Is Transgenderism a Fad?

I have long believed that the current public embrace of transgenderism has been actively producing more transgendered children. Since transgenderism is a belief with no basis in biology, you can produce transgender children by using mind control or other brainwashing techniques.

Now, a Brown University professor, Lisa Littman, has offered a preliminary study tending to prove these points. Steven Hayward reports on the Powerline blog (via Maggie’s Farm):

... evidence suggests that the recent sharp rise in the number of young adolescents declaring themselves to be transgender appears to be correlated with peer group enthusiasm along with intense social media activity. To be blunt, it is a fad, like eating Tide pods.

Littman examined what is called rapid-onset gender dysphoria and traced it to the influence of peer group discussions and of internet access. Here is the abstract of her study:

In on-line forums, parents have been reporting that their children are experiencing what is described here as “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” appearing for the first time during puberty or even after its completion. The onset of gender dysphoria seemed to occur in the context of belonging to a peer group where one, multiple, or even all of the friends have become gender dysphoric and transgender-identified during the same timeframe. Parents also report that their children exhibited an increase in social media/internet use prior to disclosure of a transgender identity. The purpose of this study was to document and explore these observations and describe the resulting presentation of gender dysphoria, which is inconsistent with existing research literature.

She concludes:

Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) describes a phenomenon where the development of gender dysphoria is observed to begin suddenly during or after puberty in an adolescent or young adult who would not have met criteria for gender dysphoria in childhood. ROGD appears to represent an entity that is distinct from the gender dysphoria observed in individuals who have previously been described as transgender. The worsening of mental well-being and parent-child relationships and behaviors that isolate AYAs from their parents, families, non-transgender friends and mainstream sources of information are particularly concerning. More research is needed to better understand this phenomenon, its implications and scope.

The more the media touts the truth of transgenderism, the more children decided to become transgender. You can call it a fad or an epidemic, which makes it correspond to other forms of psychological contagion, as in the late Victorian outbreak of hysteria. See also Ethan Watters' book, Crazy Like Us.

Hayward explains:

Indeed, the sharp rise in the reported number of young people identifying as transgender has a logistic growth curve that in any other phenomenon would be described as an “epidemic.”

After Brown University sent out a press release recommending Littman’s research, it was forced by transgender activists to change its mind.

Hayward explains:

Brown University’s public relations department sent out a press release promoting the article for the sensible reason that a PLoS One is a serious journal. They obviously didn’t recognize that Prof. Littman had stepped on the academic equivalent of a third rail: touch this subject and you die, because it threatens to undermine the “authenticity” of gender identity politics, though there is considerable incoherence about this whole matter, since “gender” is said to be arbitrary and up to you to determine for yourself.

Then, Brown caved to pressure and corrected itself:

As you may be aware, Brown late last week posted a news announcement regarding research on gender dysphoria published by a faculty member in the School of Public Health. In light of questions raised about research design and data collection related to the study on “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” the University determined that removing the article from news distribution is the most responsible course of action.

Of course, Brown did not have the power to suppress the article, though activists will surely want that to happen. Now, many distressed parents are now circulating a petition arguing in favor of Littman’s research. Among the horrifying stories we read this from a parent whose child discovered transgenderism on the internet and decided that she had to be it:

I have a 14yo. Daughter, who never showed symptoms of any gender dysphoria until finding the internet, tumblr and YouTube told her she was trans., bc she hated her breast & periods. Now, she’s denamed her female self and thinks testosterone-mastectomy-hysterectomy-phallaplasty is her only solution. As a family we have seen, depression-anxiety-possibly autism behavior. Though now brainwashed into this ideology she won’t cooperate to look for underlying issues. SILENCE IS CHILD ABUSE, PLEASE RESEARCH, FOR OUR DEVASTATED FAMILY!

Hayward draws the only reasonable conclusion. Transgenderism is not merely a harmless adolescent fad. It causes children, with the assist of physicians, to mutilate their bodies. Statistics explain that most children who declare themselves to be transgender change their minds when they reach puberty. As the condition is normalized, this will become less likely. We also know that a quarter of those who undergo reassignment surgery will commit suicide.

Hayward concludes:

It’s one thing to eat a Tide Pod and throw up for a few hours. It’s another thing to decide to mutilate your body permanently because of an enthusiasm you picked up on social media and from an ecstatic peer group. My second prediction (after Prof. Littman being denied tenure and leaving Brown in short order) is that 20 or 25 years from now there is going to be a lot of data coming out about the number of suicides among people who regretted their chemical/surgical alterations of their “identity.” It will make the enthusiasm for eugenics a century ago look like a benign picnic by comparison.