HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Science Denialism on the Left: Sex, Gender, and Trans Identity

Views: 921
In "The End of Gender," Debra Soh stands up for impartial research—and for LGBTQ rights.
----
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?sub...
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
-----
How biologically different are men and women?

In 2017, Google engineer James Damore sparked a controversy for writing a leaked memo arguing that women were underrepresented in tech because of innate differences, not sexist bias. Damore was fired by Google and widely attacked in the media.

Debra Soh, a psychologist and journalist whose writings have appeared in Scientific American, Quillette, Playboy, and elsewhere, came to his defense. "No, the Google manifesto isn't sexist or anti-diversity," she wrote."It's science."

Soh is the author of a new book, The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society. She tells Reason's Nick Gillespie that she's worried about the growing denial of science she sees, especially on the left. Her book is organized around what she says are misrepresentations of science that have become commonplace, such as "gender is a social construct," "sexual orientation and gender identity are unrelated," and "gender-neutral parenting works." At the top of her list is the idea that "biological sex is a spectrum." Biological sex is a function of the gametes an individual produces, which can only be either eggs or sperm; therefore, she argues, biological sex is binary by definition.

Soh also argues that sexual orientation is innate, reminding her readers that the slogan born this way was a motto of the gay rights movement. She worries about the consequences when prepubescent children undergo surgery and take hormones to change their gender: She thinks the majority of children who say they feel more like the opposite sex will grow up to be gay, not transgender.

Soh is a liberal who believes that all adults should be treated equally under the law and allowed to do whatever they want with their bodies. But she worries that activists are distorting scientific findings to fit their political views and trying to silence researchers who are making good-faith efforts to understand the human condition. Those efforts aren't just eroding academic freedom, she argues; they're undermining the scientific method, the best means we have for gaining knowledge about the world.

"Activist science, no matter how passionate or well-intentioned, is not science," she writes. "Activism has no place in scientific research."

Interview and narration by Nick Gillespie. Edited by John Osterhoudt.

Photos: Photo: Autumn Berend/CC BY-SA; Karl Mondon/TNS/Newscom; Charles Hutchins/Flickr; Eric Parker/Flickr; Ted Eytan/Flickr; Ted Eytan/Flickr

Full Text and Links: https://reason.com/video/sex-trans-identity-and-science-denialism
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Should the Government Provide Health Insurance to All Americans? A Soho Forum Debate1:31:39
Should the Government Provide Health Insurance to All Americans? A Soho Forum Debate
ReasonVids
764 views
Thumbnail for Tech Visionary George Gilder: "Bitcoin is the Libertarian Solution to the Money Enigma."19:22
Tech Visionary George Gilder: "Bitcoin is the Libertarian Solution to the Money Enigma."
ReasonVids
870 views
Thumbnail for LA Is Spending Over $1 Billion to House the Homeless. It’s Failing.9:31
LA Is Spending Over $1 Billion to House the Homeless. It’s Failing.
ReasonVids
861 views
Thumbnail for Live From Washington, DC: The Space Shuttle Era is Over (Thank God!)2:34
Live From Washington, DC: The Space Shuttle Era is Over (Thank God!)
ReasonVids
839 views
Thumbnail for How Brazil’s Libertarian Movement Helped Bring Down a President15:28
How Brazil’s Libertarian Movement Helped Bring Down a President
ReasonVids
809 views
Thumbnail for Ron Paul says the rEVOLution is just starting2:51
Ron Paul says the rEVOLution is just starting
ReasonVids
744 views
Thumbnail for George Will: "I owe my current happiness to Barack Obama"0:31
George Will: "I owe my current happiness to Barack Obama"
ReasonVids
724 views
Thumbnail for Going to DC to Protest | Ride and Roast33:05
Going to DC to Protest | Ride and Roast
Terrence Popp
1562 views
Thumbnail for What Should Have Happened at the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings5:31
What Should Have Happened at the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings
ReasonVids
840 views
Thumbnail for Anaheim Reacts  to Police Shootings2:44
Anaheim Reacts to Police Shootings
ReasonVids
819 views
Thumbnail for Rep. Thomas Massie: 'Republicans Want to Spend More Money Just as Much as Democrats Do.'32:41
Rep. Thomas Massie: 'Republicans Want to Spend More Money Just as Much as Democrats Do.'
ReasonVids
965 views
Thumbnail for The family kept a big secret from grandma 🥹 | Majically News0:27
The family kept a big secret from grandma 🥹 | Majically News
invidious
68 views
Thumbnail for Remy: Old Town Road (Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus Parody)2:05
Remy: Old Town Road (Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus Parody)
ReasonVids
879 views
Thumbnail for Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.7:29
Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.
ReasonVids
913 views
Thumbnail for Peter Thiel on Facebook, Technology, and the Higher Education Bubble9:41
Peter Thiel on Facebook, Technology, and the Higher Education Bubble
ReasonVids
837 views
Thumbnail for LIVE | L2 Empuraan Pre Booking Started | Actor Mohanlal | Prithviraj Sukumaran | Empuraan Release1:00
LIVE | L2 Empuraan Pre Booking Started | Actor Mohanlal | Prithviraj Sukumaran | Empuraan Release
invidious
55 views
Thumbnail for Why McCain Won't Talk About Ideas2:06
Why McCain Won't Talk About Ideas
ReasonVids
860 views
Thumbnail for Balaji Srinivasan: Coronavirus Will Shape This Decade Like 9/11 Shaped the 2000s52:19
Balaji Srinivasan: Coronavirus Will Shape This Decade Like 9/11 Shaped the 2000s
ReasonVids
912 views
Thumbnail for David Stockman on Wall Street, The Federal Reserve, and The Great Deformation56:35
David Stockman on Wall Street, The Federal Reserve, and The Great Deformation
ReasonVids
859 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: How Free Are You?5:57
Stossel: How Free Are You?
ReasonVids
847 views
Thumbnail for Hanukkah officially canceled0:07
Hanukkah officially canceled
AOUisgay
420 views
Thumbnail for What's the Biggest Threat to Free Speech?3:37
What's the Biggest Threat to Free Speech?
ReasonVids
918 views
Thumbnail for What are You Smoking? Introducing Marijuana Drug Safety Testing4:09
What are You Smoking? Introducing Marijuana Drug Safety Testing
ReasonVids
813 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle