Provocateurs wanted.
Do you enjoy thinking about what others say as much as they enjoy arguing their own views?
The Langara College Department of Philosophy invites you to attend the Philosophers' Jam, a forum for the expression of provocative ideas. This dialogue series is intended for people who want to discuss ideas but whose busy lives prevent them from signing up for a credit course.
Philosophers' Jams are free and open to all Langara faculty, staff, and students, as well as the general public. Bring a friend or colleague and see you at the next Jam session! Just scroll down to register for future sessions.
Philosophers’ Jam Schedule
Speaker: Jasper Heaton
Topic: "The Case for Trans Rights: Gender Dysphoria and Why Wanting Is Enough"
Date: Friday, November 29, 2024
Time: 5-7 PM
Location: Room L224 at Langara College
Refreshments: Complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks provided.
Abstract: The movement for transgender (trans) people's rights is one of the most prominent civil rights movements of our time. Trans people demand the right to self-determination over their genders, and one of their primary demands is for trans people to have access to the resources to transition, including hormone replacement therapy, surgeries, and puberty blockers for trans youth. Historically, trans people's access to these resources have been contingent upon a medical diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria (previously called “Gender Identity Disorder”), an incongruence between the trans person’s gender identity and their assigned gender role or physical body. I show that Gender Dysphoria is a fundamentally mistaken and ultimately untenable concept. The diagnostic criteria of Gender Dysphoria are based on the assumption that trans people's experiences of gender fundamentally differ from cisgender (non-trans) people's experiences of gender. This talk challenges that assumption. Many of the supposedly distinctive experiences of oneself that are labelled as "Gender Dysphoria" are common to cis people's experiences of themselves. These experiences are assumed in the social practices and the medical, legal, and other institutions of mainstream society, and they are supported (and profited from) by vast industries tailored towards alleviating cis people's feelings of gender discomfort, unease, and, we might say, gender dysphoria. For cis people, simply wanting to change their bodies or their social roles in ways that align with their gender identity is sufficient reason for society to provide them the legal right and resources to do so. I argue that the same standard should apply to trans people - to sincerely want to transition is a sufficient reason for having the right to transition. People, trans and cis, care about their bodies, are invested in their bodies, and want to feel good in their bodies. Trans people's desires only count as Dysphoria if one already assumes that trans people are some fundamentally different kind of person. We are not, and the assumption that we are must be abandoned. I conclude with some remarks about the radical potential of this view.
Speaker Bio: Jasper Heaton is a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia and also here at Langara College. Jasper holds an M.Phil. in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, University of London, and a BA (Hons.) in Philosophy from the University of Leeds. Jasper's (soon to be completed) PhD dissertation and current research focus on how people's identities function as sites of resistance to oppressive gender norms. Jasper's publications feature "The Case for Trans Rights" in Problems in Applied Ethics (forthcoming, Bloomsbury), "Gender Dysphoria and Why Wanting is Enough" (Blog of the APA, 2023), and a co-authored chapter, Pop Music and the Metaphysics of Romantic Love, in Art & Philosophy: New Essays at the Intersection (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).