The Trans Brain Myth
The idea that trans people have brains that match the opposite sex from their bodies is a claim that's over a century old. The more science has studied it the less convincing the idea has become.
This is a longer and more expansive version of an article that will appear in Spiked Online in a few days time. As a subscriber you get it first!
By the way, if you’re not yet a paid subscriber I hope this might convince you to become one. It’s only because I have paid subscribers that I can afford to spend time doing research into subjects like this. Luckily…it’s never been cheaper to take out an annual subscription. Until the end of December it costs only £30 a year.
This week the myth of the trans brain was in the spotlight. Yet again. This time it was Michael Walker, from leftie news outlet Novara Media, who took the hoary old claim out for a trot across the park. Walker argued there was evidence that transwomen have brains that are closer to those of females than males and that this means we should not dismiss a transwoman as “a bloke in a wig”. Perish the thought.
The context for Walker’s newfound interest in neurology was the decision by the Green Party to put forward “Melissa Poulton” as a candidate for a Midlands constituency. Melissa (aka Matthew) was widely ridiculed for looking like a bloke in a wig, which no doubt seems cruel until you see pictures of Melissa who has, despite her deep inner femininity, managed to capture the very essence of bloke-in-a-wigness.
There are a few obvious flaws in Walker’s trans brain claim. For a start, even if it is true that transwomen generally have brains that are closer to those of females how would that prevent a non trans male putting on a wig and saying he is trans? How in other words would the existence of the trans brain prevent Melissa (aka Mark) being a bloke in a wig? It’s not as if political candidates have to undergo brain scans. A fact for which the Green Party should be grateful. Scans would require their candidates to have brains.
There’s another flaw with the trans brain claim. It assumes there are male and female brains to begin with. While on average there are a few differences between women’s and men’s brains, such as size and the thickness of cortical layers, the variations within the brains of each sex are now considered so wide and varied that neurologists cannot agree on what a typical male or a female brain might look like. Walker no doubt considers himself an advocate of women’s liberation and equality but in his desperate attempt to promote the trans agenda has ended up reinforcing outdated notions about women’s biology. Trans rights can do that to left wing boys. Just ask Owen Jones.
In fact hardly a week goes by without a leftie LGBTQ+ activist amplifying the claim about trans brains to try to legitimise the agenda of the trans lobby. Here’s Peter Tatchell doing the the same.