Press X to Doubt: Debunking the Ridiculous Claim That Video Games Cause Gender Dysphoria

A recent opinion piece on pittparents.com1 made the extraordinary claim that playing video games, particularly those that allow players to choose their avatar's gender, is contributing to a rise in gender dysphoria and transgender identification among youth. The author argues that these games are confusing impressionable kids about their gender identity. However, the article provides no scientific evidence or expert sources to support this alarming assertion.

This is just the latest in a long line of moral panics blaming video games for society's ills. For decades, fearmongers have claimed that violent video games were turning kids into real-life criminals, despite no credible evidence to support this. Did hours of playing Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto transform a generation into bloodthirsty killers? Of course not. And yet, these same baseless arguments are now being recycled to stoke fear about video games "confusing" kids' gender identities.

In fact, many transgender gamers report that playing as characters matching their gender identity helps alleviate dysphoria, providing a safe virtual space to express themselves. Games with robust character creators or canonically transgender characters are often celebrated by the trans community for offering much-needed representation and escapism. The idea that these positive portrayals and outlets are somehow "corrupting" youth is absurd concern-trolling at best.

By the original article's logic, playing hours of Sonic the Hedgehog must have caused a generation to identify as insatiable, ring-hoarding blue blurs. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man surely left us confused about whether we were hungry yellow circles or bow-wearing alternative shapes. And who could forget the scourge of Super Mario Bros. convincing countless kids they were actually Italian plumbers? Clearly, this is all ridiculous - video games don't have some reality-warping power to override players' senses of self.

If anything, shouldn't these fearful parents be more worried about Animal Crossing turning their children into compulsive hoarders who terrorize their neighbors with bug nets until they hand over coveted furniture sets and Bells? Or Stardew Valley inspiring them to abandon modern society in favor of a pixelated farm life filled with cave-diving and flirting with the town's eligible bachelors and bachelorettes? When you actually follow this "video games are corrupting our youth" argument to its logical conclusion, it quickly falls apart into absurdity.

There is no credible evidence that video games cause gender dysphoria or any other identity "confusion" in kids. Transgender youth exist regardless of the media they consume, and scaremongering about games and other fiction "turning kids trans" is a harmful distraction from the real issues they face. Playing a game with a gender-swapped avatar no more makes someone transgender than playing Call of Duty makes them a hardened soldier. It's time to stop blaming video games for society's problems and let kids enjoy exploring fantasy worlds without baseless moral panic. The only thing being "corrupted" here is the concept of reasonable discourse.