Very normal for National Public Radio to praise a book where—as the author charmingly phrases it on his Twitter account—"J.K. Rowling dies screaming." How did a beloved children's author become a cartoon villain, spun into such horrendous fictions? At least
The entire situation is horrifying. The way the left-captured media have simply gone along with -- and promote -- this destructive religion, including the wholesale character and career cancellation of "heretics," is terrifying. I never would have expected to see the casual acceptance and condonation by politicians, journalists, and others of the monstering, violent imagery, and outright threats directed at people who refuse to bend the knee to this insanity.
This whole thing will not end well. The truth will come to light eventually and here we go ...another medical scandal...opioids, repressed memories, lobotomies.
You ask quite correctly: “Why are we prescribing the same drugs to gender-nonconforming kids that we use to chemically castrate sex offenders?”
This is a very powerful rhetorical comparison. It should also be noted though that these drugs are also used to manage prostate cancer. I have been subjected to their side effects off and on since my diagnosis over nine years ago.
Just to be clear, the side effects are numerous and hellish. My temperature regulation system does not work. My libido has been destroyed and all sexual function obliterated. My motivation has now to be manufactured at every moment with my will for there is no chemistry now helping me here. My emotions are unstable and unpredictable. And most alarmingly, minerals leech out of my bones, leaving them weak and brittle, as a consequence of which I now have a permanently slipped disc and two crumbling vertebrae, at L5 just above my pelvis and T11 just below my rib cage, which make movement painful and endanger further injury.
It is about time more chaps with prostate cancer shared their experiences of these drugs and talked to their grandchildren about what they really do. They are not, on any planet, benign! They are extreme poisons directed at shutting down endocrine function in order to slow down the spread of a very serious and debilitating disease. They are not magic sweeties that will turn you into what you want to be.
Anybody who says that these pharmaceuticals are safe, reversible or benign is a liar. Any medic lying about this should be struck off the register.
I frankly become more and more enraged by the propaganda about “puberty blockers” daily because despite suppressing the cancer to a degree, they also eventually stop working, leaving only the collateral damage to a body. Has any long term research ever been done to examine the effects on prepubescent children of these drugs? Has knowledge of their long term effects on chaps with PC ever been fed back into the lives of children?
I do not understand why the medical profession in one place promotes them as safe (for children ffs!) and in another warms about their side effects and knows they cause permanent damage.
I am afraid I do not have it in me to write a proper article about this, including the experience of chaps like me, interviews with doctors, pharmacologists and other relevant scientists, in order actually to expose the truth about these drugs.
I’m so sorry to hear this happened to you. It’s also happened to a lot of women with endometriosis. They used to give it to them, too. It didn’t help most of them with their condition, but many of them were left with lifelong pain and health problems just as you describe. I believe they even testified before Congress about the dangers of Lupron, in the USA.
The chaps with prostate cancer and women with endometriosis given this drug who suffer lifelong health problems should band together to write an open letter of concern about putting children on these drugs for years.
I believe also that certain other cancers and syndromes are treated with GnHR agonists.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to pen a draft and pass it round for comment and to discover who else has been prescribed these drugs.
I suspect though that finding sufficient numbers of chaps with pc who are bothered by the drugs AND who can relate this back to TRA ideology might not be easy.
I was diagnosed relatively young (53) with all my critical faculties intact and with a highly bodily/physical lifestyle. I was also brought up by a rather unusual mother who encouraged me to know my own body, which I have always done - often, but certainly not always, to the chagrin of medics who prefer patients to take the pills with a “thank you doctor” and a grateful countenance.
My doubts arise because most men of my generation really have absolutely no idea what is happening in their bodies, let alone that what the doc is giving them might also be used for other syndromes and conditions, that what are side effects and collateral damage for one might be the desired outcome for another.
I think nevertheless it is a good idea. I cannot afford to “subscribe” here in order to be able to write more than comments. Perhaps I should think more about this and use my own Substack as a springboard for such an open letter. Although first I should finish my book, which will touch on these matters obliquely.
Thank you for the idea of an endometriosis and prostate cancer Substack!
This is horrible. I don't cease to be shocked (again and again and again!) at how we can be at this place! I guess it's better than getting numb and not caring, but it is truly sickening how such a beautiful and important artist has been so unfairly vilified. I can't bear to listen to this NPR report about this author, just like I couldn't bear to listen to the NPR woke librarian report yesterday someone told me about. Thank you, Eliza, for bearing witness to the outrageous and sad state of affairs with NPR. It needs to be "called out," as the Wokerati put it. BUT--to end my comment with a positive thought: one millennial friend of mine who has become gender critical in her views approaches her friends with this excellent strategy: "what exactly in JKR's essay did you disagree with?" In almost all cases they haven't actually read it. When they do read it, the conversation can begin.
thank you. i tried this with someone who called me a terf for agreeing with Ms Rowling. They blustered and just repeated I was a transphobe. mThe majority of these TRA are not interested in discussion. Merely domination
Paedophiles are enraged with the women who obstruct their access to their prey. The determination of those men whose brains are adversely affected by testosterone and pornography such that their fetish is now a compulsion is something we can understand only in theory. That is the logic behind their seemingly illogical behaviour. Their rage stems from frustration and their narcissism. The general public assume their rage is because trans activists have something to be angry about. That "trans rights" are at stake. We know differently.
I've been reading some older versions of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by mental health clinicians in the US) that were very clear that females diagnosed with transsexualism (older term that denotes gender dysphoria and desire for the appearance and social roles of the opposite sex) are almost ALWAYS same-sex attracted. One of the professional criticisms of "gender identity disorders" is that they pathologize same-sex attraction.
Also, it was only since DSM IV (1990s) that the term "assigned sex" was used -- there's no mention of it in DSM III (1980s).
The history of integrity in journalism isn't all that great. Although I'll readily concede that more than a few journalists have put their lives on the line to put the facts on the table.
For example of the former case, see:
"The Spanish–American War (April–August 1898) is considered to be both a turning point in the history of propaganda and the beginning of the practice of yellow journalism. .... Many newspapers ran articles of a sensationalist nature and sent correspondents to Cuba to cover the war. Correspondents had to evade Spanish authorities; usually they were unable to get reliable news and relied heavily on informants for their stories. Many stories were derived from second or third hand accounts and were either elaborated, misrepresented or completely fabricated by journalists to enhance their dramatic effect."
The entire situation is horrifying. The way the left-captured media have simply gone along with -- and promote -- this destructive religion, including the wholesale character and career cancellation of "heretics," is terrifying. I never would have expected to see the casual acceptance and condonation by politicians, journalists, and others of the monstering, violent imagery, and outright threats directed at people who refuse to bend the knee to this insanity.
This whole thing will not end well. The truth will come to light eventually and here we go ...another medical scandal...opioids, repressed memories, lobotomies.
You ask quite correctly: “Why are we prescribing the same drugs to gender-nonconforming kids that we use to chemically castrate sex offenders?”
This is a very powerful rhetorical comparison. It should also be noted though that these drugs are also used to manage prostate cancer. I have been subjected to their side effects off and on since my diagnosis over nine years ago.
Just to be clear, the side effects are numerous and hellish. My temperature regulation system does not work. My libido has been destroyed and all sexual function obliterated. My motivation has now to be manufactured at every moment with my will for there is no chemistry now helping me here. My emotions are unstable and unpredictable. And most alarmingly, minerals leech out of my bones, leaving them weak and brittle, as a consequence of which I now have a permanently slipped disc and two crumbling vertebrae, at L5 just above my pelvis and T11 just below my rib cage, which make movement painful and endanger further injury.
It is about time more chaps with prostate cancer shared their experiences of these drugs and talked to their grandchildren about what they really do. They are not, on any planet, benign! They are extreme poisons directed at shutting down endocrine function in order to slow down the spread of a very serious and debilitating disease. They are not magic sweeties that will turn you into what you want to be.
Anybody who says that these pharmaceuticals are safe, reversible or benign is a liar. Any medic lying about this should be struck off the register.
I frankly become more and more enraged by the propaganda about “puberty blockers” daily because despite suppressing the cancer to a degree, they also eventually stop working, leaving only the collateral damage to a body. Has any long term research ever been done to examine the effects on prepubescent children of these drugs? Has knowledge of their long term effects on chaps with PC ever been fed back into the lives of children?
I do not understand why the medical profession in one place promotes them as safe (for children ffs!) and in another warms about their side effects and knows they cause permanent damage.
I am afraid I do not have it in me to write a proper article about this, including the experience of chaps like me, interviews with doctors, pharmacologists and other relevant scientists, in order actually to expose the truth about these drugs.
But somebody should. Very soon!!
I’m so sorry to hear this happened to you. It’s also happened to a lot of women with endometriosis. They used to give it to them, too. It didn’t help most of them with their condition, but many of them were left with lifelong pain and health problems just as you describe. I believe they even testified before Congress about the dangers of Lupron, in the USA.
The chaps with prostate cancer and women with endometriosis given this drug who suffer lifelong health problems should band together to write an open letter of concern about putting children on these drugs for years.
That’s a very good idea!
I believe also that certain other cancers and syndromes are treated with GnHR agonists.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to pen a draft and pass it round for comment and to discover who else has been prescribed these drugs.
I suspect though that finding sufficient numbers of chaps with pc who are bothered by the drugs AND who can relate this back to TRA ideology might not be easy.
I was diagnosed relatively young (53) with all my critical faculties intact and with a highly bodily/physical lifestyle. I was also brought up by a rather unusual mother who encouraged me to know my own body, which I have always done - often, but certainly not always, to the chagrin of medics who prefer patients to take the pills with a “thank you doctor” and a grateful countenance.
My doubts arise because most men of my generation really have absolutely no idea what is happening in their bodies, let alone that what the doc is giving them might also be used for other syndromes and conditions, that what are side effects and collateral damage for one might be the desired outcome for another.
I think nevertheless it is a good idea. I cannot afford to “subscribe” here in order to be able to write more than comments. Perhaps I should think more about this and use my own Substack as a springboard for such an open letter. Although first I should finish my book, which will touch on these matters obliquely.
Thank you for the idea of an endometriosis and prostate cancer Substack!
This is horrible. I don't cease to be shocked (again and again and again!) at how we can be at this place! I guess it's better than getting numb and not caring, but it is truly sickening how such a beautiful and important artist has been so unfairly vilified. I can't bear to listen to this NPR report about this author, just like I couldn't bear to listen to the NPR woke librarian report yesterday someone told me about. Thank you, Eliza, for bearing witness to the outrageous and sad state of affairs with NPR. It needs to be "called out," as the Wokerati put it. BUT--to end my comment with a positive thought: one millennial friend of mine who has become gender critical in her views approaches her friends with this excellent strategy: "what exactly in JKR's essay did you disagree with?" In almost all cases they haven't actually read it. When they do read it, the conversation can begin.
thank you. i tried this with someone who called me a terf for agreeing with Ms Rowling. They blustered and just repeated I was a transphobe. mThe majority of these TRA are not interested in discussion. Merely domination
Yeah, I think that can only possibly work with people you have established some trust with.
Paedophiles are enraged with the women who obstruct their access to their prey. The determination of those men whose brains are adversely affected by testosterone and pornography such that their fetish is now a compulsion is something we can understand only in theory. That is the logic behind their seemingly illogical behaviour. Their rage stems from frustration and their narcissism. The general public assume their rage is because trans activists have something to be angry about. That "trans rights" are at stake. We know differently.
I've been reading some older versions of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by mental health clinicians in the US) that were very clear that females diagnosed with transsexualism (older term that denotes gender dysphoria and desire for the appearance and social roles of the opposite sex) are almost ALWAYS same-sex attracted. One of the professional criticisms of "gender identity disorders" is that they pathologize same-sex attraction.
Also, it was only since DSM IV (1990s) that the term "assigned sex" was used -- there's no mention of it in DSM III (1980s).
Ik
Just the other day NPR did a segment on the (probably bad) Texas law and did not bother to speak with a single politician who supported it:
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/11/1092117544/texas-doctors-are-worried-for-their-patients-losing-access-to-gender-affirming-c
I'm not saying I support the Texas law. I'm saying that usually journalists at least try to give the appearance of getting both sides of the story.
"usually" - quote, unquote.
The history of integrity in journalism isn't all that great. Although I'll readily concede that more than a few journalists have put their lives on the line to put the facts on the table.
For example of the former case, see:
"The Spanish–American War (April–August 1898) is considered to be both a turning point in the history of propaganda and the beginning of the practice of yellow journalism. .... Many newspapers ran articles of a sensationalist nature and sent correspondents to Cuba to cover the war. Correspondents had to evade Spanish authorities; usually they were unable to get reliable news and relied heavily on informants for their stories. Many stories were derived from second or third hand accounts and were either elaborated, misrepresented or completely fabricated by journalists to enhance their dramatic effect."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_Spanish%E2%80%93American_War