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Rowan Maddox

@romaddox.bsky.social
86 followers 127 following 57 posts

Disability and trans researcher, Tromsø, Norway. Friend to a dog, runner, film-watcher, fan of mushrooms, animals and nature, and sometime radio DJ. Nice to meet you! www.rowanmaddox.com

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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Yes, my life is unrecognisable. I hate this puritan position that we shouldn't have medication and if we do then we should have tried everything else first ! This assumes people with ADHD haven't already done that - including for many, more dangerous solutions like alcohol and other addictions.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I am so fed up of "experts" making sweeping judgments on what constitutes a "real" condition. It happened with autism, and now it is ADHD's turn. As someone "with ADHD", I don't know the cause, but I know treatment, esp. medication, is live saving. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
The Great ADHD Myth? review – the most controversial show of the year is here
Dr Max Pemberton isn’t uncompassionate or especially radical, but he assembles a team of medics whose stance on the condition is clear from the off. This is a documentary that will incense and offend ...
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I woke up wondering about smell ... 1 hour later I learnt that tobacco hawk moths likely smell with their wings (!) and that dogs, leopard slugs, certain cockroaches & hermit crabs appear to share similar behaviour to smells all with different nervous systems &that dogs may smell like dinosaurs!🤓
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Anti-neoliberalist techniques of the self... If this could be politicized then the kids are alright, but as a form of individualist nihilsm it's not so promising. Anyway, will read this article - thanks for sharing!
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
One for all my millennial mean girl (and boy and NB) Marxists out there
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Thanks for sharing this, I have often thought the same, nice to have a "source" if I need one.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I spoke with journalist Simon Gramvik about my new publication, for Kilden Magasin. We discussed how autism is used in pushback against trans healthcare. Thank you, Simon, for a respectful and incisive conversation on an important topic. magasin.kildenkunnskap.no/nb/2026/06/f...
magasin.kildenkunnskap.no
Forsker skeptisk til bruk av autismediagnose i transdebatten
Flere studier tyder på at autisme er mer utbredt blant transpersoner enn i befolkningen ellers. Nå blir diagnosen brukt som et argument for hvorfor noen ikke kan være trans, mener forsker.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
(update) I made myself a wee website. It has a little snapshot of my research and my current projects on trans, disability and anti-gender issues. You can find it here: rowanmaddox.com
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I am the writer :) I did indeed miss this. I will have a look at it. Thank you.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The bisexual mullet? :,)
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Thank you! It is an older article really but publishing takes a while so i think ive changed my thinking somewhat but if you read it, I hope you get something useful from it :)
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I have an article out today in Culture, Theory and Critique. In it, I think about how the dominant western way that we think and construct meaning makes autism and trans identities difficult to reconcile. Open access here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Representationalism and the impossibility of autistic transgender identification
The ‘trans debates' have proliferated widely, and autism is frequently brought into these discussions. Autism researchers have begun to explore the perceived over-representation of autistic people ...
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
I just want to push my fundraiser page for my dog's injuries one last time: www.spleis.no/485083?s=17765820 Any little helps me to pay back people who helped me and for his continued medical bills, so thank you for anything you can donate :)
spleis.no
Help Rowan Cover Vet Bills for Arnold After His Serious Injury
All money collected will be used to cover Arnold's medical bills and repay the people who have already helped
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Sara E. Sellevold Orning (UiO) was kind enough to write a review of my PhD thesis for Lamba Nordica: publicera.kb.se/lambdanordic... You can find my thesis online, but I am also currently working on turning it into a book, if you can wait 🤓
publicera.kb.se
The Significance and (Mis)Uses of Autism in Anti-Trans Politics and Discourse | lambda nordica
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
A beautiful little fire for mice or other small creatures found in a tree aka the fungus called Clavulinopsis fusiformis (or Golden Spindles).
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
yes :) he is becoming annoying again so I know he is on the mend haha.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Oh thank you so much, Kamilla :) he is much better than he was when this all occurred at least! He will only get better from here.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
It is just nice to feel hot and appreciate yourself. Something cis people get all the time. IMO it is tied to sexuality but not in a pathologised/denigrated way.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
At the start of the year my wonderful, funny, silly dog was in a serious accident. I have made a Spleis to help with the costs of his treatment. I would appreciate if you share this in your networks :) www.spleis.no/485083
spleis.no
Hjelp Arnold og Rowan å dekke medisinsk behandling for Arnold
All money collected will be used to cover Arnold's medical bills and repay the people who have already helped
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
wait, what? there's people who argue otherwise? Also, Hilary Duff is the queen of millennials.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
call me maybe
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
i was just thinking about how toxic academia can be and how it is impossible to get people to take that seriously because of the supposed privilege of doing academic work ... then I clicked on Bluesky and saw this. I didn't know about this book. I will check it out!
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Don't understand why terfs don't see this. Or do they and they just don't care cos it's more important to be rid of trans people? Horrible and confusing times, honestly.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
edit: To be clear, I don't mean trans women have testosterone levels like men - just referring to the imagined idea of testosterone and its role that anti-trans people are working with.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
This is applying to chess too. Male pattern testosterone makes people smarter, stronger and all around better at everything I guess! (/s)
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Reposted by Rowan Maddox
Maja Brandt Andreasen @majabandreasen.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
I'm proud to be a co-writer of this opinion piece published in Aftenposten today. My colleagues and I raise our concern for the spread of anti-gender politics in Norway and how this creates a discourse of hate towards especially queer and trans people. www.aftenposten.no/meninger/deb...
aftenposten.no
Trump-retorikken mot LHBTQI+ vokser raskt i Norge
Vi vil understreke alvoret i situasjonen i Norge ved å se den i sammenheng med internasjonale bevegelser og kampanjer. Det som skjer her, er ikke isolert, skriver innleggsforfatterne.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Not to engage with this complete and utter BS, but it's suggested that men are equal to, or worse, than women at endurance sports such as ultra marathons or long distance swimming.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
"She added that biology could indeed play a role because men were larger and more muscular and had more stamina, which could help them in long chess matches." omg, the leaps they make. Now it's apparently harder for cis women to sit down long periods.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Thanks Maja ! Hope it's of some use to your research :)
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
My new article, which explores the racial logic undergirding the ways gender-critical actors use autism to deny the existence of trans & trans autistic people, is published now through European Journal of Women's Studies. And, it is Open Access. :) journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Then I misunderstood you, apologies.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
You can take this up with the professor who wrote this paper and the numerous legal professions and legal scholars who concur. It's OK to start with questions and wanting to understand, I did too, but I won't have a conversation with someone who doesn't have an open mind.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
But that's always been allowed. It's human right to have your existence recognized and not be forced out of public space (as has happened with trans men). I don't want to have this conversation.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
2. If I understand the backfire comment correctly- it's frustrating to hear the argument over and over again that to have basic human rights and civil liberties one must be 'respectable' or behave perfectly. The two aren't connected. They shouldn't be given conditionally.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
1. The GRA ref was (cynically) a political move by May, akin to the gay marriage move by Cameron. It means a trans person can marry, die, have children ect. in their gender. That's all. There are no sex based rights in the UK, only equality acts. Being critical means knowing these things.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
I don't know why you are fighting me on this. Have you spent 5+years the reading medical/legal/social science literature from multiple country contexts and going back to the beginnings of state funded gender healthcare? If you haven't then I think you should have an open mind here.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
That was proposed by the British Government. All it meant was one could self id (happens in 21 countries already, I happen to live in one). Trans rights groups emerged to fight back against the push back to it. The reforms amount to barely any change in practice, but it means a lot to trans people.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
2. I say minor because trans people have always been able to use bathrooms and sex-segregated facilities except under 'exceptional circumstances.' The GRA meant people didn't have to go through undue costly and timely processes & that their knowledge of themselves was taken seriously.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
1. Actually, the proposed (v minor) reform to the 2004 GRC caused the emergence of multiple groups (LGBA, Women's Place, May Day for Women ect.) who began creating an issue where there was none. This mutated into a focus on healthcare and the rights of trans people to access it.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
True , but public debate does influence medicine and we see this in the pull back of healthcare for trans people. There’s been nothing changed other than gc campaigns lobbying to roll back access and provisions.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
No, trans people are not encouraging children to transition. The same narratives smeared gay people. That they were peadophiles, seeking to corrupt children, inherently dangerous.ect. It didn't happen then and it doesn't happen now.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
3. That is the direct result of G-C and anti gender campaigners who have fought court cases and shifted the public and political narrative. They are harming trans healthcare by asking for "debate", not helping.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
2. I want trans health to be as good as possible. I want detransitioners to be listened to and supported, for them and to better healthcare. The thing is, that just isn't happening. The idea that trans is not 'real'/caused by something else is the hegemonic narrative shaping medical science.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
1. Yes and this is way too long for this kind of message. That isn't really what is happening though. The Cass report, for example, didn't listen to trans people, they had G-C figures on their review board. You can't have blind studies in this, you can't have control.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
ps. depending on what you count as an expert, I could be considered that. I have a Ph.D and publications and teach about trans health and trans lives. I don't think this is an actual issue that needs debating.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
The experts are trans people. I get the impression you wouldn't need to hear 'experts' debate the existence of gay people, so I don't see why this is any different. The anti-trans debate is not a debate, it's politically manipulated obfuscation of actual issues.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
You might be right, but why should Stephen Fry debate them? No one should be debating these issues, but an actual conversation would hear from trans people, which we don't. Fry isn't trans, an activist , a medical professional. It would be completely meaningless to have him "debate" GC people.
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
I was and I also presented in the racialization panel. It was a very good conference I felt :) Yes, me too, see you then!
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Rowan Maddox @romaddox.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Great panel. I couldn't stop thinking that for all anti-trans people claim to 'care' about sports they don't know that the body of the trans women would never beat the cis women in the meme you showed because track running = leaner bodies. Also, that was a body on steroids, aka gender affirming. 🤓
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