Transphobic doctor endorses ‘anime makes people trans’ theory and we’re puzzled

17 Nov 2018

Stefania is the Prides & Festivals editor and a cinema…

Ray Blanchard, a doctor and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, is well-known for his transphobic ideas.

Once the head of the Clinical Sexology Services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Blanchard is famous for classifying trans women as either ‘homosexual transsexuals’ or ‘autogynephilic’. The terms mean respectively predominantly attracted to men or predominantly sexually aroused by ‘becoming’ women.

One of his anti-trans views on trans women being actually cis men who like the idea of ‘becoming’ women has gone viral this time.

Blanchard, in fact, endorsed an essay explaining anime might be making trans girls transition. Let that sink in for a second.

Cis men transition because of slice-of-life anime

While some trans people might realize their gender identity thanks to media representation, trans advocacy groups do not believe that media can trigger a transition in cis people.

However, a Twitter user named SocialJusticeWizard claimed otherwise.

In a Medium essay on ‘media-induced transgender identification’, they recently explained trans women are actually ‘lonely’ and ‘repressed’ cis men who develop gender dysphoria because of slice-of-life anime.

Slice-of-life anime are those animated series depicting mundane, everyday events in a character’s life and often have a female lead.

‘Anyone who spends a lot of time with the transgender debate will notice sooner or later that there are a ton of young trans-identifying males who are into anime, using anime girls for their social media avatars, sharing memes related to cute anime girls, and so on,’ reads the first paragraph of the essay.

A doctor actually endorsed this theory

According to the essay, anime makes cis men realize that they ‘always wanted to be soft and gentle like [an anime girl], carefree and cheerful like her, enjoy life in its fullest without the heavy chains of masculinity, like her’.

The worst part is that Blanchard, a certified doctor, has put his seal of approval onto it.

Essay on the possible relations among anime, gender dysphoria, and autogynephilia. https://t.co/9Ogx5osCRB

— Ray Blanchard (@BlanchardPhD) November 9, 2018

‘Essay on the possible relations among anime, gender dysphoria, and autogynephilia,’ Blanchard captioned the essay posted on his Twitter account.

I recently upset a lot of people by by casually retweeting an essay about trans* and anime. I didn't realize that cloying cartoon depictions of pubescent girls symbolized the hopes and dreams of so many stalwart young people.

— Ray Blanchard (@BlanchardPhD) November 14, 2018