In our podcast, I, Stella O'Malley, alongside Sasha Ayad, embark on a profound exploration of the psychological and cultural influences shaping the evolving dynamics of "gender." By engaging in conversations with researchers, doctors, therapists, parents, detransitioners, and various individuals, our podcast stands as essential listening for those seeking to understand the complexities of the current gender landscape.
I'm curious what y'all think of "gender identity" being somewhat analogous to "personal identity". From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
SEP: "Outside of philosophy, the term ‘personal identity’ commonly refers to properties to which we feel a special sense of attachment or ownership. My personal identity in this sense consists of those properties I take to 'define me as a person' or 'make me the person I am'."
But I wish people would deprecrate if not anathematize "sex change" -- at least put the phrase in scare quotes. No one -- at least no human -- can change sex. Unless you want to endorse the Kindergarten Cop definitions -- i.e., boys have penises and girls have vaginas?
"Change your genitalia, change your sex! Act now! Offer ends soon!"? That's the odious consequence of egregious euphemisms, of sloppy language.
As Francis Bacon once put it, "Shoddy and inept uses of words lay siege to the intellect in wondrous ways."
Thank you -- will look forward to reading that piece of yours.
But I've certainly gotten some mileage out of that quote of Bacon's over the years. Though I was somewhat surprised to find out that the basic idea goes back at least as far as Confucius:
"If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish."
I'd first run across that idea and quote in a Tweet by "la scapigliata" -- though don't seem to have bookmarked that one of hers -- in the context of the "debate" over sex and gender:
Author of "Born in the Right Body", and some "incisive" comments on those topics, though I think she's wide of the mark on a couple of important points.
I'm curious what y'all think of "gender identity" being somewhat analogous to "personal identity". From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
SEP: "Outside of philosophy, the term ‘personal identity’ commonly refers to properties to which we feel a special sense of attachment or ownership. My personal identity in this sense consists of those properties I take to 'define me as a person' or 'make me the person I am'."
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/#ProbPersIden
But I wish people would deprecrate if not anathematize "sex change" -- at least put the phrase in scare quotes. No one -- at least no human -- can change sex. Unless you want to endorse the Kindergarten Cop definitions -- i.e., boys have penises and girls have vaginas?
"Change your genitalia, change your sex! Act now! Offer ends soon!"? That's the odious consequence of egregious euphemisms, of sloppy language.
As Francis Bacon once put it, "Shoddy and inept uses of words lay siege to the intellect in wondrous ways."
That’s such a good quote from Francis Bacon. I must learn it, I’ve never heard it before, thanks!
I think you make a great point and it has inspired me to write a piece on this subject
Thank you -- will look forward to reading that piece of yours.
But I've certainly gotten some mileage out of that quote of Bacon's over the years. Though I was somewhat surprised to find out that the basic idea goes back at least as far as Confucius:
"If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish."
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1337998-if-names-be-not-correct-language-is-not-in-accordance
I'd first run across that idea and quote in a Tweet by "la scapigliata" -- though don't seem to have bookmarked that one of hers -- in the context of the "debate" over sex and gender:
https://twitter.com/lascapigliata8
Author of "Born in the Right Body", and some "incisive" comments on those topics, though I think she's wide of the mark on a couple of important points.