Debra Soh

Canadian sex researcher

Science columnist
political commentator

Scientific careerThesis Functional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men Doctoral advisorKeith Schneider^[1] Websitedrdebrasoh.com

Debra W. Soh is a Canadian columnist, author, and former academic sex researcher.^[2]

Soh received her Ph.D. from York University in Toronto. She has extensively researched paraphilias, suggesting they are neurological conditions rather than learned behaviors. Soh has written articles for various publications, and she once hosted Quillette's Wrongspeak podcast with Jonathan Kay. She identifies as a former feminist who became disillusioned with the term.

Soh has criticized childhood gender transitions, arguing for waiting until a child reaches cognitive maturity. She has also written against anti-conversion therapy laws that include both sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2020, she published her first book, "The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society".

Education and research

Soh holds a Ph.D. degree in psychology from York University in Toronto.^[3]^[4]^[5] Her dissertation was titled Functional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men, and her committee included Keith Schneider of York University and James Cantor of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.^[5] During her graduate studies, Soh received the Michael Smith Foreign Research Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and York's Provost Dissertation Scholarship.^[6]

While at York, she studied paraphilias. Her research indicates that these are neurological conditions rather than learned behaviours.^[7]

Career

Soh has written articles for Quillette, The Globe and Mail, New York magazine, Playboy, Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal.^[6]^[8] She began hosting Quillette's Wrongspeak podcast with Jonathan Kay in May 2018.^[2] Soh describes herself as a former feminist who later became disillusioned with the term.^[9]

In a 2015 editorial, Soh criticized the prevalence of childhood gender transitions, advising parents and doctors to wait "until a child has reached cognitive maturity."^[10] Soh's essay, which referenced gender non-conforming aspects of her own childhood, argued that "a social transition back to one's original gender role can be an emotionally difficult experience." David A. French characterized this as "an understatement."^[11] Soh has also written against anti-conversion therapy laws that include both sexual orientation and gender identity, believing that such laws conflate the two and prevent legitimate therapeutic counselling for individuals with gender dysphoria.^[12] Fellow Canadian academics Florence Ashley and Alexandre Baril disputed Soh's interpretation of these studies.^[13] Psychologists Kristina Olson and Lily Durwood called Soh's research "alarmist".^[14]

Soh opposed the 2015 decision to close Toronto's gender identity clinic, which was known for beginning treatment after or during puberty in most cases.^[15] A previous inquiry had put the clinic's chief physician, Kenneth Zucker, at odds with other gender dysphoria specialists who provide support for patients who have not yet gone through puberty.^[16] Psychiatrist Jack Turban criticized Soh, stating that hormones are prescribed during puberty according to the Endocrine Society guidelines, adding that "As Soh notes in her article, gender identity is fixed at this time."^[17] The following year, Soh wrote an editorial which criticized CBC News for cancelling its airing of a British documentary that featured Zucker.^[18]

In 2016, Soh spent a weekend documenting the furry fandom in order to dispel myths about the subculture being primarily sexual in nature.^[19] The following year she publicly defended James Damore's "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" letter, popularly referred to as the Google memo.^[20]

In 2018, Soh was described as a member of the "intellectual dark web" by New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss.^[21]

Soh left Wrongspeak at the end of 2018.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2019, Soh supported a lawsuit by Nova Scotia resident Lorne Grabher against the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The suit was filed to reinstate a license plate bearing Grabher's last name whose similarity to the phrase "grab her" had made it the subject of a complaint. Soh testified that the plate would not encourage any socially adjusted person to commit a violent act and opined that the government was "overreaching."^[22]^[23]

On 4 August 2020, Soh published her first book, The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society.^[24]

In 2021, Soh started her own podcast, "The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast".^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Soh is of Malaysian-Chinese descent.^[25]

References

^ "Keith A. Schneider CV" (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2019.
^ ^a ^b Herzog, Katie (31 May 2018). "Wrongspeak Is a Safe Space for Dangerous Ideas". The Stranger. Seattle, Wa.
^ Soh, Debra (2020). The end of gender: debunking the myths about sex and identity in our society (First ed.). New York: Threshold Editions. ISBN 978-1-9821-3251-4. OCLC 1154855706.
^ "York University Faculty of Health Media Report April 2019" (PDF). April 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Past Oral Defences". Graduate Program in Psychology, York University. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018.
^ ^a ^b Aaron, Michael (25 September 2017). "Sex Researcher Turned Journalist Challenges Sexual Dogmas: Sexologist Debra Soh's work challenges sexual dogmas and political correctness". Psychology Today.
^ Rense, Sarah (26 January 2017). "Why It's So Hard to Figure Out How Our Brains Process Sex: From excessive masturbation to gender equality". Esquire. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
^ Soh, Debra (4 January 2016). "The Transgender Battle Line: Childhood". The Wall Street Journal.
^ Thobo-Carlsen, Jesper (8 March 2017). "Derfor har Debra Soh vendt feminismen ryggen". Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Soh, Debra (1 September 2015). "Why Transgender Kids Should Wait to Transition". Pacific Standard.
^ French, David (2 September 2015). "Not every sex researcher thinks young kids should 'transition'". National Review. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
^ Soh, Debra (17 June 2017). "Why bans on conversion therapy are misguided". Newsday.
^ Ashley, Florence; Baril, Alexandre (23 March 2018). "Why 'rapid onset gender dysphoria' is bad science". The National Post. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Olson, Kristina; Durwood, Lily (14 January 2016). "What Alarmist Articles About Transgender Children Get Wrong". Slate.
^ Levenson, Claire (15 October 2018). "Transition des jeunes trans*, quand science et militants divergent". Slate. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Reynolds, Christopher (14 February 2016). "Closing of CAMH clinic fans controversy over gender-questioning children". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Turban, Jack (16 February 2017). "No, it isn't 'undermining science' to say gender identity is influenced by culture". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ Soh, Debra (18 December 2017). "CBC's decision against airing Transgender Kids doc should leave everyone unsettled". CBC News. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
^ Connor, Kevin (19 March 2016). "No sex in suits and other facts about Furries". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
^ "Googler fired for diversity memo had legit points on gender". USA Today.
^ Weiss, Bari (8 May 2018). "Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018.
^ "'Grabher' license plate not dangerous, former sex researcher tells N.S. court". The Canadian Press. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
^ MacDonald, Michael (24 April 2019). "Personalized 'Grabher' licence plate won't incite sexual violence, former researcher tells Nova Scotia Supreme Court". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
^ Soh, Debra (August 2020). The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society. Threshold Editions. p. 336. ISBN 978-1982132514.
^ Soh, Debra (22 February 2021). "Attacks on Asian-Americans reveal a strange racial double standard". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved 23 July 2021.