I feel there is a point to be made on the similarities between anti-endo system discourse and transphobia. When I see anti-endo talking points I canāt help but think of similar transphobic rhetoric that Iāve heard. Maybe itās because there are quite a few trans people in my system, but I still think itās important to examine common factors.
For example, āYou have to have trauma to be a system.ā This is one I see a lot, and it reminds me of the āYou have to have dysphoria to be transā talking point. Itās worth noting that this idea was rooted in medicalization of trans people that was specifically created under the lens of āwhat cis people think trans people are.ā A bunch of cis doctors can together and made the idea of dysphoria, saying it was the common factor found in all cases of ātransgenderism.ā This turned out to be completely false, dysphoria is not required in order to be trans, and most people are well aware of that now.
When I see people saying that ātraumaā is needed to be a system, I have to wonder if thatās an idea made by systems trying to understand themselves, or neurotypical singlets who are trying to medicalize us based on what they think a system is. Itās something that Iāve also noticed in the idea of āHosts.ā My system does not have a host, itās frankly a completely foreign idea to us. Thatās not saying that you canāt have a host if your a system, but itās definitely not ārequired,ā and I feel like the idea that we have to have a host comes from the insistence of a ātrue self/true alterā that a lot of singlets try to push on us.
These ideas of trauma and abuse being the thing that makes you a valid system is also more harmful than some might think. A lot of trans people bought into the idea of dysphoria being what defines transness, and from what Iāve seen itās a very self-deprecating way to view yourself. Believing that who you are is rooted in all the worst parts of your life is really horrible, especially when itās reinforced by the people around you. On top of that, the medicalization of this idea could easily cause the very thing most anti-endos are complaining about.
āEndos are taking away resources from real systems!ā Where have I heard that before? Ah, thatās right, ātrans women are taking away resources from real women!ā Unsurprisingly, this idea is completely false and rooted in hatred. The inclusion of endogenic systems, and the inclusion of all non-traumagenic systems, actually seems to do the opposite. When things like plurality are normalized, they become more understood. When more people are aware of what plurality is, it removes the stigmas around it and all the harmful ideas attached to it, because itās more common. This is what people mean when they say āthe future is plural;ā they arenāt saying that we should traumatize more people until everyone is plural, they mean that plurality could be more accepted and understood if we stopped policing what makes someone plural.
On the other hand, if we keep reinforcing that idea that trauma is what makes you a system, a very clear problem emerges. Where exactly do we draw that line, and how long will it take until it moves? Right now the line is ātrauma,ā what kind of trauma? Abuse? What kind of abuse? How long until people start saying āNeglect doesnāt count as trauma, you need to have been hit for it to be valid!ā? Speaking from experience, the line will not stop at endo systems, because these idea of validity and who ādeservesā help are rooted in exclusion and hatred. Anti-endo communities arenāt about helping systems, they arenāt about giving support and understanding to plurals, itās about hatred. Exclusion. Itās about pointing out at someone and saying āyouāre a bad person for being this way.ā
This exclusion does nothing for the plural community, in fact, itās more harmful than anything else. This medicalization and policing of plurality will inevitably harm all systems. Already there has been exclusion and harassment of traumagenic systems, simply because they support their fellow plurals. These ideas have appeared so many times before, in all marginalized communities and itās important to recognize the similarities here. This is purity culture, and it needs to be stopped or it will eventually hurt every system, regardless whether theyāre a āreal systemā or not.