Debra Soh

Last updated

Debra Soh
Dr. Debra Soh.jpg
Soh on JRE Podcast
NationalityCanadian
Education Ryerson University (BSc)
York University (MSc, PhD)
Known for
Scientific career
Thesis Functional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men
Doctoral advisor Keith Schneider [1]
Website drdebrasoh.com

Debra W. Soh is a Canadian columnist, author, and former academic sex researcher. [2]

Contents

Soh received her Ph.D. from York University in Toronto. She has extensively researched paraphilias, suggesting they are neurological conditions rather than learned behaviors. Soh has written articles for various publications, and she once hosted Quillette's Wrongspeak podcast with Jonathan Kay. She identifies as a former feminist who became disillusioned with the term.

Soh has criticized childhood gender transitions, arguing for waiting until a child reaches cognitive maturity. She has also written against anti-conversion therapy laws that include both sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2020, she published her first book, "The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society".

Education and research

Soh holds a Ph.D. degree in psychology from York University in Toronto. [3] [4] [5] Her dissertation was titled Functional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men, and her committee included Keith Schneider of York University and James Cantor of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. [5] During her graduate studies, Soh received the Michael Smith Foreign Research Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and York's Provost Dissertation Scholarship. [6]

While at York, she studied paraphilias. Her research indicates that these are neurological conditions rather than learned behaviours. [7]

Career

Soh has written articles for Quillette , The Globe and Mail , New York magazine, Playboy , Los Angeles Times , and The Wall Street Journal . [6] [8] She began hosting Quillette's Wrongspeak podcast with Jonathan Kay in May 2018. [2] Soh describes herself as a former feminist who later became disillusioned with the term. [9]

In a 2015 editorial, Soh criticized the prevalence of childhood gender transitions, advising parents and doctors to wait "until a child has reached cognitive maturity." [10] Soh's essay, which referenced gender non-conforming aspects of her own childhood, argued that "a social transition back to one's original gender role can be an emotionally difficult experience." David A. French characterized this as "an understatement." [11] Soh has also written against anti-conversion therapy laws that include both sexual orientation and gender identity, believing that such laws conflate the two and prevent legitimate therapeutic counselling for individuals with gender dysphoria. [12] Fellow Canadian academics Florence Ashley and Alexandre Baril disputed Soh's interpretation of these studies. [13] Psychologists Kristina Olson and Lily Durwood called Soh's research "alarmist". [14]

Soh opposed the 2015 decision to close Toronto's gender identity clinic, which was known for beginning treatment after or during puberty in most cases. [15] A previous inquiry had put the clinic's chief physician, Kenneth Zucker, at odds with other gender dysphoria specialists who provide support for patients who have not yet gone through puberty. [16] Psychiatrist Jack Turban criticized Soh, stating that hormones are prescribed during puberty according to the Endocrine Society guidelines, adding that "As Soh notes in her article, gender identity is fixed at this time." [17] The following year, Soh wrote an editorial which criticized CBC News for cancelling its airing of a British documentary that featured Zucker. [18]

In 2016, Soh spent a weekend documenting the furry fandom in order to dispel myths about the subculture being primarily sexual in nature. [19] The following year she publicly defended James Damore's "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" letter, popularly referred to as the Google memo. [20]

In 2018, Soh was described as a member of the "intellectual dark web" by New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss. [21]

Soh left Wrongspeak at the end of 2018.[ citation needed ]

In April 2019, Soh supported a lawsuit by Nova Scotia resident Lorne Grabher against the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The suit was filed to reinstate a license plate bearing Grabher's last name whose similarity to the phrase "grab her" had made it the subject of a complaint. Soh testified that the plate would not encourage any socially adjusted person to commit a violent act and opined that the government was "overreaching." [22] [23]

On 4 August 2020, Soh published her first book, The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society. [24]

In 2021, Soh started her own podcast, "The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast".[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Soh is of Malaysian-Chinese descent. [25]

Related Research Articles

Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the individual's gender identity. Gender expression typically reflects a person's gender identity, but this is not always the case. While a person may express behaviors, attitudes, and appearances consistent with a particular gender role, such expression may not necessarily reflect their gender identity. The term gender identity was coined by psychiatry professor Robert J. Stoller in 1964 and popularized by the controversial psychologist John Money.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to transgender topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Blanchard</span> American-Canadian sexologist

Ray Milton Blanchard is an American-Canadian sexologist who researches pedophilia, sexual orientation and gender identity. He has found that men with more older brothers are more likely to be gay than men with fewer older brothers, a phenomenon he attributes to the reaction of the mother's immune system to male fetuses. Blanchard has also published research studies on phallometry and several paraphilias, including autoerotic asphyxia. Blanchard also proposed a typology of transsexualism.

Gender dysphoria in children (GD), also known as gender incongruence of childhood, is a formal diagnosis for children who experience significant discontent due to a mismatch between their assigned sex and gender identity. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder in children (GIDC) was used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until it was renamed gender dysphoria in children in 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. The diagnosis was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

The American-Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard proposed a psychological typology of gender dysphoria, transsexualism, and fetishistic transvestism in a series of academic papers through the 1980s and 1990s. Building on the work of earlier researchers, including his colleague Kurt Freund, Blanchard categorized trans women into two groups: homosexual transsexuals who are attracted exclusively to men and are feminine in both behavior and appearance; and autogynephilic transsexuals who experience sexual arousal at the idea of having a female body. Blanchard and his supporters argue that the typology explains differences between the two groups in childhood gender nonconformity, sexual orientation, history of sexual fetishism, and age of transition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transsexual</span> People experiencing a gender identity inconsistent with their assigned sex

A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance to help them align their body with their identified sex or gender.

In the United States, the rights of transgender people vary considerably by jurisdiction. In recent decades, there has been an expansion of federal, state, and local laws and rulings to protect transgender Americans; however, many rights remain unprotected, and some rights are being eroded. Since 2020, there has been a national movement by conservative/right-wing politicians and organizations to target transgender rights. There has been a steady increase in the number of anti-transgender bills introduced each year, especially in Republican-led states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Alabama</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in the U.S. state of Alabama have federal protections, but still face legal challenges and discrimination on the state level that is not experienced by non-LGBT residents. LGBT rights in Alabama—a Republican Party stronghold located in both the Deep South and greater Bible Belt—are severely limited in comparison to other states. As one of the most socially conservative states in the U.S., Alabama is one of the only two states along with neighboring Mississippi where opposition to same-sex marriage outnumbers support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender youth</span> Children and adolescents who are transgender

Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs, they differ in challenges compared to adults. According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, appropriate care for transgender youth may include supportive mental health care, social transition, and/or puberty blockers, which delay puberty and the development of secondary sex characteristics to allow children more time to explore their gender identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Kay</span> Canadian journalist

Jonathan Hillel Kay is a Canadian journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of The Walrus (2014–2017), and is a senior editor of Quillette. He was previously comment pages editor, columnist, and blogger for the Toronto-based Canadian daily newspaper National Post, and continues to contribute to the newspaper on a freelance basis. He is also a book author and editor, a public speaker, and a regular contributor to Commentary and the New York Post.

Puberty blockers are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the natural production of sex hormones, such as androgens and estrogens. In addition to their use in treating precocious puberty, which involves puberty occurring at an unusually early age in children, puberty blockers are also used for transgender children to delay the development of unwanted sex characteristics, so as to allow transgender youth more time to explore their gender identity.

Transgender hormone therapy, also called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), is a form of hormone therapy in which sex hormones and other hormonal medications are administered to transgender or gender nonconforming individuals for the purpose of more closely aligning their secondary sexual characteristics with their gender identity. This form of hormone therapy is given as one of two types, based on whether the goal of treatment is masculinization or feminization:

Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions, as well as gender-affirming care, for transgender individuals. A major component of transgender health care is gender-affirming care, the medical aspect of gender transition. Questions implicated in transgender health care include gender variance, sex reassignment therapy, health risks, and access to healthcare for trans people in different countries around the world.

Detransition is the cessation or reversal of a transgender identification or of gender transition, temporarily or permanently, through social, legal, and/or medical means. The term is distinct from the concept of 'regret', and the decision may be based on a shift in gender identity, or other reasons, such as health concerns, social pressure, or discrimination and stigma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaire White</span> American YouTuber and political commentator

Blaire White is an American YouTuber and political commentator. Describing her politics as center-right, many of White's videos have been centered around social issues such as transgender people, feminism, and Black Lives Matter.

Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is a controversial, scientifically unsupported hypothesis which claims that some adolescents identify as transgender and experience gender dysphoria due to peer influence and social contagion. ROGD is not recognized as a valid mental health diagnosis by any major professional association, which discourage its use due to a lack of reputable scientific evidence for the concept, major methodological issues in existing research, and its stigmatization of gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The paper initially proposing the concept was based on surveys of parents of transgender youth recruited from three anti-trans websites; following its publication, it was re-reviewed and a correction was issued highlighting that ROGD is not a clinically validated phenomenon. Since the paper's publication, the concept has frequently been cited in legislative attempts to restrict the rights of transgender youth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Turban</span> American psychiatrist

Jack L. Turban is an American psychiatrist and writer who researches LGBTQ health, with a focus on the mental health of transgender youth. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Vox. He is an assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at The University of California San Francisco and affiliate faculty in health policy at The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was a nationally operated health clinic in the United Kingdom that specialised in working with children with gender identity issues, including gender dysphoria.The service closed on 28th March 2024 after serious concerns were repeatedly raised over a number of years by several independent NHS whistleblowers.

<i>Irreversible Damage</i> 2020 book by Abigail Shrier

Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters is a 2020 book by Abigail Shrier, published by Regnery Publishing, which endorses the controversial concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD). ROGD is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by any major professional institution nor is it backed by credible scientific evidence.

References

  1. ↑ "Keith A. Schneider CV" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 Herzog, Katie (31 May 2018). "Wrongspeak Is a Safe Space for Dangerous Ideas". The Stranger. Seattle, Wa.
  3. ↑ Soh, Debra (2020). The end of gender: debunking the myths about sex and identity in our society (First ed.). New York: Threshold Editions. ISBN   978-1-9821-3251-4. OCLC   1154855706.
  4. ↑ "York University Faculty of Health Media Report April 2019" (PDF). April 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Past Oral Defences". Graduate Program in Psychology, York University. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 Aaron, Michael (25 September 2017). "Sex Researcher Turned Journalist Challenges Sexual Dogmas: Sexologist Debra Soh's work challenges sexual dogmas and political correctness". Psychology Today.
  7. ↑ Rense, Sarah (26 January 2017). "Why It's So Hard to Figure Out How Our Brains Process Sex: From excessive masturbation to gender equality". Esquire . Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. ↑ Soh, Debra (4 January 2016). "The Transgender Battle Line: Childhood". The Wall Street Journal.
  9. ↑ Thobo-Carlsen, Jesper (8 March 2017). "Derfor har Debra Soh vendt feminismen ryggen". Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Soh, Debra (1 September 2015). "Why Transgender Kids Should Wait to Transition". Pacific Standard .
  11. ↑ French, David (2 September 2015). "Not every sex researcher thinks young kids should 'transition'". National Review . Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  12. ↑ Soh, Debra (17 June 2017). "Why bans on conversion therapy are misguided". Newsday .
  13. ↑ Ashley, Florence; Baril, Alexandre (23 March 2018). "Why 'rapid onset gender dysphoria' is bad science". The National Post. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  14. ↑ Olson, Kristina; Durwood, Lily (14 January 2016). "What Alarmist Articles About Transgender Children Get Wrong". Slate.
  15. ↑ Levenson, Claire (15 October 2018). "Transition des jeunes trans*, quand science et militants divergent". Slate. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  16. ↑ Reynolds, Christopher (14 February 2016). "Closing of CAMH clinic fans controversy over gender-questioning children". The Toronto Star . Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  17. ↑ Turban, Jack (16 February 2017). "No, it isn't 'undermining science' to say gender identity is influenced by culture". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  18. ↑ Soh, Debra (18 December 2017). "CBC's decision against airing Transgender Kids doc should leave everyone unsettled". CBC News . Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  19. ↑ Connor, Kevin (19 March 2016). "No sex in suits and other facts about Furries". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "Googler fired for diversity memo had legit points on gender". USA Today .
  21. ↑ Weiss, Bari (8 May 2018). "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "'Grabher' license plate not dangerous, former sex researcher tells N.S. court". The Canadian Press. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  23. ↑ MacDonald, Michael (24 April 2019). "Personalized 'Grabher' licence plate won't incite sexual violence, former researcher tells Nova Scotia Supreme Court". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  24. ↑ Soh, Debra (August 2020). The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society. Threshold Editions. p. 336. ISBN   978-1982132514.
  25. ↑ Soh, Debra (22 February 2021). "Attacks on Asian-Americans reveal a strange racial double standard". The Globe and Mail . Toronto, Ontario . Retrieved 23 July 2021.
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