
1. Dysphoria specifically about the body and/or a desire to change one's body
2. Different views on what gender is (i.e. if you believe gender is performative then you might consider yourself to be a woman whereas someone else with the same personal experience of gender but who views gender as physical might consider themselves to be a man).
Based on you saying deciding you are trans has been expensive, I'm guessing you might fall into category 1? But I'd be particularly interested if you have in mind any differentiating factors that aren't on my list.
Do you suppose there is an opposite overcount from people that think or say they might be trans? Some people may find it exceptionally convenient to their political and social standing.
I figured the disproportionate representation was because it was easier to "pass" online, and/or easier to find acceptance.
And other people came to just treat them as people.
We also learned, from daily casual conversations, that being trans (like being gay, or other minority) can be really, really rough. Partly because the Real World wasn't nearly as accepting. Whether it's strangers who flip out and try to physically harm them, employers who don't want to hire them, or their own families.
To fix this, I think the Real World will have to swing the pendulum a bit, while everyone figures out how to be accepting and supportive.
I don't know what the answers are, but I assume some mistakes will be made, some of the loudest people will turn out to be mistaken, there will be some miscommunication as everyone gets to the same baseline understanding, some people will try with the best of intentions but do things that they later see as silly and counterproductive, a lot of people will have the rough right ideas and uncertainty but will be drowned out, etc.
Eventually, we'll hit critical masses of understanding, find the right notes and conventions, etc., and we'll collectively have advanced as people.
I suspect that the biggest risk in the figuring-out period in the US is actually politicians promoting news calculated to cause backlash. Consider a political operator/outlet a few years ago that decides to make the public bathroom sex/gender access (and spinning it in an awful way) a big news story right before elections. I could be mistaken, but I thought at the time that an actual trans rights activist would've been making a grave error to pick just before elections to make their big media push -- I didn't see it getting concessions from Democrats looking for the transgender vote nor generating much sympathetic understanding, but I did see it riling up some Republican voters, to get to the polls over "culture war".
We've come so far with accepting people as people, and supporting people how they need. Don't get discouraged from keeping doing that, by learning periods and malicious actors.