Gender Identity is an External Locus of Control
Gender Identity is an External Locus of Control
And an encouragement of victimhood
Locus of control is a term used to describe an individual’s belief about what factors control their lives. Those with an internal locus of control have a strong sense of agency and believe that their lives are influenced by their own actions and abilities. Those with an external locus of control feel that they are subject to luck, environmental factors, and other people’s actions.
Most people fall somewhere on the spectrum between an internal and an external locus of control, as this is reflective of life itself. There is a lot that we can control but a lot that we can’t as well. However, regardless of what is objectively true in any given situation, our preference for one view or the other has a major impact on our lives.
Those with an internal locus of control are more resilient, motivated, and independent, have a higher capacity for self-control, are better able to manage stress, and enjoy overall higher levels of mental and physical health. Those with an external locus of control, on the other hand, lack self-confidence and self-efficacy, blame others for their shortcomings, are less likely to take accountability, and experience worse mental and physical health outcomes. They are also more likely to have a mindset of victimhood.
Research abounds expounding the positive associations between an internal locus of control and factors like academic success and favorable work outcomes, as well as between an external locus of control and negative outcomes, like criminal offending. Helping people develop a greater internal locus of control has long been a goal of psychotherapy.
And yet, when it comes to the concept of gender identity, all of this knowledge and research is thrown out the window. After all, what is gender identity but just another term for an external locus of control?
Those who claim to have a gender identity that conflicts with their sex require participation from others. Their gender identity depends entirely on other people’s perceptions and on the way people treat them. They cannot concretize their identity simply by going about their lives, doing their job, practicing their hobbies, and fulfilling their roles as friends and family members—which is what an identity really is.
Instead, trans-identified individuals often try to artificially manifest a fantasy in their heads by forcing others to call them by a different name and pronouns and to pretend they see them as anything other than their sex. Some aren’t even satisfied knowing that others are merely playing along—they go further and demand others actually brainwash themselves into perceiving them as they wish to be perceived.
Furthermore, when someone is trying to manifest a gender identity, their locus of control sits not just in other people but in the rest of the world at large. They rely on external accouterments like clothing and makeup to signal what “gender” they are trying to appear as. They may go as far as to rely on external hormones to try and change how their body looks and even rely on surgeons to physically alter their body parts.
Obviously, all of us rely on the external world. None of us are entirely self-sufficient, and even if we have a strong internal locus of control, there is still much that is out of our control. But this is not the same as relying solely on the external world to recognize and manifest your identity for you.
I should also add that not all trans-identified people are like this. I think the locus of control is one of the main differences people implicitly note between trans-identified people who cause problems and those who don’t. This then gets clumsily translated into speaking about trans people with an internal locus of control as “real” or “actual” or “good” trans people.
I don’t believe there is any such thing as “true” trans. But I do believe there is a big difference between people who decide to transition and consider the onus to be on themselves to pass and be treated as the opposite sex and those who think the onus is on the rest of the world to make them feel like the opposite sex. I think this is the split that people pick up on when differentiating between the trans-identified people who really do just want to live their lives and those who want to tear the world down while paradoxically relying on it for their entire sense of identity.
(It is also my experience that trans-identified people in the former camp are less likely to insist that they have a “gender identity” and more likely to view themselves as having a mental disorder—gender dysphoria—that they are managing as best as they can).
Unfortunately, trans activists, doctors, teachers, counselors, politicians, and “experts” of all stripes are encouraging all trans-identified people to take on the latter mindset. They encourage an entirely external locus of control which then invariably develops into a victimhood mentality. Trans-identified people with an external locus of control come to believe that because they have no power to improve anything for themselves the world owes it to them.
This is what makes it all the more pernicious that this ideology is being pushed on children. Introducing the concept of gender identity to kids is the same as showing approval for an external locus of control. Where children should be taught self-efficacy and resilience, they are instead being taught that their very sense of self requires others to act a certain way and the world to comport itself to their whims. It’s a disaster that isn’t just waiting to happen but that is already well in progress.
There is no way to continue teaching the concept of gender identity to children and spreading it throughout society while encouraging people to develop an internal locus of control at the same time. The two pathways are mutually exclusive. If we want to encourage good health and happy lives, we need to drop the concept of gender identity entirely.
Eva I think there is a typo in the following paragraph:
"(It is also my experience that trans-identified people in the latter camp are less likely to insist that they have a “gender identity” and more likely to view themselves as having a mental disorder—gender dysphoria—that they are managing as best as they can)."
I think you meant to say "in the former camp"? Or did I misunderstand this?
I really agree with the second half, but the first half doesn't sound like you! I disagree that "Helping people develop a greater internal locus of control has long been a goal of psychotherapy" because most of the therapists I've known want to keep people dependent on them for their own sense of power and also to keep the money flowing to them. They also have been far more of what I would consider mentally ill than non-therapists. And I think they are a major part of the problem with encouraging this entire trans con and mess. So many therapists are feeding off people in the worst ways, and yet are often given status and worship as if they are a modern religion. (A friend explaining why she trusts someone she barely knows who I do not trust at all, based on years' experience, says "she's a therapist," as if that explains why this person is wiser than either of us. I have so many therapist horror stories.)
Also, anything that requires learning new terminology to understand what we are talking about automatically makes an elitist structure that keeps the less privileged out and moves the awareness from thinking in terms of politics to being personal. There is no reason really to talk about "locus of control." "Those with an internal locus of control are more resilient, motivated, and independent, have a higher capacity for self-control, are better able to manage stress, and enjoy overall higher levels of mental and physical health" are those who are more likely to have grown up very privileged without the worries and stress that those more oppressed have. Classism, which used to be accepted as existing and fought by Feminists, now is often erased from any mention of other issues affecting people. (It's so bad now that a board member of a large supposedly feminist organization said to me over the phone after reading some of my book, "You say you're working class but you sound intelligent." Trying to stop classism is almost impossible when most of the class privileged just think they are superior and expect everyone else to agree.)
So if we don't have enough money to live on, a place to live, decent medical care, etc. it's our own fault. Blaming the unequal power structure of patriarchy is better than blaming the victims. And it also gives us a way to focus on making things more equal for Lesbians, women, and all people.
The second half of your post I really agree with, but for the men in the trans cult, they often are the most privileged, yet pretend to be victims, and expect women and Lesbians to care for them to where they have managed to take over almost everything we have built for over half a century, and still it will never be enough. They want access to our very bodies, and would like to skin us and wear our skin if we say no.
I don't agree with their complaints about "gender dysphoria" since most don't want to be women but want access to Lesbians and fetishize us. (The girls and women claiming to be men are a whole other issue in that why wouldn't females want the respect, power and privilege, but also safety and comfort that men have?)
I definitely agree with your saying "I don’t believe there is any such thing as “true” trans." But I don't think anyone identifying as trans in any way can't be harming females because the game they are playing is innately female-hating - -Just as there are no nice non-racist Rachel Dolezals.
I think it's essential to keep it all simple and never play along and always say no to whatever game they want us to join in to stop their throwing trans tantrums. Making it more complicated won't help us stop them, sadly. But continuing to fight this con, like you are doing, is so important. You are saving lives....