Jordan Peterson has mocked Demi Lovato on social media, after the musician explained her reasons for returning to she/her pronouns to describe herself after announcing that she would be going by nonbinary they/them pronouns.
Lovato, 30, publicly announced her nonbinary status in May 2021 during her podcast 4D With Demi Lovato. She also announced the change in a video posted on Twitter, in which she said using nonbinary pronouns "best represents the fluidity I feel in my gender expression and allows me to feel most authentic and true to the person I both know I am and still am discovering."
In the summer of 2022, Lovato made an appearance on Spout Podcast, in which she told host Tamara Dhia that she had expanded on gender identity. When Dhia asked Lovato to explain her use of the nonbinary pronouns, the singer said she had decided they/them pronouns were no longer solely appropriate for her.
"I've actually adopted the pronouns of she/her again," Lovato said at the time, while also explaining that she was using those pronouns in addition to they/them.
Now, in a newly published interview with GQ Hype Spain, Lovato has revealed that she added to her pronouns simply to avoid having to repeatedly explain herself to people.
"I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns," she explained in the interview, translated from Spanish. "It was absolutely exhausting. And that is one of the reasons that have led me to also feel comfortable with the feminine pronoun. I just got tired. But for that very reason I know that it is important to continue spreading the word."
Lovato added that she often deals with friction between her gender identity and external expectations.
"I face this every day. For example, in public toilets. Having to access the women's bathroom, even though I don't completely identify with it. I would feel more comfortable in a genderless bathroom," she said.
"Or it also happens when filling out forms, such as government documents or any other where you have to specify your gender. You only have two options, male and female, and I feel like none of that makes sense to me," Lovato said. "I see myself conditioned to choose a woman because there are no more. I think this has to change. Hopefully with time there will be more options."
On Wednesday, Canadian psychologist and media personality Peterson mocked Lovato for her explanation. Reacting to the New York Post's coverage of the interview, he tweeted: "The existential travails of the hopelessly self-obsessed."
Peterson, 61, is famous for his conservative views, but he was once simply known as a clinical psychologist and professor. After working as an assistant and associate professor at Harvard Universitywhere he published several influential papers on familial alcoholism and other issuesthe Canadian returned to his home country with a position at the University of Toronto.
He wrote the best-selling books Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos and Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. His public stature began to grow as a result and Peterson was soon a well-known intellectual.
He became recognized outside of academia because of his views on transgender rights, which he laid out in a series of YouTube videos in 2016. Among his stances was his refusal to refer to students by their chosen gender pronouns.
In one notorious incident from 2016 Peterson was filmed speaking to transgender students. He argued that their activismand political correctness in generalhad a negative impact on society.
The video racked up millions of hits on YouTube, and Peterson was soon bragging to commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan about how he'd learned to profit from controversy.
"I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to, because it's just so g****** funny I can't help but say it: I've figured out how to monetize social justice warriors," Peterson said on Rogan's podcast in 2018. "If they let me speak, then I get to speak, and then I make more money on Patreon... If they protest me, then that goes up on YouTube, and my Patreon account goes way up."
Peterson has faced backlash for other comments he has made. In July 2022, his Twitter account was suspended indefinitely after he refused to apologize for comments he made about trans actor Elliot Page. It was later reinstated when Elon Musk took over the social media platform.
Earlier this month, Peterson accused transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney of "parodying women" in a way that "makes blackface appear loving."
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Jordan Peterson Mocks Demi Lovato After She Changed They/Them Pronouns - Newsweek