Jack Elfrink Dot Com

Its no secret that Im a rather vocal critic of the NCSF. Or at least the NCSF that has existed since the spring of 2002. The old NCSF I actually sorta liked. Though I could rattle off a list of every objection I have, the thing I want to specifically focus on for the moment is the ‘kinky is not a diagnosis’ campaign they are running. In panicked shrill voices, they forecast the doom of alternative sexuality as we know it unless we all group together and fight to have consensual sadomasochism removed from the listing of mental disorders in the DSM-IV.

There is just one problem. It already has been removed.

The removal came nearly 15 years ago back in 1994 when the DSM-IV was updated to the DSM-IV-TR. The summary of the changes states in part

Because some cases of Sexual Sadism may not involve harm to a victim (e.g., inflicting humiliation on a consenting partner), the wording for sexual sadism involves a hybrid of the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV wording (i.e., “the person has acted on these urges with a non-consenting person, or the urges, sexual fantasies, or behaviors cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty”)

So the fun kinky spicing things up in the bedroom sadism is no longer listed as a mental disorder. Non consensual stuff is still a disorder, as I believe it should be. And if the activity is fucking up the rest of your life, its still listed, as I believe it should be. (Alcoholism is a problem even if alcohol is not. Gambling addiction is a problem even if gambling is not. Sex addiction is a problem even if sex is not. And kink sex that is ruining the rest of your life is a problem even if kinky sex is not.)

Here is food for thought. Who said the flowing? “The DSM IV definitions for sadism and masochism state that as long as the activities are not interfering in someone’s daily life, then it’s not a mental illness.” Surprisingly it was said by NCSF spokesman Susan Wright in September of ‘06. Some old nobody was griping that anyone doing kinky sex was crazy, and in rebuttal Susan Wright pulled out the DSM-IV-TR and said ‘look right here. Says in black and white its not a mental disorder’. She then goes on to belittle reporters who dont go look at the DSM-IV-TR because the DSM-IV-TR clearly and obviously says that kinky IS NOT a mental disorder.

But all that changed. By September of ‘08 the NCSF was loudly proclaiming that the DSM-IV-TR clearly and obviously states that kinky IS a mental disorder. In just 2 short years, the DSM-IV-TR went from being a upheld as the ultimate defense in proving that kinky isn’t a mental disorder, to being a book worthy of burning because of how it vilified and degraded kinkiness. What caused such a massive flipflop in a span of just 2 years?

This might take some explaining. Just stick with me here.

Consider Danielle Berry, the male-to-female transsexual who might be known to some as the computer programmer who wrote the video game M.U.L.E. for the commodore 64. Their advice to other transsexual was to not get a sex change operation. Their view was that the finical and social and emotional cost simply wasn’t worth it. Other options could have worked out perfectly fine. In their own words “Being my ~real self~ could have included having a penis and including more femininity in whatever forms made sense.”

There IS the possibility that someone going into sex reassignment surgery may be doing it for the wrong reasons. Just for a few examples, if someone is a gay male, its totally fine to live their life as a gay male instead of thinking ‘Gee, I must be a woman trapped in a mans body’ as an explanation for their sexual desires. Or a darker reason may be that someone is suffering horrible self estem issues. Like an anorexic who is disappointed in their body, this person may dislike the body they have and incorrectly assume that if they change their gender, life would get better. They latch on to sex reassignment as a hope that it might somehow erase the self esteem issues they are having. Or maybe they are just a cross dresser. They get off sexual from dressing as a woman. And if they dive toward the ‘I must be a woman trapped in a mans body’ excuse they are denying their true kinky nature.

Now consider those situations in a child. A preteen not yet old enough to make rational decisions for themselves about gender identity. Maybe, just maybe, the decision to change ones gender should be put on hold at least until they get a bit older. If they still continue to believe they are a woman taped in a mans body, there will be plenty of time later in their adult life to explore that decision.

Naturaly for the political branch of the transgendered community, this is blasphemy of the highest order. Nobody EVERY goes to sex reassignment surgery for the wrong reasons. And if anyone ever utters the phrase ‘I think I might have been born the wrong gender’ they must be believed without question. Never ever EVER call into question whether their might be other factors at work. Ever if that person is a child.

Enter Kenneth Zucker and Ray Blanchard. Zucker is a child psychologist. He committed the unforgivable sin of suggesting that a child with gender identity issues should put off the choice of changing genders until they are older. Blanchard lead the study showing that people who crossdressed first and then started thinking they were the wrong gender tended to regret their sex reassignment surgery while those who started thinking they were the wrong gender first and then crossdressed wound up being much more satisfied with their sex reassignment surgery. He committed the unforgivable sin of suggesting that sex reassignment surgery is a useful and appropriate procedure for transgenders, just not the cross dressers that mistakenly believe that they are transgendered.

Reaction to them both was horrific. The political branch of the trans community did all but burn their houses down. Even when Blanchard campaigned in 1998 to try and get sex reassignment surgery to be covered by insurance, it didn’t help his reputation. Minds were already made up that these two men were ‘the enemy’ and must be destroyed at all cost.

Both Zucker and Blanchard are on the board that is updating the DSM.

This is why the DSM of 2006 was held up as a vindication of sexual freedom and was obviously to anyone who would actually read it that it said kinky IS NOT a mental disorder. While the DSM of 2008 was held up as a horrific example of hate speech and was obviously to anyone who would actually read it that it said kinky IS a mental disorder. The 2006 DSM didn’t have Zucker and Blanchard attached to the program. The 2008 does.

This is why the actions of the DSM back in 1994 must be removed from the history books. Even though consensual sadism and masochism has been removed from the list of disorders, it is necessary to trick the population of the kink community into believing that such a removal never happened. Only after you can convince the masses that the 1994 removal was something that never happened, only then can you get the hoards to rise up with pitchforks and torches and storm the gates of the DSM and derail the new version.

And believe me, the ‘grassroots’ swell of this movement is working perfectly. I have spoke with multiple different people who were actively involved in the NCSF campaign against the DSM who couldn’t even do something as simple as explain what a five axis test was. Anyone who would have done something as simple as reading the Wikipedia entry on the DSM would have known that. But they don’t bother informing themselves. All they know is that the NCSF says the DSM is ~evil~ so they all march in lockstep reciting the talking points of how the DSM is ~evil~ and that consensual sadomasochism must be removed from its pages. Never knowing that what they think they are fighting to accomplish actually happened 15 years ago, and never knowing that that they are really doing is actually just an attempt to ruin the carers of Zucker and Blanchard.

The NCSF ‘kinky is not a diagnosis’ doesn’t have squat to do with fighting for sexual freedom. Its plain and simple revenge againt Zucker and Blanchard for their perceived (incorrectly perceived) hate speech against trans.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 3:47 am and is filed under ncsf, not what you think, oppression, urban legend. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.