So, letting people be who they want to be is a good thing. That’s shocking I tell you, just shocking. All I want to know is, how much time and money went into this research when you could’ve just asked trans folks how they felt for free
The way research works is they probably did ask trans folks, and then systematically collected their responses. Research often is the collection of many many people’s responses, collected in a rigorous standardized way. They are not just saying “this is the case for some trans kids” they are saying “this is the majority experience” for the trans kids they studied/ which is a powerful and useful thing to be able to say.
Yes it seems obvious but especially with social justice and medical research even if it is well known having a peer reviewed paper saying means that when some cis person is arguing the opposite you have a peer reviews paper to go, “look it’s been studied you are wrong”.
Research studies inform policy and medical practice. It is a good thing that this paper has been made because it can be used as evidence.
Minority groups benefit from research that looks at how things affect them and gives them a voice that is harder for policy makers to ignore. Bashing this study because it is obvious isn’t helpful, this study could seriously help trans kids, especially if it had been published in main stream media, because parents who are cis and don’t know anything about trans issues or don’t know if anyone they know is trans might find out their kids are and search for info and this will pop up. And because it’s from a trusted source, it’s research! they might think “oh maybe the best thing I can do for my kid is let them transition”.
Poo pooing research that gives minorities a voice because it’s obvious for the maringalised group but not the hegemonic one hurts the marginalized group because the hegemonic group is the group that needs to learn how “obvious” it is.
^ This.
My dudes, I get that academia is an ivory tower and frequently bullshit and marginalized groups are the experts on their own lived experience. But we gotta stop devaluing social science with this “or you could have just asked us!” bull.
If I ask you, One Trans Person™, about a subject, then I am going to get your answer on what is good for you. If you ask me, One Trans Person™, about a subject, then you are going to get my answer on what is good for me.
Neither of us are the Trans Hegemony. We do not speak for the entire community – and sure, on issues like “should we let trans kids transition” the answer might be self-evidently obvious, but on other issues, the answer might not be so clear-cut.
Studies like this, on the other hand, show overwhelming, entire-group trends, and are our best defense against counterarguments like “well I’m glad it worked out for you, but that’s not always the case” or “but how many of those kids detransition later” or “how much can this really matter?”
Mooncustafer 