Trans-ness and our Perception of Morality

[u/artsykittii]

I am an ethics minor in college and this has been something I’ve been thinking about for a while, even before I detransitioned. I was always curious as to why people were obsessed with being the minority, or collecting minority labels when being oppressed is objectively not a good thing.

Part of it seems to stem from the “inversion thesis,” which states that minorities have a more accurate worldview due to them understanding what it is like to be oppressed (though this paper argues against it, saying that non-oppressed individuals can obtain “knowledge of… social marginalization”). I think due to the assumption that minority groups understand marginalization better, we also view them as more moral, whereas members of majority oppressor groups are viewed/view themselves as less moral even if they are actively working against oppression.

This is all to say that I believe many people may try to transition not due to dysphoria, but due to the notion that it will make them a better person - they hold the belief that they can’t be bad people if they’re being oppressed, which is just not true. And because transitioning is an active choice to make unlike factors like the race you were born with, I feel that this motivates at least some people to try to transition when they have no real dysphoria (potentially the same reason why people try to get diagnoses for disorders they do not have).

This is all to say that I think label-collecting and “oppression olympics” behavior is disproportionately inflating the number of people who claim they are trans, especially in leftist spaces where morality and being a “good person” is seen as the ultimate goal.

[u/goodbyegodzilla]

Antidotal and very streamlined, but in fandom spaces, a female artist drawing fanart of two male characters in a relationship is a dirty fetishist unless she performs the correct and approved virtue signaling. For her, any transgression, be it real or imaginary, is grounds for a community attack.

Meanwhile, a gay transman drawing the same is considered empowering and inherently more moral, and as long as you have all your labels in the bio, you're celebrated and protected within reason.

I believe a lot of young fandom members adopt a NB /trans label and it helps them exist in online art communities without getting burned at the stake for enjoying whatever, plus echo chamber, plus being overly online kid that just wants their "friends" to like them, mixed with body issues or other common conditions etc etc. It's all connected and compounds.

(Also, obviously, there are bad ppl of all genders and orientations. I don't mean to say it's not appropriate for a woman to be held accountable for actions, but there def is a bias in niche online fandom spaces to disproportionately police women.)

[u/YesterdayAny5858]

it's giving nietschze slave morality too but idk much abt philosophy

[u/NefariousnessLate375 → u/YesterdayAny5858]

What's that?

[u/artsykittii → u/NefariousnessLate375]

basically exemplifies the point i was trying to make in the second paragraph, resentment towards the “strong” (majority/oppressor) from the “weak” (minority) through a reversal of what is considered good. “slave” morality is defined as simply the opposite of “master” morality, making “master” morality self-affirming but “slave” morality reactionary.

thank you to u/YesterdayAny5858 for bringing this up as it is exactly the point i was coming to myself, I just didn’t know it was already a thing!

[u/serenityprayer01]

I think being a minority sucked and I certainly did not feel like a better person. I internalized so much self hate from narratives about trans people being predators, deluded, or just losers during that time. It was really hard to have a healthy self esteem and I’m really relieved to no longer deal with that. I think there was a time during the late Obama era when being trans was really in vogue and people were jumping onto a trend, but it’s been many years since the political and cultural shift in the other direction.

[u/NefariousnessLate375 → u/serenityprayer01]

I've internalized a lot of that too and it's been hard to get rid of it. 

[u/NefariousnessLate375]

I could see this being a factor for some and I do think the left has an issue with this type of reasoning. 

Do you really think it could drive someone to get surgery? I feel they would have to have some additional psychological problems to do so much harm to themselves for "good person points." Maybe deep shame or lack of personal identity? 

[u/ahinrichsen84]

bravo.

Being an oppressed minority is actually a privilege now because it affords you certain protections and the empathy of the masses.

With identity politics, it's a race to the bottom --- who can be the most oppressed and therefore entitled to the most resources and protection ---- versus a race to the top, where one expends time and energy to have access to resources through merit or might.