There are two main reasons I’m aware of. First, a certain kind of person tries to make a deeply sexist argument and reaches for “science” to back it up. The overall experience with that kind of thing is profoundly negative, and it has a pretty grim history, so there are strong reactions to it. It’s true that well-intentioned people do ask uncomfortable questions, but especially online they’re dwarfed by trolls and people arguing in bad faith. All told this isn’t an insurmountable problem, and more and better research can help to shine some light on the issue. It’s also not impossible to determine whether or not someone is pushing a predetermined agenda and using a given study (while ignoring others) as a bludgeon.
The second, radioactive topic centers around trans people. I’m not going to touch that topic with a 10 foot pole, because online the discussion rarely develops more nuance than mysticism dressed up as science on one side, and bigotry dressed up as “common sense” arguments on the other. All told it makes for a difficult topic to discuss in good faith, absent agendas on or offline, but online it’s pure poison.
The second, radioactive topic centers around trans people. I’m not going to touch that topic with a 10 foot pole, because online the discussion rarely develops more nuance than mysticism dressed up as science on one side, and bigotry dressed up as “common sense” arguments on the other. All told it makes for a difficult topic to discuss in good faith, absent agendas on or offline, but online it’s pure poison.