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.
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.
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.