The intersection of science and fantasy

Oh good god.

There is no “intersection of science and identity.” They don’t intersect. “Identity” isn’t science, it’s a buzzword, it’s rhetoric, it’s a loose label for how we think of ourselves. Sometimes it’s just a basic fact recorded on a birth certificate and/or passport and/or driver’s license and so on, but most of the time these days it’s a tedious Magical Spiritual Essence that nearly everyone is sick to death of hearing about. That version is more or less the antithesis of science.

What does Dr. Clara Barker say?

There is a push to keep identity politics out of STEM – to keep those parts of my identity separate. I have talked before about how it is not so simple: I am trans. Sure, on most days I can simply be a scientist, but on some days I cannot; whether it is comments or sneers across a meeting table, old collaborators no longer wanting to work with me, or having to consider where I travel for collaborations or conferences.

That applies to everyone. Everyone has to deal with meetings and colleagues and travel. Everyone has a life outside of science, including scientists. I wonder if the old collaborators don’t want to work with him not because he’s trans but because he’s self-involved. Can you be trans without being self-involved? It seems to be all but impossible for most who try it.

Many people are supportive of trans inclusion. We are also seeing a challenge to trans-medical experts by a minority, but I hope that we will start trusting those experts again. Whether you support trans rights or not, how we handle the topic will impact science across the board, or else before long we will be throwing out the theory of evolution, saying dinosaurs are fake, the world is flat, and aeroplanes cannot fly.

And that people can change sex.

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