Nicholas ~ 

You are getting into territory here that has been really fascinating for me. Sometimes I wonder if being transgender is like being autistic or ADHD-ish - something that may advantage groups of people in terms of having a few neurodiverse lenses to see the world through (as in collective Relevance Realization), and may also cause complications, and may be considered pathological/evil in some cultures (and perhaps a benefit in others, or even revered like the example of Native American Two-Spirit people). There is a term I like for these kinds of things, "dangerous gifts." I especially like to use autism as an example, because there seems to be so much crossover between autism and being transgender or nonbinary or having some other odd relationship to one's gender, which is unsurprising if you view gender as something very social-relational. 

I've learned a bit about other cultures across the world which have recognized more than two genders, and seen how they vary greatly. It seems to me that gender is pretty universal, but the specific cultural forms of gender are unique to each culture. This got me thinking about how maybe there is a sort of cultural Darwinian process, whereby individual variation (genetic gendered behavioral dispositions) could act like enabling constraints in a dynamic opponent processing relationship with the selective constraints of culture. If enough people fell outside the culturally-sanctioned genders, then the definitions or numbers of genders could change. But conversely, culture would create some kind of categories operating to provide us with helpful limitations, enabling one to aspire via the vehicle of gender toward becoming a better person, and creating some kind of helpful structure for collective Relevance Realization. So the categories couldn't be too loose or too tight. 

I'm using the word "could" here because I do view our culture as "unnaturally" rigid with regard to gender, and not functioning in a healthy way. Also, there is a "postmodern" breakdown of gender structure happening now, as a reaction to this, and probably a significant overreaction. 

So, if I understand you, I agree! I love modern medicine's ability to feminize my body, and feed my brain that sweet sweet estrogen. However, other cultures have seemed to solve this "problem" in other ways which may be just as satisfying for their members, for all I know. I likewise feel that gender dysphoria probably mostly stems from the collision of the Mental and the Cultural, although I am not willing to foreclose on the possibility of some dysphoria essentially coming from a Life/Mental friction. At the risk of TMI, myself and other people have experienced the phantom body parts of the opposite sex, and this can be a source of psychic pain. But would what I perceive as pain be experienced differently in a different culture, perhaps as a pleasant blessing? It makes me want to write a koan like, "If a trans person grew up with no one else around, would they still be trans?" except that obviously this is an impossible scenario for the creation of a person. Maybe I should come up with some annoying intuition pump like a trans kid raised entirely by trans people.... 

Yours ponderingly,
Rachel

On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 5:37 PM Alexis Kenny <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of JMU. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
All,

Nik - thanks for your reflections. I hope your email gets a response!

Took me a few days to get through this (as my work has picked up). Might stop with the note taking strategy (as I have less time to engage with UTOK in this way)...but here are my personal highlights:

- Dryness of academic knowledge = antidote is John Verveake's Four Ways of Knowing
- On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt
- Gender as aspirational process = becoming new person with different values
- Authority and standard-making process lie within one's future self
- John Verveake as a "philosophical midwife"
- "Peer to Peer Rejection" = a new business model for Rachel as proposed by Gregg (satire regarding uselessness of extreme relativism) 
- "Relational value and social influence is absolutely essential for us to feel embedded, embodied in the social world and isone of the most crucial nourishing necessities for mental health"
- "Psychic-stacked injury" = cult trauma
- Adolescence = one's body becomes ready for a new kind of investment
- 1:27:00 = outline of the way in which the trans experience can be co-opted in unhealthy and problematic ways

Just as a side note, I found myself wanting to hear more of Rachel's "translation" of Gregg's theory at multiple points. Maybe a Part II with that kind of focus? 

Appreciate the content, Gregg's incessant swearing, and virtual dialogue. 

Warmly,

Ali






El mar, 1 mar 2022 a la(s) 05:43, Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx ([log in to unmask]) escribió:

Hi Folks,

 

  I am very happy to share this UTOKing episode I did with Rachel Hayden. Please check it out when you have the time:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40OBkzcDmO8

 

Episode 48: UTOKing with Rachel Hayden                                                 February 28, 2022

Title: Gender and Embodied, Transformational Living Through UTOK

In Episode 48, Gregg welcomes Rachel Hayden. Rachel is a leader in the Peer-to-Peer community and is working to translate metamodern and Game B ideas into real world practices. She also has recently transitioned and has developed a Socratic aspirational framework on transformation that incorporates the work of L.A. Paul on transformative experience and the work of Agnes Callard on aspiration, provides a better model. In this episode, she and Gregg explore gender, the current state of the world, and the kind of transformative practices that are needed and the ways UTOK might be able to provide a necessary conceptual framework. 

Here is the episode on podbean.

 

___________________________________________

Gregg Henriques, Ph.D.
President of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (2022)

Professor
Department of Graduate Psychology
216 Johnston Hall
MSC 7401
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
(540) 568-7857 (phone)
(540) 568-4747 (fax)


Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity.

Check out the Unified Theory Of Knowledge homepage at:

https://www.unifiedtheoryofknowledge.org/

 

############################

To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1



--
Alexis (Ali) Kenny, PsyD, LP
Staff Psychologist
phone: 406.540.3411
############################

To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1

############################

To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1