Debra Soh | |
|---|---|
 Soh onReason TV in 2020 | |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | Ryerson University (BSc) York University (MSc,PhD) |
| Known for | |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Functional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men |
| Doctoral advisor | Keith Schneider[1] |
| Website | drdebrasoh |
Debra W. Soh is a Canadiancolumnist, author, and former academicsex researcher.[2]
Soh received her Ph.D. from York University in Toronto. She has extensively researchedparaphilias, 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".
Soh holds aPh.D. degree in psychology fromYork University inToronto.[3][4][5] Her dissertation was titledFunctional and Structural Neuroimaging of Paraphilic Hypersexuality in Men, and her committee included Keith Schneider of York University andJames Cantor of theCentre for Addiction and Mental Health.[5] During her graduate studies, Soh received the Michael Smith Foreign Research Award from theSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and York's Provost Dissertation Scholarship.[6]
While at York, she studiedparaphilias. Her research indicates that these areneurological conditions rather than learned behaviours.[7]
Soh has written articles forQuillette,The Globe and Mail,New York magazine,Playboy,Los Angeles Times, andThe Wall Street Journal.[6][8] She began hostingQuillette'sWrongspeak podcast withJonathan Kay in May 2018.[2] Soh describes herself as a formerfeminist who later became disillusioned with the term.[9]
A 2016Cosmopolitan article highlighted some of Soh's former research findings and their implications for determining which men are likely to commit rape.[10] A 2015 article she wrote forSalon.com spoke of how she studied apedophile named Jacob who had come to her office after being arrested for luring what he thought was a 10-year-old minor but was actually an undercover police officer, recommended Germany'sPrevention Project Dunkelfeld as a solution, and gave sympathy toTodd Nickerson, who wrote two articles for the same magazine about his experiences as a non-offending pedophile, stating "The backlash that Todd Nickerson faced upon publicly writing about his personal struggle with pedophilia is a reminder that we, as a society, have far to go in challenging the way we think about this emotionally charged subject. But our current approach is not working."[11]
In a 2015 editorial, Soh criticized the prevalence of childhoodgender transitions, advising parents and doctors to wait "until a child has reached cognitive maturity."[12] 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."[13] Soh has also written against anti-conversion therapy laws that include bothsexual orientation andgender identity, believing that such laws conflate the two and prevent legitimate therapeutic counselling for individuals withgender dysphoria.[14] Fellow Canadian academics Florence Ashley andAlexandre Baril disputed Soh's interpretation of these studies.[15] PsychologistsKristina Olson and Lily Durwood called Soh's research "alarmist".[16]
Soh opposed the 2015 decision toclose Toronto's gender identity clinic, which was known for beginning treatment after or during puberty in most cases.[17][failed verification] 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.[18][failed verification] PsychiatristJack Turban criticized Soh, stating that hormones are prescribed during puberty according to theEndocrine Society guidelines, adding that "As Soh notes in her article, gender identity is fixed at this time."[19] The following year, Soh wrote an editorial which criticizedCBC News for cancelling its airing of a British documentary that featured Zucker.[20]
In 2016, Soh spent a weekend documenting thefurry fandom in order to dispel myths about the subculture being primarily sexual in nature.[21] The following year she publicly defended James Damore's "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber" letter, popularly referred to as theGoogle memo.[22]
In 2018, Soh was described as a member of the "intellectual dark web" byNew York Times opinion editorBari Weiss.[23]
Soh leftWrongspeak at the end of 2018.[citation needed]
In April 2019, Soh supported a lawsuit byNova Scotia resident Lorne Grabher against the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The suit was filed to reinstate a licence 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."[24][25]
On 4 August 2020, Soh published her first book,The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths about Sex and Identity in Our Society.[26]
In 2021, Soh started her own podcast, "The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast".[citation needed]
Soh is ofMalaysian-Chinese descent.[27]
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