Most of you know this but in case you don’t: ROGD stands for Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. Here is Lisa Littman’s study, where the term was coined and here is a brilliant explainer by Eliza Mondegreen: ROGD: Looking Back, Looking Forward.
In our real (offline) conversations with regular people, many of us at Genspect have found that people don’t know about ROGD. One of the prevailing assumptions is that trans identification is similar, if not entirely equivalent, to being gay, lesbian or bisexual. So when we talk to people about the rise in trans identification in the adolescent population in the last decade or so, people don’t see that it isn’t the same and also that the adolescents flocking to gender clinics are arriving at a trans identity in ways that are vastly different from the adults who transitioned in the past.
We want to make this concept mainstream. Many people have compared ROGD to past phenomena that have spread by social contagion among adolescent peer groups, like anorexia or self-harm by cutting. These comparisons have their merit and we know that when people see it, it’s like a lightbulb moment. So we want wider society to see what’s really going on with trans identity in adolescents and young people.
The question is how. And that’s where you come in.
Does ROGD capture what’s going on? We are aware of the limits of terminology. Do we need a different term? Do you have any ideas as to how we can bring this into the mainstream?
Let’s get the conversation going. See you in the comments!
In order to make ROGD, or any future such acronym describing this phenomenon, part of common parlance, we have to win the tech battle. We must wield the same weapons that the activists have used on kids and wield them smarter, better, and faster.
* Articles about ROGD need to be on Page 1 of Google search results when people type "my kid says he is trans" or "can kids be trans" and so on in their search bar.
* Videos on TikTok that can talk about this condition (without getting banned by the algorithm) and land on the For You page
* Memes that are provocative but not perceived as offensive
* Quizzes, just like the quizzes Trevor Project and other NGO's put out that seek to answer kids asking why they feel a certain way. In their quizzes , all of the answers point to "yes of course you are trans" but the same types of quizzes can be used to show kids they might have unresolved trauma, comorbidities, etc. and to talk to their parent, instead of hiding from their parent.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
“Rapid Onset” is not the language of regular folks. “Sudden” is a more effective word. And it sounds like the most clearly obvious example of how the cultural contagions, not intrinsic attributes of individuals, are driving this are the teenaged girls who decide they are boys and want testosterone and mastectomies to prove it. It’s sudden.
“Sudden Adolescent Gender Agony” (SAGA… how appropriate)
“Sudden Adolescent Identity Distress” (SAID… also appropriate since this madness is all a construct of language that somehow requires surgery)
“Sudden Adolescent Sex Trait Anxiety” (SASTA)