Talk:J. Michael Bailey

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Good article J. Michael Bailey has been listed as one of the Social sciences and society good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
February 16, 2008 Good article nominee Listed
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[edit] Negative POV?

This article view Dr. Bailey in a very unfavorible light.

"Following the publication of Bailey's book The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender Bending and Transsexualism, Northwestern University received many complaints from transsexual women Bailey interviewed, who complained that they didn’t know he was using them as research subjects and that distorted versions of their case histories would appear in his book."

Bailey asserts that: a) the two women in question did know about the book ahead of time, and didn't complain untill after it was actually published dispite having seen it prior to publishing, b) the research for the book did not constitute formal research (which was one of the main accusations leveled at him)

In addition, this wikipedia article also leaves out the fact that he was exonerated of all charges in the inquiry by the Northwestern Research Review Board. Cite: Bailey's own remarks in the Northwestern Daily (campus newspaper)

In addition, he mentions all the verious drawbacks to his work on bisexual men, and only uses it as a basis to suggest additional testing.

Now I am unaware of the truth of the matter either way, however I am very certain that this article does not portray him in an evan handed manner persuient to the wikipedia standards, and I call the articles bias into question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.143.217.163 (talk • contribs)

Bailey was not "exonerated of all charges." You can cite Bailey's version of the facts if you have a citation, but here's the citation quoting Northwestern University officials in the top academic trade magazine:
"...the university will not reveal its findings or say whether it punished Mr. Bailey."
Wilson, Robin (12/10/2004). Northwestern U. Will Not Reveal Results of Investigation Into Sex Researcher. Chronicle of Higher Education.
More importantly, Northwestern University refused to investigate more serious allegations, including sex with a research subject/therapy client, and the fabrication of the child Bailey "cured" in his book with with reparative therapy. Bailey's successful case report and John Money's fabricated success in the David Reimer case have remarkable parallels.
The "formal research" charge was the only one Northwestern chose to investigate, because it was likely the only one for which they were legally liable. It was in fact one of the less egregious of the charges leveled against Bailey. Jokestress 20:23, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
Regardless of someone's opinion of Bailey or what he was accused of (especially when it was never even investigated), it is clear that this article has a strongly negative POV and I am marking it as such. Foxxygirltamara 22:07, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
I just moved the text about his 2003 book to its own article and will spend the next couple of days adopting summary style for that section. If there are sections that feel POV, please cite specific examples so they can be addressed. Jokestress 17:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

"By the end of the book, Bailey has personally "cured" Danny of his "disorder" by forcing Danny to conform to gender roles. " This is not at all the approach Bailey takes in "The Man Who Would Be Queen." At the end of the book, Bailey sees Danny again after several years, and feels confident that Danny will grow up to be a gay man. Bailey never attempts to change Danny's nature in the book, and his other research suggests that he certainly does not have anything agaist the gay population. This article is clearly not impartial. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.53.95.213 (talk • contribs)

The word "personally" is not quite accurate, since he claims Danny refused to meet with him. However, he makes it clear that Danny's mother follows his advice after seeking a third expert opinion.
Bailey writes of Danny's mother, "In spring of 1996 Leslie Ryan came to my Northwestern University office to seek yet another opinion." [1] He then extolls the virtues of Ken Zucker's reparative therapy for children with gender identity "disorder". [2] That means taking away anything "feminine" from the child. [3] Bailey warns that a world tolerant of gender-nonconforming boys might "come with the cost of more transsexual adults." [4]. Leslie reports back that the cure is working and that Danny won't talk about feminine things, and his Dad is forcing him to play catch. [5] When Bailey finally sees Danny, the recommended "cure" has worked. The last paragraph of the book has Danny emphasizing that he needs to go use the men's room.
You can read Kinder, gentler homophobia from The Advocate to learn more about what Bailey has against the gay population. Jokestress 22:02, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
I read the article and didn't get the impression that Bailey has anything in particular "against the gay population". I did note the noticeably nasty tone the interviewer took toward the end on the interview. Uncalled for and totally unprofessional if you ask me.
On the issue of POV in this article – just because many LGBT activists hate Bailey's guts is no reason to slant this article as an anti-Bailey article. (If you don't understand this, I suggest you go back and read WP:NPOV.) Discuss the controversy, by all means, but discuss both sides of it. Peter G Werner 00:46, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
Please take in to consideration that the article which might seem too have a negative POV may simply have subject matter which is not very nice.
It is quite possible that Professor Bailey is in his personal life a good and well-meaning person, but that is not the thrust of the piece. It is his record as a researcher in his chosen field which is, to be charitable, "somewhat flawed".
For such a minor figure, this is a heavily footnoted and well documented article. So unless there is some sort of other "evidence" hidden away somewhere, not revealed by "Google" et. al. I am not sure what is expected here. Sometimes there is just not much you can do to "improve" the image of something. The old saw about being unable to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" come to mind in his case. Thank you CyntWorkStuff 19:09, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed "Gay, Straight, or Lying" sentence

I've removed this sentence because it simply isn't accurate: "That piece, title "Gay Straight or Lying: Bisexuality Revisited" took an oft-repeated phrase Bailey uses to claim that male bisexuals are "lying."" Please read note 3 in this press release by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. They're critical of the study, yet they acknowledge that the word "lying" is not based on any of Bailey's statments or anything in the study, but is simply "spin" added by the New York Times. If discussion of the New York Times piece is reinsterted back into the article, it should be rewritten to reflect this fact. Peter G Werner 00:31, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

From FAIR: "In fact, the Times' headline could have been taken from the press release for Bailey's book, which was headlined, 'Gay, Straight, or Lying? Science Has the Answer.'" [6] Here's the publicity for Bailey's book , to which they refer. [7] Here is it on the publisher's site today. [8] Here's where it appears in the book itself. [9] [10] Jokestress 00:46, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Was the study performed in 2005 or 2002? [11] claims the latter, saying "Mr. Bailey's accusations are actually based on an old 2002 conference paper (see below), extended by adding a few more subjects and then recently warming it over and spiffing it up for re-publication in a second-tier psychology journal." Mdwh 15:08, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

The methodology was first described in a poster in 2002, but the published paper that got all the press was in 2005. To be clear, these researchers claim in effect that all women are bisexual and no men are. Jokestress 16:47, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
FYI--Psychological Science is one of the premier journals in psychology. It is the Science/Nature of psychology. Nobody would consider it a "second-tier" publication. --Felzenmat 04:35, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I removed this text again. There is no citation that proves that Bailey used the phrase to claim that gay and bisexual people are lying. Its merely a thought provoking title that poses a question. The accusation that Bailey claims gay and bisexual people are lying is critical and controversial and unsourced. As such, it needs to be removed until it can be cited properly. Avruch 16:02, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

For reference to the "lying" aspect, you have a source on wikipedia. It either needs to be removed from that page as non-citationed or added here again. That is an issue for later (maybe after I get a nap and blood sugar above the current 57). [12] -- GeekyDee 08:49, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] =NPOV tag

I have removed the NPOV tag from this article. If someone wishes to add it back, please specify areas of the article which you believe do not appear to conform to policy. Jokestress 16:47, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] why change description of mentor Dr. Lee Willerman?

On December 16th an anonymous editor changed the description of Dr. Bailey's mentor at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Lee Willerman from "hereditarian and eugenics researcher" to "behavior genetics researcher".

Since Dr. Willerman was from 1974 on a member of the American Eugenics Society and his academic work is described as "eugenics-themed hypotheses", I wondered why the change.

In the absence of any new/changed information on Dr. Willerman, should it be reverted? CyntWorkStuff 21:38, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Results of an Automated Peer review

The following suggestions were generated by a semi-automatic javascript program, and might not be applicable for the article in question.

You may wish to browse through User:AndyZ/Suggestions for further ideas. Thanks, Hfarmer 15:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Just some suggestions for futures editors to think about. --Hfarmer 15:42, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV on Research Misconduct

Note: tagged before I read this talk page, just based on reading the article.

The use of "Shockingly" and "This represents only one of the inherent flaws in the logical formulation of his theories, as well as his own personal hypocrisy and ethical violations ..." are clearly not NPOV.CarlFink 16:22, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

I stripped this section back to the bare facts given in the Chronicle article. Everything else seemed POV or redundant.66.183.165.57 12:58, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

oops, this was meant to go into a new section ...

May I humbly suggest that the expression "the vast majority of", say, scientists, is right up there with the expression "virtually proven" for being anti-scientific - in fact, it's right up there with those who hold things in faith.

A philosopher of religion you ain't!
A few weasel words here, no? Peacocking too... That's a fact, Jack. ask123 14:45, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
Looks ok now... ask123 15:06, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NY Times article

This article mentions wikipedia. Criticism of a Gender Theory, and a Scientist Under Siege --70.168.11.81 02:59, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV Tag

The introduction to the section, Research and Publications, is clearly biased. I, therefore, tagged it as without NPOV. It quite obviously highlights the most controversial aspects of Bailey's research without really explaining, in a detailed manner, the research he actually conducted. Once his research is described adequately (just the facts, m'am) the tag may be removed. Of course, this is not to say that the controversial elements of his research should not be included here -- they absolutely should. But they must be in a larger, more balanced framework. ask123 15:05, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Use of 'Net Forum as Citation And Other Source Issues

What is the standard policy on WP regarding using an internet forum as a citable source? Specifically regarding source number 19. Also, it seems a number of the citations lead to websites of interest groups (i.e. planetout, outintoronto, etc.) In a controversial situation where they can be expected to have a biased view (as they don't present themselves as unbiased sources) are these acceptable sources to cite? They may be, I don't know all the policies on point.

I've added a number of citation needed tags throughout the article to sections and particular phrases where a contention is made that is unsupported by a citation.

Avruch 21:44, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

You're quite right, an internet forum is generally considered unacceptable for contentious facts about living people. The relevant policy (which should have been linked at the top of this discussion page) is WP:Biographies of living persons. This article has been listed on a noticeboard which is patrolled by Wikipedians who will attempt to review all citations provided. Hornplease 10:00, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Man Who Would Be Queen section...

... needs to be merged into The Man Who Would Be Queen and summarized here, as per WP:CFORK. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 16:17, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I removed the sections that went into detailed summary of the book itself. I think the main article on this book covers all of that in a similar fasion, so I didn't move anything. I left the sections dealing mainly with the controversy, because I think it is largely this controversy and follow on controversies that make Bailey notable. Would you agree that this material should remain, or at least be modified but not deleted? Avruch 18:08, 11 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] 35% not getting a hard on

Seems about right from the porn industry point of view... (This is a discussion page right?) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.75.77 (talk) 23:30, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lesbian porn

I don't have the time to find reliable sources for this (nor the necessary lack of personal bias), but would like to leave the ideia on the air: most lesbian porn is awful for women - because it's targeted to a male audience. Personally, for me that sort of pornographic material is so excessively fake, forced and far from what's desirable to a woman that it has the exact opposite effect it is intended to. Normally when a woman wants lesbian porn she has quite some trouble until finding sources by women for women. I would bet my head in which kind Mr. Bailey chose for his... research. Anasofiapaixao (talk) 19:01, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


This is a discussion page, but for the contents of the article - not the research of the subject. Do you have a specific addition in mind for the article that doesn't fail WP:OR as an original synthesis? That is, you wouldn't be the first person applying that criticism but could cite it to a reliable source? Avruchtalk 20:29, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Funny statistics...

Quoting from the article:

Bailey is well-known for research involving biology and sexual orientation. In the early 1990s he coauthored with Richard Pillard a series of twin studies which examined the rate of concordance of sexual identity among monozygotic twins (52% concordance), dizygotic twins of the same sex (22%), non-twin siblings of the same sex, and adoptive siblings of the same sex (11%).[2][3]

Is it just me, or there's something wrong there... ? There's a 11% concordance of sexual orientation... ? That means that 90% of the time, if you'd take two boys for instance, there'd be one homosexual and one heterosexual ? I mean... either I don't understand what is meant to be understood, or there's something truly wrong with those numbers.

Seigneur101 (talk) 22:39, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Looking at the abstract for the first study, it appears that they recruited volunteers who self-identified as gay, and evaluated their families.[13] Within this group, those are the numbers. So they found 56 gay men with evaluable identical twins, and 29 (52%) of those twins were also gay, while the remaining 27 were not gay. It's not 'if you randomly pick any two boys, 90% of the pairs will match': it's 'given that we're starting with a gay man, about 10% of his adoptive siblings will be gay, and about 90% will not.' WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:50, 2 February 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Good article nomination on hold

This article's Good Article promotion has been put on hold. During review, some issues were discovered that can be resolved without a major re-write. This is how the article, as of February 3, 2008, compares against the six good article criteria:

1. Well written?: Mostly well written, but there are a few issues. The introductory section needs to be expanded to be a "concise overview" of the article. At only two sentences, it currently leaves out a summarization of things such as his published work. Please review WP:LEAD for more info. Next, the "Early life and education" and "Career" sections basically cover one area, and dividing them is unnecessary. "Research" is also part of his Career, so it should perhaps be a subheading.
2. Factually accurate?: Mostly makes good use of in-line citations to reliable references, but there are a few areas needing work. Currently, there are no in-line citations covering the "Early life and education" section, and I'm sure some of the news references used now cover this material. Also, the first paragraph of "Sexual arousal patterns of bisexual men" (especially the direct quotations) need to be cited.
3. Broad in coverage?: Broad in coverage, but the article repeats some things over again, which could be viewed as NPOV violation. In particular, the section on "The Man Who Would Be Queen" repeats the exact same quotes by Alice Dreger several times, using the same source. Considering that Dreger is just one person, three quotations of the same statement are unnecessary.
4. Neutral point of view?: As I say just above, there are parts of the controversy surrounding Bailey that are repeated several times. This is, probably unintentionally, a case of undue weight on one significant point of view. The sentence "According to Dreger, the allegations of misconduct could more accurately be described as forms of harassment and intimidation by Bailey's critics in an effort to destroy him personally and professionally." also feels like excessive weight on Dreger's opinion in defense of Bailey. The article also, unless I missed something, neglects the fact that, according to the New York Times in its most recent piece on Bailey, many individual transgender women "...found the tone of the book abusive, and the theory of motivation it presented to be a recipe for further discrimination." The personal point of view of everyday gay and transgender people, as cited in the NYT and other publications as already noted in the article, need to be given equal weight with the opinion of Dreger. Overall, the article leans too heavily on criticism or support for Bailey among academics. Considering that he is "a reviled figure for some in the gay and transgender communities."(NYT), I don't think overlooking this is okay.
5. Article stability? No edit wars, etc.
6. Images?: Images are not required to meet GA. Obtaining free images of Bailey obviously isn't easy, and fair use no longer applies to living people.


Thank you very much for your patience with the currently backlogged GA nominations process. With currently 200 or so unreviewed candidates, the project is in dire need to more reviewers. Anyone can review a GA candidate, so please consider taking on a review that interests you. If you need any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask me. In the meantime, I await your work on the requested improvements.

Please address these matters soon and then leave a note here showing how they have been resolved. After 48 hours the article should be reviewed again. If these issues are not addressed within 7 days, the article may be failed without further notice. Thank you for your work so far. VanTucky 00:50, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Working on responding.

  • 1. N Not done (Well, partially done. I still need to expand the lead.)
  • 2. Y Done
  • 3. Y Done Moved some information to the main article and cleaned up a bit what was left.
  • 4. N Not done I'm not sure what the resolution here is - I don't want to grant undue weight to the criticism by representing all the avenues of it. The criticism is about his academic work, so it would seem that including the criticism and response in the academic community is the best way to go here. Avruchtalk 17:49, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
As for the fourth issue (NPOV), I don't think a whole lot of additions (i.e. not a subsection or paragraph even) is necessary. I agree that staying with primarily academic is a good way to go, it's just inappropriate for the article to not acknowledge at all the opinion of the wider gay/trans community. I just meant removing the repetition of Dreger's quote and adding one mention (cited by the NYT) of how Bailey is a reviled figure for some in the community. One sentence should do it, two at most. VanTucky 19:10, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Alright -

  • 1. Y Done
  • 2. Y Done
  • 3. Y Done
  • 4. Y Done

I'm a little concerned about the NPOVness of the introduction, although I think it is an accurate characterization of what it is that makes him most notable. Thoughts? Avruchtalk 00:42, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, that is better. I wasn't sure about using an acronym in the intro (or at all, really) which is why I didn't just say LGBT. I'll acknowledge for this page that I've received some concerns from an interested party by e-mail, but it will take me some time to review the substance there and I'd like the evaluation of the article based on GA criteria to continue using the current version. Thanks, Avruchtalk 00:00, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

In general, I hope we can address the things the person who has emailed us has brought up. But none of them give me serious pause when assessing the current state of the article compared to the GA criteria. It definitely meets it. Congrats, and thanks for your patience! VanTucky 00:42, 16 February 2008 (UTC)