[HeroOfAges]

If you'd like to see how big of a problem it is, post "males are not females" or "males do not have periods" or "all lives matter" or "we should not be giving hormone blockers to children" to your Twitter or Facebook accounts. Go right ahead. If you feel even the slightest bit of trepidation over publicly stating any of those things, then you will see first hand how big of a problem it is.

*edit

this very post will be down-voted

[andreyk]

If I were to post one of these things, I would certainly get some side-eye, but I very much doubt I would be fired or the like. And since when is feeling some trepidation over saying something controversial (because people might dislike you for it) unnatural? I mean, is your stance "it should be ok for me to say whatever I like publicly"?

I guess you think these are all examples of perfectly rational things to say that cannot be disputed, but let's just take "all lives matter". Sure, no one can disagree that "all lives matter", but saying this implies that you think this in response to "black lives matter" , and Pinker himself articulates the issue with this well:

"Linguists, of all people, should understand the difference between a trope or collocation, such as the slogan “All lives matter,” and the proposition that all lives matter. (Is someone prepared to argue that some lives don’t matter?) And linguists, of all people, should understand the difference between a turn in the context of a conversational exchange and a sentence that expresses an idea. It’s true that if someone were to retort “All lives matter” in direct response to “Black lives matter,’ they’d be making a statement that downplays the racism and other harms suffered by African Americans."

https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2020/07/05/the-purity-posse-p...

[grahamburger]

At least 1/10 of the posts on my Facebook feed at any given time say one of those things or something similar. The people making these posts are not being cancelled, fired, or really even called out.

In my filter bubble the people posting things like 'Black Lives Matter', suggesting that we use people's chosen pronouns, or indicating that maybe our current justice system is anything other than absolutely upstanding and unchangeable are the ones being called out. They're still not being fired for their opinions, though.

[bargl]

I could see myself getting fired from my company for stating one of these views. Even as I write this, I feel it's important for me to state the following.

I think the "all lives matter" is a anti-slogan to something important so I wouldn't say that. I think the first two are based on sex, which is not really disputed. You can gender identify how you'd like though.

I think the hormone blockers is a complex issue and I'll leave it at that.

But I recognize that if I held radical ideas (which the ones you pointed out are either on the edge or beyond it), I very well might get fired for expressing them in a public forum if someone showed that to my companies HR. To deny that is just me being blind.

To be clear, I took my job with that explicit knowledge that, any public information on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, or here would be scrutinized. I don't like it, but I also went into that with my eyes wide open.

[AnimalMuppet]

"Males are not females" is a radical idea? You might be surprised at the number of radicals in this country, then. Enough, in fact, that it seems a stretch to call it "radical".

[bargl]

>I think the first two are based on sex, which is not really disputed. You can gender identify how you'd like though.

I specifically addressed this with my opinion which I feel confident won't get me fired in my comment. I could have been clearer in saying, I don't believe that the idea that sex males are not sex females is a radical idea. Gender wise I'll respect anyone being called whatever they would like to be called.

I don't understand the gender issue, I don't really think I need to. I do respect that people have complex feelings which are made easier by me addressing them in the manner which they prefer. It's no sweat off my back as long as it doesn't impede the scientific study of sex differences in order to better treat and identify diseases specific to sex.

[bork1]

Feeling trepidation before posting sentiments that have complex and potentially problematic histories within public discourse does not equate to being targeted by cancel culture.

If I post "the Republic party interfered with Donald Trump's impeachment investigation by not allowing witnesses to testify before Congress" on my social media I'm sure I would get some backlash; that does not mean that I have been cancelled. It means that I've chosen to post decisively about an issue that might not be as black and white as I consider it to be.

[HeroOfAges]

You think the phrase "males are not females" is problematic?

[bork1]

males are not females is not a problematic statement. "all lives matter" certainly has a problematic history and "we should not be giving hormone blockers to children" brings up a pretty complex social issue for a lot of folks.