Losing respect for content creators who support the trans narrative

submitted by Depressed from self.GenderCritical

Anyone else experience this? I'm capable enough to be able to compartmentalise and enjoy their work regardless but it's not the same. I lose respect for them as a person, even though I may still really enjoy and treasure their work. But this is worse when it's someone like a YouTuber and their work is synonymous with their personality, since it's their image you enjoy watching in most cases if it's entertainment. And I just feel this huge sense of loss whenever a creator comes out as a TRA or says TWAW or partners with Mermaids. Even if they're just ignorant or just wanting woke points, both are bad looks and their influence means it's not excusable.

This is why I have so much respect for Rowling, however it's upsetting just how many people who I had a lot of respect for before end up subscribing to queer theory. I try to avoid finding it out on purpose so that it doesn't taint their image in my head but I still come across it because trans is everywhere now... Ugh.

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[–][deleted] 41 insightful - 3 fun41 insightful - 2 fun42 insightful - 3 fun -  (16 children)

Agreed. Just yesterday I was watching a YouTuber I like who does critiques of popular tv shows. He was talking about Steven Universe in one video and how the "nonbinary" characters were boring or not androgynous enough. I was already rolling my eyes but I had to close the tab completely when he said "nonbinary people are interesting by default." No. No they are not.

Another instance where I had to unsubscribe from a channel entirely was after the creator changed all references to JK Rowling in his video titles to "a TERF". Like really? You had to be this petty and immature?

It's hard because I'm a writer so I watch a lot of videos on world building and storytelling. Many of them reference Harry Potter. But almost every creator I watch has started shitting on Rowling. It's annoying at best and depressing at worst. I honestly can't find any writing channels that still support her openly and I'm very irritated seeing creators I like claim to be excellent fact checkers yet none of them actually know what Rowling said.

[–]catoboros 7 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 2 fun -  (6 children)

I was already rolling my eyes but I had to close the tab completely when he said "nonbinary people are interesting by default." No. No they are not.

Am nonbinary. Can confirm. Any character whose gender identity is the most interesting thing about them is going to be dull, dull, dull. Same is true in real life.

[–]wecandobetter 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Please explain what being nonbinary means in specific terms.

[–]catoboros 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Please use The Google. That. I would spell it out but queer theory is not permitted on this sub. While you are at it, please also look up "sealioning". The GC wiki on Reddit taught me so much. 😢

[–]wecandobetter 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I will not use The Google. I want to hear what YOU as a person think that being non-binary means to YOU. What is it that YOU think. Do you have thoughts? What aspects of your biology or mind is not either male or female? Why can't you explain in brief such a simple fundamental question to your supposed identity? Don't worry kiddo, the mods will allow it for the sake of reasonable discussion.

[–]catoboros 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Nonbinary is a gender identity, which is an entirely subjective self-image in terms of femininity and/or masculinity. Not the same as biology or male or female. I am male but feel disconnection from and discomfort with my masculinity, so I describe my gender identity as masc agender. I am a eunuch.

[–]wecandobetter 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

See that wasn't so bad was it. You're a male that prefers stereotypically female-associated aesthetics. Not a thing in the world wrong with that.

[–]catoboros 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My aesthetic (gender expression) is pretty masculine. My self-image in relation to societal gender roles is that I identify with neither. I do not see why my self-image should impose any obligations on others.

[–]marmalade 35 insightful - 1 fun35 insightful - 0 fun36 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh yes. The sheer willful ignorance and malice in their denouncement of women is a real turnoff, particularly when many of them are women themselves, but we still want to consume their content because many of them are truly talentd and entertaining. It's difficult trying to deal with that cognative dissonance sometimes.

[–]fuckingsealions 25 insightful - 1 fun25 insightful - 0 fun26 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I'm hoping gendertrender crap is just that, a trend. Entertainment from this period will immediately announce c. 2020!! because of the trans characters wedged in willy nilly. Content creators often respond to what's happening in the world but I can't imagine revisiting some of the art and entertainment from this time because it's going to feel very dystopian.

I just watched She-Ra with my daughter and it was delightfully gay and then BAM, enby lizard in season 4 from out of nowhere. The voice actor turned in a very campy vocal performance that didn't really fit with the rest of the world, and the character was attired in something that felt kind of Rocky Horror/strip club. No other trans characters were portrayed in this world up to that point, but all the characters knew the lizard was they/them without that conversation happening onscreen. At least the vocal performance improved in the final season.

I wonder if the creator, who is a lesbian, had to cave to fan pressure after the fan base was trying to "trans" another character.

[–]les4les 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I wonder if the creator, who is a lesbian, had to cave to fan pressure after the fan base was trying to "trans" another character.

The creator (Noelle Stevenson) has recently come out as nonbinary (in a stupid way lmao, "all genders and pronouns fine" or something like that) so... unfortunately, no

[–]fuckingsealions 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh boo. Thanks for the info.

[–]BEB 24 insightful - 1 fun24 insightful - 0 fun25 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My suggestion, if you really want these artists you admire to change, is to use an anonymous email address like guerilla mail, and TELL THEM.

If no one tells them that their performative Gender Woo Woo is what's losing them viewers how will they know?

J.K. Rowling spoke up, at tremendous risk to her and her families' personal safety, because she could see the writing on the wall, and I think that comes from being the age she is.

A lot of you are much, much younger, but J.K. Rowling and women like her will soon enough be gone and you yourselves will have to fight. If YOU don't speak up, soon there will be no one to speak for you.

[–]lefterfield 21 insightful - 1 fun21 insightful - 0 fun22 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

It's hard. There's a webcomic I follow that I feel this way about, when woke or "queer" nonsense is sprinkled into it on occasion. But I still like the comic overall so try to ignore those parts. The consolation I get from it is that woke shit is so bad - and I mean in the sense of being unrealistic, preachy dialogue that no human has ever said in real life, virtue signaling garbage - that someday, when the fad ends, the creator will be forced to see what they did to their own work. It won't hold up well, and the cringe and the embarrassment they'll be left with - even if never acknowledged publicly - will be punishment enough, in my mind.

Assuming that it's just their content that's effected and they're not actively supporting organizations like Mermaids. They deserve worse than simple embarrassment for that. Tax audits for donating to fake charities, at the least. Public shaming and condemnation. Etc.

[–]BEB 21 insightful - 1 fun21 insightful - 0 fun22 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

This is how the US got Trump, in my opinion.

People my age and slightly younger were indoctrinated with our generations' version of WOKE in our schools and by popular culture, and then, after decades, realized that a lot of what we were taught is just a load of crap, and that we've been brainwashed, and we look for someone who just says what they think and doesn't mouth tired platitudes, even if we don't agree with them.

Sadly, that man was the fucking idiot, Don the Con. And here we are...

[–]lefterfield 16 insightful - 1 fun16 insightful - 0 fun17 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Completely agree. I can remember before the election listening to Trump and thinking that, while I hated and disagreed with everything he said, I understood exactly why he was gaining popularity. It's this garbage, 100%, people are sick of it and even an idiot seems like the better alternative.

[–]yishengqingwa666 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

At least Trump knows that women are real and not a magical "identity" or feeling in a man's head.

[–]marmalade 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Predators know their prey.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, definitely.

There have been a couple of podcasts and YouTube channels that I follow that have come out as woke in the past few months. Their content is not political in any way, shape, or form usually, so a small part of me wonders what else, if not virtue signalling, are they hoping to achieve by throwing their support behind woke causes?

Like you, I'm able to compartmentalise these views. They're not being shoved down my throat in every episode, after all, so it's very much a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'. But also like you, I lost a little respect for these creators when they came out with these statements. It would have been better if they hadn't said anything at all, to be honest, regardless of how much SiLeNcE is ComPLiCity

[–]denverkris 16 insightful - 2 fun16 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I was super disappointed with Stephen King.

[–]moody_ape 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

that was specially disappointg because he tweeted in support of rowling and then "untweeted" and said TWAW, i mean c'mon! what a jerk move!

[–]denverkris 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I know right. Lemme guess, Christine was really a transwoman? Like come on bro, you're going to backpedal on JKR for, what?

[–]moody_ape 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

i wouldn't say i always lose respect for the person, but things really do change. specially because some of them seem so passionate about it. they say slurs against gc feminists and repeat TWAW with such anger... sometimes i abandon them forever. i used to enjoy thought slime very much and found his videos informative and fun even after finding out he is non-binary. but then he decided to make videos about how rowling is a ~~transphobe~ and i gave up.

there is also rationality rules. i'm an atheist myself and decided to give his channel a go after knowing about his views on TW in female sports. he made another video apologizing for his "mistakes" regarding "tone". and he said "trans women are women, period". like wtf? seriously? i left after 3 videos of him trying to defend himself from essence of thought because i couldn't believe he was still trying to appease these people.

[–]threefingersam 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

There are a ton of youtubers I've watched who have jumped on the TRA train (to my dismay). It is usually accompanied by the wokeness they already have - you know, ACAB, BLM and so on. SJWness is easy to recognize but hard to avoid in media now. I'm aware that youtubers/content creators will have their own views that I won't necessarily agree with, but the pandering/virtue signalling is insufferable. When I'm watching something for fun, I don't want to be preached at.

[–]moody_ape 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

what's ACAB?

[–]threefingersam 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It's a common slogon used on social media, "all cops are bastards." Usually used in association with black lives matter. ACAB is a phrase used by people (in the US) who hate the police.

[–]moody_ape 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

thank you!

[–]SombreroBurlesque 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh goodness yes, and it's not just niche content creators, I noticed tv shows or movies going out of their way to work in some comment about it. Instant turn off when agendas are pushed on you.

[–][deleted] 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

More like being very disappointed. I watch this youtuber that makes some fun trailers of different genres out of movies, and I felt my heart breaking when she posted a new video that use the Harry Potter movies and she had to put that disclaimer "I don't agree with Rowling! TWAW!", and reading the stupidity in the comments... I'm still subscribed, but I don't feel like I enjoy watching her videos that much anymore, especially the HP ones.

I'm also into interactive fiction and there are so many games with non binary options or token enby characters that are just there because "inclusive" policies.. so there's some pressure, even if people won't admit. The authors probably think it's not a big deal, just change pronouns here and there. Some put short descriptions like "I wear what I want, don't care about gender norms" or "I don't look like what people expect a man/woman to look like", and that's the choice for making your character non binary. First time I saw this I thought the authors were portraying gnc protagonists.. nope.

It's sad because a lot of young people play these games, so if they choose these options, the game just identifies them as non binary.. and I have seen a few people saying they realized they're enby because of certain games. It's heartbreaking.

[–]Marsupial 11 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Losing respect for anyone who supports the trans narrative tbh
Most of them haven't even thought it through, they just go with whatever they've heard on social media. Just today I saw somebody who supportss the trans narrative rant over gender stereotypes in the context of gender reveals...like dude, connect the dots.

[–]devushka 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, whenever Youtubers start going TWAW I just sigh. I understand some people have trans loved ones so they want to be supportive of their loved ones but I'm pretty sure transitioning is still an experimental procedure that might not even provide the person peace in the end.

I did finally unsubscribe from one channel because the people on it were doing the whole "no one knows who wrote Harry Potter" as a joke. They're pretty SJW so it's not surprising but I finally had enough.

[–]Jazman1867 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah I've stopped supporting a lot of content creations that use their platforms to push the TRA agenda.

[–]SkepticalHPS 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I loved a lot of Rare’s N64 games growing up and it was extremely disappointing seeing people involved in the creation of those games show up to hbomberguy’s DK64 stream. Especially since it was to raise money for Mermaids.

[–]msteacherlady 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Since I ditched Reddit, my life has improved. Other than the occasional scroll-through here/Ovarit and listening to The Office Ladies podcast, I'm not consume-consume-consuming information all the damn time and that's done my overtired brain some good. When I ditch content creators for their TWAW stance, that frees up my attention even more. Then you have to wonder, if your favorite content creator has this particular stupid opinion, then the way they come to the other opinions that you agree with may also be trash. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I've had to have some reckoning with a lot of opinions and things I held as true now that I'm not constantly exposed to whatever opinions content creators are all pushing at the same time.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

RIGHT. They should do their job without all the gesturing and virtual signalling (Talking to YOU straight people who put pronouns in their bio on Twitter) It's especially virtue signally when the content creator isn't even part of the LGBT community.

I want to be like "Shut up and get over yourself."

[–]ANIKAHirsch 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I lost respect a few years ago, to be honest.

[–]Kai_Decadence 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Yeah I've had this happen about a few weeks ago with Lindsay Ellis and her recent video on JK Rowling. I knew that she was already neck deep in the trans stuff because she's friends with Contrapoints and would sometimes gas his channel in her videos but I was able to ignore it because it was only like a 10-15 second plug. But then she did that video and now I just cannot look at her the same anymore. Don't get me wrong, I think she is a good critic of pop culture but now I just have a very murky image of her.

[–]HelloMomo 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Same! I think she's a smart person in a lot of ways. Her video about Rent in particular, and how the characters in it are entitled rich kids who don't want to play by the rules of fucking society—yes, absolutely! But when it comes to this variety of entitled rich kids who don't want to play by the rules of fucking society, she seems unable to see it.

Dan Olson, also, has a lot of insightful analysis about media. He just did this video called "In Search Of A Flat Earth" about Flat Earthers, which I found very interesting, with huge parallels between in and TRAs. But he completely doesn't see it.

The reason... why they aren’t more bothered by the extreme inconsistencies and outright contradictions, by the claims that are just materially wrong, is because it gives them power over others who are bound by something as weak and flimsy as reality... They engage in wild hypocrisy as an act of domination, adhering to something demonstrably untrue out of spite, because they believe that power belongs to those with the greatest will to take it, and what greater sign of will than the ability to override truth? Their will is a hammer that they are using to beat reality itself into a shape of their choosing, a simple world where reality is exactly what it looks like through their eyes... where they are right and their enemies are silent.

[–]Kai_Decadence 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh I've heard of Dan Olson but never really watched his videos, I'll give that one a watch. :)

[–]HelloMomo 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree with all this, but I do have one thing to say in the defense of these kowtowing creators: They have to make a living.

JK Rowling is the richest author in the world. From a practical, material standpoint, she can afford to say unpopular things. Most creators are not, and rely very heavily on public goodwill. For most authors, coming out in defense of women could destroy their career.

The appropriate compromise, I think, is to stay quiet on the issue. But still, I do have a little empathy for them.