"My empathy/sympathy for their plight got carried away in my statement."
Yeah, this is really the tragedy for me. So many people, myself very much included, just want to take this attitude. And it's only when you start to think carefully about the implications that it becomes clear that it's not really possible to *always* just live and l…
"My empathy/sympathy for their plight got carried away in my statement."
Yeah, this is really the tragedy for me. So many people, myself very much included, just want to take this attitude. And it's only when you start to think carefully about the implications that it becomes clear that it's not really possible to *always* just live and let live when it comes to trans people.
Especially if we indulge the idea that men can become women simply by saying "oh, I'm a woman now."
So many people who speak up on these issues (JK Rowling always springs to mind) have had their characters absolutely assassinated because the instinctive response is "what are you trying to interfere in these poor people's lives?" And all the issues of child safeguarding or female sport or female spaces kind of get lost in the noise unless you're spectacularly careful about how you talk about them.
Is there anything to this "grooming" stuff? I have a hard time believing that a child can be manipulating into doubting his sex. OK, when we're talking about hundreds of millions of people there are going to be some dots on the extremes of the distribution but this Florida thing with voters spraying blood from their eyes at the idea that teh libs are "grooming" kids is just nuts.
"I have a hard time believing that a child can be manipulating into doubting his sex."
Yeah, "grooming" is obviously evocative, disingenuous language, but it's not entirely without basis. Think of it this way:
If you tell a very young female child (4/5, say) who is exploring their identity, that liking "boy" things means that hey are literally a boy, they not only have no mental framework to doubt you, they'll believe you. You're an adult after all.
They'll feel validated and heard, and this is a pretty rare, exciting experience for a child. If you persist with that by using male pronouns and having all the other adults around them treat them as a boy too, the path back to "Oh, no, I've changed my mind since I was 4", shrinks pretty dramatically. I've heard the same story from numerous detransitioners. Even when they start having doubts, the social pressure of the identity that's been crafted around them is very hard to overcome.
It's a difficult one to discuss with any precision. Social and surgical transition is obviously right for some people. It's obviously wrong for others. The question is, how many, and what's the correct balance of affirmation and questioning? I think we're getting that balance very wrong right now as a society.
"My empathy/sympathy for their plight got carried away in my statement."
Yeah, this is really the tragedy for me. So many people, myself very much included, just want to take this attitude. And it's only when you start to think carefully about the implications that it becomes clear that it's not really possible to *always* just live and let live when it comes to trans people.
Especially if we indulge the idea that men can become women simply by saying "oh, I'm a woman now."
So many people who speak up on these issues (JK Rowling always springs to mind) have had their characters absolutely assassinated because the instinctive response is "what are you trying to interfere in these poor people's lives?" And all the issues of child safeguarding or female sport or female spaces kind of get lost in the noise unless you're spectacularly careful about how you talk about them.
Is there anything to this "grooming" stuff? I have a hard time believing that a child can be manipulating into doubting his sex. OK, when we're talking about hundreds of millions of people there are going to be some dots on the extremes of the distribution but this Florida thing with voters spraying blood from their eyes at the idea that teh libs are "grooming" kids is just nuts.
"I have a hard time believing that a child can be manipulating into doubting his sex."
Yeah, "grooming" is obviously evocative, disingenuous language, but it's not entirely without basis. Think of it this way:
If you tell a very young female child (4/5, say) who is exploring their identity, that liking "boy" things means that hey are literally a boy, they not only have no mental framework to doubt you, they'll believe you. You're an adult after all.
They'll feel validated and heard, and this is a pretty rare, exciting experience for a child. If you persist with that by using male pronouns and having all the other adults around them treat them as a boy too, the path back to "Oh, no, I've changed my mind since I was 4", shrinks pretty dramatically. I've heard the same story from numerous detransitioners. Even when they start having doubts, the social pressure of the identity that's been crafted around them is very hard to overcome.
It's a difficult one to discuss with any precision. Social and surgical transition is obviously right for some people. It's obviously wrong for others. The question is, how many, and what's the correct balance of affirmation and questioning? I think we're getting that balance very wrong right now as a society.