Entry 616: YouTube Therapy

Terrible news this week from the Supreme Court. We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less awful. I remember when the leak first occurred, a lot of conservative commentators were insistent it was some sort of left-wing ploy, but I was thinking why? So we can be demoralized twice? I don't really see how leaking the result early helped either side in any tangible way. Anyway, I posted about this ruling already on this blog, and my overall feelings haven't changed in any appreciable way, so I'll leave it there.

Another big decision handed down by the court this week has to do with guns, and in its own way, it's worse than the abortion decision. With the overturn of Roe at least abortion access can still be granted at the state level; the gun decision explicitly forbids states from making their own laws to curb firearm proliferation. I'm not optimistic about gun violence getting markedly better anytime soon.

Instead of focusing on firearm restrictions, the best bet for gun control advocates might be to emphasize firearm training -- make owning a gun like flying a plane. The reason I say this is that of the gun people I know, training is the biggest area of agreement between us. Although, I bet they wouldn't even go for meaningful training requirements if gun control advocates started pushing for them, because it would be gun control advocates pushing for them. That's a huge part of the problem. Owning the libs or whatever. We need the gun nuts to think this is their idea, and even then it's iffy. They always cite mental health as the problem (which it is, in part), but never do anything about it. Well, I guess this got passed this week, but from what I understand, it's not very substantial. 

The other big decision this week came not from the Supreme Court, but from FINA, the world swimming body. They've effectively banned transfeminine athletes from competing in women's events. I'm in favor of the decision, but it still depresses me, because it emphasizes how messed up so much of the trans discourse is in our country right now.

Many folks on the right are legitimately and openly anti-trans, and they are passing or trying to pass legislation that's incredibly damaging (Texas bill) and/or humiliating ("bathroom bills") to trans people. On the flip side, there is a contingent on the left -- probably not the majority, but at least a sizeable vocal minority -- who thinks you are an anti-trans bigot, no better than the supporters of the Texas bill, if you're of the opinion that trans-women and cis-women should sometimes be treated differently because they are in fact biologically differently. (Even just talking about the biological difference between sexes will get you dragged in some circles.)

It's just such an unhealthy discourse when somebody as diligent and sensitive as Emily Bazelon gets called out as anti-trans by somewhat prominent social commenters for writing a very good piece for NYT magazine on gender therapy. I really think this works against the cause of trans rights because it demonizes reasonable, well-intentioned could-be allies. If you define as an enemy everybody who is not 100% in lockstep with you, you will inevitably have a lot of enemies.

As to the sports thing, I don't even really get why trans-women were ever allowed to compete with cis-women,* especially in contact sports. I mean, imagine if Connor McGregor was allowed to fight in the women's division. Even after two years of hormone therapy, he could literally kill somebody. It is not in any way anti-trans to acknowledge this reality. Saying trans-women shouldn't compete in the same division as cis-women is no more discriminatory than is saying heavyweights shouldn't box against flyweights. There aren't a ton of transfeminine athletes at the moment, but there will probably be more in the future, and so they can compete together in a separate division, or maybe they can compete in some sort of "open" division (in fact FINA said they are going to create something like this). There are ways to ensure everybody gets to participate without pretending like obvious athletic advantages conferred by male puberty do not exist. Maybe someday medicine will advance to the point that these advantages can be totally neutralized as part of the transition process, but we clearly aren't there yet.

*Which isn't to say I think athletes like Lia Thomas did anything wrong. They didn't. They followed the rules as they were set out, which is what competitors are supposed to do. The personal hate Thomas received was completely unwarranted and utterly shameful.

Anyway...

Whenever I feel overwhelmed by negative shit going down in the world, I retreat to comfort content. I've been hitting it up a lot these days: YouTube Therapy. 

Here's what I've been watching lately.

• Chess clips, even though I hardly ever play chess, and when I do, I don't play it well
• Magic tricks revealed (and then I watch other magic tricks and try to figure out how they do it)
• Craziest soccer goals
• Unbelievable pool runs
• Curb Your Enthusiasm clips ("Palestinian Chicken" -- perhaps the best episode ever)
• Debbie Harry performing "Call Me" on The Muppet Show

These things don't make all societal ills go away, but they do make me feel better for a little while, and that's something.

Until next time...