re: Physicist/skeptic of everything Sabine Hossenfelder: Is trans a social fad among teens?

The fad used to be just regular old gay. I've told the story here of my younger cousin who graduated high school 6/7 years ago now.

Shortly before graduation she was flipping through her senior yearbook. She was talking about different kids and one thing she was noting was who was "gay". There were way more than you'd expect for a 3A school in Alabama.

Fast forward several years and she was looking through it again. This time she was noting who was no longer "gay". I'd say that number was well over half.

I think kids these days want to feel "special". Some will do or say pretty much anything to feel special. So, yes......being "gay" then was a fad. Being "trans" now seems to be a fad. The difference is that being gay meant exploring sexuality and figuring shite out. In most cases it held little longterm impact on a kid's life. They would just have stories about that awkward phase of life that they can cringe over down the road. This, though, has much higher stakes.