"Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world"
Yeah, this is the thing. Those other identities have always happened in the real world too; punks, goths, emo, they were also often associated with mental health co-morbidities and increased suicide ideation.
"Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world"
Yeah, this is the thing. Those other identities have always happened in the real world too; punks, goths, emo, they were also often associated with mental health co-morbidities and increased suicide ideation.
But the saving graces were a) they were 100% reversible once those kids went through puberty and their hormones settled down. And b) nobody took them seriously as sacred identities. You were allowed to admit that these kids were being ridiculous and for almost all of them it was just a phase they'd grow out of.
You certainly weren't encouraged to pump them full of drugs or change your language to "affirm" them or tell them how stunning and brave they were as they chopped off parts of their bodies.
"Nothing too odd; teenagers have always done that. And then I saw it happening in the real world"
Yeah, this is the thing. Those other identities have always happened in the real world too; punks, goths, emo, they were also often associated with mental health co-morbidities and increased suicide ideation.
But the saving graces were a) they were 100% reversible once those kids went through puberty and their hormones settled down. And b) nobody took them seriously as sacred identities. You were allowed to admit that these kids were being ridiculous and for almost all of them it was just a phase they'd grow out of.
You certainly weren't encouraged to pump them full of drugs or change your language to "affirm" them or tell them how stunning and brave they were as they chopped off parts of their bodies.