In other news: 94% of active Moonies report being very happy selling flowers on street corners, therefore nobody should worry about young people ditching their families and joining the Unification Church. (Am I doing this right?) My latest for UnHerd
As a detransitioner whose partner grew up in the unification church, this article feels tailor made for me. We've both noticed a lot of similarities in different facets of our experiences, it's part of the reason I even started to view the trans movement as a cult.
I also literally took the USTS 2022 before detransitioning and reported satisfaction with my transition (which I believed at the time, but anyone in my life could probably tell you I was not happier). This data is so obviously useless, but activists don't seem to care much about actual science.
My testimony will not be reported by trans activists & enablers however I fear it is far too common. My gender transition to female identifying was initially successful and I had a good surgical outcome. I had transitioned with the mistaken belief that my lifelong inferiority complexes, social anxiety, and acute shyness were the result of being a woman in a man's body.(an old cliche but my transition was over 30 years ago!) I knew as an adult that I could not actually remanufacture my biological creation and as a 6ft 2in male with large extremities I had difficulty passing. I had actually believed my emotional problems would be resolved however instead my issues were amplified and I became an emotional prisoner of fear and guilt. I had lost my job because my anxieties and fears were hindering me from performing my tasks. I fell into a very dark place realizing my conscience was convicting me that I was not living truthfully. I had my own spiritual awakening and knew I had to restore my true male identity legally without any surgical intervention. I will keep my breasts as I don't need scars on my chest and my neo vagina has closed and I accept I cannot have sex but am with that. Again I feel compelled to warn that many people (esp. young girls) are venturing into the trans world seeking resolve to similar emotional issues that I had many years ago. There are people who are happy with their gender transition however I fear many are being deceived by gender propaganda that will not only destroy their lives but the lives of their families and others in their life.
This is why the term "gender ideology" is so triggering to trans activists; once they admit that this is a belief system, all of their arguments will fall apart. That's why the first and foremost thing in their belief system is that "this is not a belief system."
I grew up in a cult-like religious group. Having mentally clawed my way out by around age 20, I have ever since been perhaps extra aware of the psychological tactics ideology-based groups use to keep people in.
Not only will you likely believe yourself to be happy and satisfied while in, because you're taught that adhering to the tenets of the group is the only way to be so; but unhappiness is not a sign to question the validity of the group's teachings. It's a clear sign those negative external forces the cult is protecting you from are getting to you, and you need to work harder on being a good cult member and convincing yourself of the truth. As we've all seen in gender-based subreddits.
Excellent analogy! Everyone in the cult is 100% happy with the cult. I refer anyone to (ex Moonie and now cult coercive control expert) Steven Hassan’s BITE model. Linking to the wiki page for more links and backstory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hassan
The new version of the US Heroin Addicts Survey is out as well. An amazing 99.9% of heroin addicts report feeling a giddy well-being feeling right after shooting up. They report that stealing stuff to get the money for the next fix is also highly satisfying.
As a detransitioner whose partner grew up in the unification church, this article feels tailor made for me. We've both noticed a lot of similarities in different facets of our experiences, it's part of the reason I even started to view the trans movement as a cult.
I also literally took the USTS 2022 before detransitioning and reported satisfaction with my transition (which I believed at the time, but anyone in my life could probably tell you I was not happier). This data is so obviously useless, but activists don't seem to care much about actual science.
My testimony will not be reported by trans activists & enablers however I fear it is far too common. My gender transition to female identifying was initially successful and I had a good surgical outcome. I had transitioned with the mistaken belief that my lifelong inferiority complexes, social anxiety, and acute shyness were the result of being a woman in a man's body.(an old cliche but my transition was over 30 years ago!) I knew as an adult that I could not actually remanufacture my biological creation and as a 6ft 2in male with large extremities I had difficulty passing. I had actually believed my emotional problems would be resolved however instead my issues were amplified and I became an emotional prisoner of fear and guilt. I had lost my job because my anxieties and fears were hindering me from performing my tasks. I fell into a very dark place realizing my conscience was convicting me that I was not living truthfully. I had my own spiritual awakening and knew I had to restore my true male identity legally without any surgical intervention. I will keep my breasts as I don't need scars on my chest and my neo vagina has closed and I accept I cannot have sex but am with that. Again I feel compelled to warn that many people (esp. young girls) are venturing into the trans world seeking resolve to similar emotional issues that I had many years ago. There are people who are happy with their gender transition however I fear many are being deceived by gender propaganda that will not only destroy their lives but the lives of their families and others in their life.
This is why the term "gender ideology" is so triggering to trans activists; once they admit that this is a belief system, all of their arguments will fall apart. That's why the first and foremost thing in their belief system is that "this is not a belief system."
I grew up in a cult-like religious group. Having mentally clawed my way out by around age 20, I have ever since been perhaps extra aware of the psychological tactics ideology-based groups use to keep people in.
Not only will you likely believe yourself to be happy and satisfied while in, because you're taught that adhering to the tenets of the group is the only way to be so; but unhappiness is not a sign to question the validity of the group's teachings. It's a clear sign those negative external forces the cult is protecting you from are getting to you, and you need to work harder on being a good cult member and convincing yourself of the truth. As we've all seen in gender-based subreddits.
Excellent analogy! Everyone in the cult is 100% happy with the cult. I refer anyone to (ex Moonie and now cult coercive control expert) Steven Hassan’s BITE model. Linking to the wiki page for more links and backstory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Hassan
The new version of the US Heroin Addicts Survey is out as well. An amazing 99.9% of heroin addicts report feeling a giddy well-being feeling right after shooting up. They report that stealing stuff to get the money for the next fix is also highly satisfying.
Poetic Outlaws recently posted an Ursula LeGuin poem which is very pertinent here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/poeticoutlaws/p/leaves?r=h12a6&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
1) Remember when everybody knew the value of online surveys (i.e. somewhere below that of citing wikipedia in a term paper)?
2) Ever wonder how much $/hr “Talia Perkins” makes to snipe on Unherd?