I was immediately struck by the observation that all the scholars, or at least the lead scholars, who weigh in are male. I am wondering where the fuck the women scholars are on this issue. Every single statement in that section was to me self evident.
I am by training, and as a matter of identity, a developmental biologist. My entire framework for understanding biology and biological science writ large is that history matters. Cell fate choices, tissues, organs, and their FUNCTION, don’t just appear. They are the result of programming and biological interpretation of programming, For example the heart, and therefore the cardiac capacity, of a 15-year old male and a 15-year old female are different because of 15 years of developmental history.
I believe that the only thing keeping more women scholars from weighing in on this is an ideological commitment to anything that right wingers oppose.
Hi Emmy, Nice to meet you. Thanks for sharing some of what you know.
We do work with female scholars, some of whom, such as developmental biologist Emma Hilton, are lead authors in these amicus briefs.
We collaborate with Carole Hooven, biologist, author of T: The Story of Testosterone, Kathleen Stock (philosopher); and Lisa Littman, a physician-scientist-researcher who noticed Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria in girls and coined the term ROGD.
That commitment to oppose Trump and Republicans is one deterrent; fear of harassment, even death threats, is another; fear of job loss (Hooven and Stock both lost their university positions) is another. It's been a tough time to be a TERF.
Also, if you care to dig deeper into the amicus briefs (all the links are in the story), you might find some more interesting reading. In any case, welcome! We'd love to benefit from any contributions you might be able to make or perhaps are already making.
Superb compendium, and I can only imagine how much work you all put in to put this together. It is shameful that not a single Democrat in Congress either signed on to the Congressional amicus brief or filed their own. May SCOTUS listen and do the right thing by women and girls. 🙏🙏🙏
Yes - and how strange to expect the conservative Justices, and only those, to agree with us. But we need the win, and will take it however it may come. Let's hope the liberal ones read these amicus briefs and consider those "obvious points" with an open mind.
Yes, we can hope that liberal justices show some intellectual honesty on this issue, but in light of the dissenting opinions in Skrmetti, that seems unlikely. As the saying goes, their minds are so open on “trans” that their brains have fallen out, as seems to be the case with the leadership of the Democratic Party, most of academia and the MSM.
I completely agree that we need to take wins however and from wherever they come. That’s something that people wedded to their own tribes above all else never understand.
Yes: "But how can you collaborate with So and So? They're evil."
"They might seem evil to you,' I respond, "and they might do things I adamantly oppose, but if they agree with me on this...that's called bipartisan cooperation."
It is remarkable to witness so many people forgetting the distinction between choosing which candidates one might vote for in an election and encouraging legislators to work across the aisle wherever common ground exists on proposed legislation. We used to know how to do that in this country, but these days it seems increasingly to be a lost art, to the disadvantage of us all.
Keep fighting the good fight, ladies! Let's hope the decision made is in support of science and commonsense.
Yup! Glad you're with us.
I never thought I would be in agreement with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, my sworn enemies as a gynecologist.
Such interesting -- and disturbing -- bedfellows these days. But better than unthinking tribalism, right?
Life is a rich tapestry. 😂
Can you believe we live in a world that's so stupid that this is even a thing? And that it's reached the Supreme Court? My God.
I was immediately struck by the observation that all the scholars, or at least the lead scholars, who weigh in are male. I am wondering where the fuck the women scholars are on this issue. Every single statement in that section was to me self evident.
I am by training, and as a matter of identity, a developmental biologist. My entire framework for understanding biology and biological science writ large is that history matters. Cell fate choices, tissues, organs, and their FUNCTION, don’t just appear. They are the result of programming and biological interpretation of programming, For example the heart, and therefore the cardiac capacity, of a 15-year old male and a 15-year old female are different because of 15 years of developmental history.
I believe that the only thing keeping more women scholars from weighing in on this is an ideological commitment to anything that right wingers oppose.
I am seriously interrogating my obligations here.
Hi Emmy, Nice to meet you. Thanks for sharing some of what you know.
We do work with female scholars, some of whom, such as developmental biologist Emma Hilton, are lead authors in these amicus briefs.
We collaborate with Carole Hooven, biologist, author of T: The Story of Testosterone, Kathleen Stock (philosopher); and Lisa Littman, a physician-scientist-researcher who noticed Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria in girls and coined the term ROGD.
That commitment to oppose Trump and Republicans is one deterrent; fear of harassment, even death threats, is another; fear of job loss (Hooven and Stock both lost their university positions) is another. It's been a tough time to be a TERF.
Also, if you care to dig deeper into the amicus briefs (all the links are in the story), you might find some more interesting reading. In any case, welcome! We'd love to benefit from any contributions you might be able to make or perhaps are already making.
Hi Lisa, thanks so much. We really appreciate your support!
Superb compendium, and I can only imagine how much work you all put in to put this together. It is shameful that not a single Democrat in Congress either signed on to the Congressional amicus brief or filed their own. May SCOTUS listen and do the right thing by women and girls. 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks so much, Susan. Fingers crossed. Would love to attend since I live in DC.
Thank you for all your good work in fighting this fight.
It's just amazing that we have to keep spelling out the most obvious, clear, rational points.
How in god's name did we get to a point where we have to defend reality?
Yes - and how strange to expect the conservative Justices, and only those, to agree with us. But we need the win, and will take it however it may come. Let's hope the liberal ones read these amicus briefs and consider those "obvious points" with an open mind.
Yes, we can hope that liberal justices show some intellectual honesty on this issue, but in light of the dissenting opinions in Skrmetti, that seems unlikely. As the saying goes, their minds are so open on “trans” that their brains have fallen out, as seems to be the case with the leadership of the Democratic Party, most of academia and the MSM.
I completely agree that we need to take wins however and from wherever they come. That’s something that people wedded to their own tribes above all else never understand.
Yes: "But how can you collaborate with So and So? They're evil."
"They might seem evil to you,' I respond, "and they might do things I adamantly oppose, but if they agree with me on this...that's called bipartisan cooperation."
It is remarkable to witness so many people forgetting the distinction between choosing which candidates one might vote for in an election and encouraging legislators to work across the aisle wherever common ground exists on proposed legislation. We used to know how to do that in this country, but these days it seems increasingly to be a lost art, to the disadvantage of us all.
Yes. The tribal divide keeps widening.
Except among TERFS. :-)