The internet age: A time when people know more about subjects that they have never studied than ever before. With this comes many positives, such as a more knowledgeable public in general, the ability to split work amongst people all across the world to work towards common goals, as well as the accessibility of knowledge and learning to those who didn’t have it before. However, with these developments also comes a terrible plague: A public who thinks they are experts in subjects they spent no more than 5 minutes reading about on the first link they clicked on. While this may be the case for certain things such as a math problem you may or may not have spent 30 minutes crying over, certain complex issues just can’t be understood entirely that easily. 

This was the case for internet commentator Matt Walsh on two topics that he thought would be easily combined together: Narcissism, and gender nonconformity. Unfortunately for him and the 123,000 people that viewed his video, Walsh chose a subject to speak on that he felt he knew more about than he really did. In his six-minute video titled “Is Non-Binary just another Word for NARCISSIST?,” Mr. Walsh asserts indirectly that people who identify as nonbinary are, in fact, narcissists. In doing so, he minimizes the legitimacy of narcissism and people who have the disorder, as well as people who do not feel comfortable identifying as male or female. In his video he watches a poem by a person who identifies as nonbinary, detailing their struggles with going to get a haircut because of the gendered pay system. Matt Walsh’s video oversimplifies the complex ins and outs of human biology and psychology, with little regard for those it may affect. The simplification and misunderstandings in the video are ones that are very common, and something that should be stopped.

Who is Matt Walsh? 

Matt Walsh is a political commentator on the internet that typically takes conservative standpoints on the topics that he tackles. He posts his commentary on the Daily Wire Youtube channel, as well as many articles on The Daily Wire website. Oftentimes in his videos, Matt uses condescending language and formal attire to make himself seem more knowledgeable and qualified to speak on the issues that he does. With a News Guard rating of 57/100, The Daily Wire is known for its biased political articles. While some things that have less than 100/100 on News Guard may be credible, that is due to the nature of the things that made them lose points. These small things oftentimes include providing information on the creators of the content on their websites, or things that may not mean journalistic bias. The Daily Wire, however, has points deducted for gathering information responsibly, regularly clarifying or correcting errors, and handling the difference between news and opinion responsibly. Because of this, the integrity of Matt’s video may already come into question, especially after noting that Matt Walsh does not have any sort of formal education on most of the topics he discusses on his channel and in his blog. 

Claim 1: “Is non-binary just another word for narcissist?” [Title]

In the video, Walsh goes about invalidating the existence of nonbinary people by opening the video with a short description of three things that people with narcissistic personality disorder have. Among these characteristics are a “hunger for appreciation and admiration, a sense of specialness and desire to be the center of attention,” as well as the “expectation of special treatment reflecting higher perceived status.” [0:39-0:52] While all of these things are characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder, they are only three of many traits that occur in those who have the disorder. For someone who portrays himself as knowing what he was doing, he greatly oversimplified the disorder to make it fit the narrative he wanted it to fit into. Even setting aside the fact that gender identity and personality disorders are completely unrelated, what Walsh is saying makes almost no sense. He is diagnosing an entire group of people with a personality disorder that is already extremely hard to get diagnosed in an individual. As an article by Chicago Tribune put it,  “Jumping to that word so quickly needs to stop. Not only does it diminish the seriousness of real narcissists, but once you put that label on someone, any chance of a productive conversation probably just died.” The issue with saying this is not about the fact that he is referencing a disorder, but that he is using it in a casual conversation about something unrelated, eliminating the professionalism and causing stigmas surrounding those who do have to deal with the disorder. In general, it would be better for people to have raised awareness about the topic, however, the way Walsh goes about it doesn’t promote awareness; It promotes hate and fear. So why is he using a clinical term that doesn’t make sense in this scenario in exchange for something that could be simply and more effectively described as nothing more than selfish or self-absorbed? In the same article by Chicago Tribune, they mention Chet Mirman, who said that “the mass majority aren’t basing their statements on an actual diagnosis. They just want to vilify or blame the other person.” Whether he genuinely believes that people who don’t feel like a man or a woman are all narcissistic, or he is just using the term for rhetorical purposes, his statements are both incorrect and harmful to those who are actually affected.

Claim 2: “You’re either male or female.” [4:06-4:08]

In his video, Walsh denies the existence of nonbinary people, stating that “it is indeed a binary system.” [4:44-4:47] Many people who want to deny transgender people like to echo the all-too-common argument about the chromosomes of people, and how it correlates with the sex and the gender of the person involved. While the sex of someone with a pair of XX chromosomes is typically corresponding to a person who has a uterus, and XY with someone with male reproductive organs, this is not always the case. As an article on sex and gender by The World Health Organisation (WHO) explains, “The male/female split is often seen as binary, but this is not entirely true. For instance, some men are born with two or three X chromosomes, just as some women are born with a Y chromosome.” 

Claim 3: “There’s no such thing as being nonbinary. That doesn’t exist.” [3:01-3:03]

In this same article by the World Health Organization, WHO describes gender as “the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed.” It might be the case that a lot of people can fit into the gender that their sex is typically associated with, however due to the diversity of the human race, it is natural that many people do not. As well as all of this, according to an article by Nature, “The research and medical community now sees sex as more complex than male and female, and gender as a spectrum that includes transgender people and those who identify as neither male nor female.” In general, the majority of those who have studied gender and sex’s interactions together agree that there are not only two genders, and that people can fall in between male and female. 

Claim 4: “That’s not a poem about being nonbinary. {…} That’s a poem about, as I said, being a narcissist.” [2:57-3:08]

In another attempt to assert that he believes that nonbinary people are narcissistic, Walsh says that the poem that he shows in his video was not about being nonbinary, but about being a narcissist. Aside from the general incorrectness of this claim, Mr. Walsh is implying the author of the poem in the video is a narcissist. The assertion that this group of people on the internet that Matt has never met are narcissist is not only ignorant, but it is harmful as well, not simply to the community of those who identify as nonbinary, but also those who have been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. According to an article by Reach Out Australia, personality disorders can be extremely difficult to diagnose due to the complex nature of personalities and the disorders that are intertwined with them.  People will always respond to different situations in different ways, because each individual’s personality is unique. Because of this, it is difficult for medical professionals to get a diagnosis for their patients with personality disorders, much less a random man on the internet who has never met the person he is accusing of having the disorder. Another reason his usage of the term “narcissist” is harmful is because it is a clinical term. With the broader usage of technology came the broader use of terms that weren’t intended for the common public to use as an insult or a jab, but as a way to put a name to something that could otherwise be written off as a bad character trait. This is something that not only diminishes the perceived importance of a professional diagnosis, but it also makes people with a diagnosis feel ostracized and it causes a stigma around their condition. One more thing to be aware of is that he is saying this person who is sharing their own personal experience is narcissistic for doing so. Something to remember is that in this video, Matt is sharing his own personal opinion and experience. It’s almost as if he is saying he has a “hunger for appreciation and admiration, a sense of specialness and desire to be the center of attention,” as well as an “expectation of special treatment” because he believes he is better than others. This is not to say that Matt is a narcissist- because that is something for a psychologist to decide- but to show the absurdity of his loosely-based claims. 

Why does this matter?

The overgeneralization and overuse of clinical terms can cause a lot of harm to those with actual diagnoses, as it creates an incorrect view and stigma around it. Mental health should not be used as an insult, especially when there are more accurate and simple ways things could be phrased. So next time, instead of saying terms such as “sociopath” or “narcissist” to describe someone who is just self-centered and gives little regard to others, just say it as it is. The human body and mind are complex things that cannot be generalized so simply by someone who isn’t an expert. One may think they know everything about psychology and biology after reading a two-page article, but those who have studied for years would beg to differ that it may not be as simple as you think. 

Featured image by Oriel Frankie Ashcroft from Pexels