ContraPoints | “The Aesthetic” — A Response

“What matters more? The way things are or the way things look?”

UPDATE 2023: I wrote all these essays back when I was immersed in trans ideology. I detransitioned and I’ve changed my mind about many things. https://youtube.com/@RayAlexWilliams?si=JIEdBcopAIxOPtEW

Natalie Wynn, creator of ContraPoints, is one of my favorite Youtubers. I think she’s brilliant. But a recent episode she did, “The Aesthetic”, didn’t quite sit right with me and I want to share my response. I know I’m not the only one who was confused by this video given her past work.

Things to know about ContraPoints: The show often makes its argumentative points through the use of characters that, you guessed it, counter each other in a dialectic — Hence the name of the show.

In this episode, there are two characters: Tabby, the communist, non-passing trans cat girl who wants to smash TERFs, and Justine, a feminine, passing trans woman focused on the aesthetics of passing and assimilation.

The beginning of the video shows Tabby being a guest on a TV show where another guest misgenders her. She responds to this by grabbing a bat, hissing, and threatening violence. The guest interprets this as masculine, affirming her accusation of Tabby being a man in a costume. This clearly upsets Tabby.