Recently, I was alerted to a story about a school in Colorado that will be accomodating a transgender student... who is in second grade. Yes a little second grade boy will be attending school dressed as a girl, called by a girl's name, and pretty much treated as a girl by the teachers and administration (except for using a "unisex" bathroom instead of the girls' bathroom).
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At the age of 7, the kid is still trying to establish his gender identity and sense of self. And since he's not comfortable in one, various people with various agendas are trying to force him into the other.
I'm going to give you an example of how sick this is... Let's assume that instead of this being a little boy who wanted to be a little girl, this was a little black child who wanted to be a white child.
If we started a whole transracial movement to go with the transgender movement, the support for it in ANY community, be it liberal or conservative, would be next to nil. If you told black children it was okay to feel their skin was the wrong color, to feel that they were a white person born in a black person's body, and to help them along their path to their "true" race, people across the political spectrum would lose their minds. But if you tell 7 year old boys it's okay to feel they have the wrong genitals, to feel that they were a girl born in a boy's body, and to help them along their path to their "true" gender, the doctrines of political correctness demand you be lauded for your bravery and compassion.
So while transracial is heresy, transgender is a lifestyle. Sorry, it doesn't work for me. The genitalia you were born with wasn't a mistake. You're not a female soul in a male body. If you believe that, you've got a gender bias. It's not that your soul doesn't fit your body. It's that your soul doesn't fit society's concept of the kind of soul that should be in your kind of body. And instead of finding a way to create a new role and identity that works for your unique soul, one side is saying "be a 'boy'" and the other side is saying "we'll help you be a girl". No one's saying "you define what boy means to you and be that boy".
If we worked at integration instead of alteration, it's probably not going to turn these kids "normal" or help them "fit in", but it might help them discover their real true selves along an infinite spectrum of self, and let them create an identity that works for them instead of having to adopt an identity template from one side or another. We're starting to do that with race. Why is it so hard with gender?
I'm a liberal, and I oppose transgender advocates who try to turn boys into girls (or vice versa) because I think it's intolerant and bigoted. No one is born in the wrong body, just the wrong society. And as well-meaning as the transgender advocates are, they're doing these kids a disservice. Instead of turning girls into boys and boys into girls, we need to expand our definitions of "girl" and "boy" so that these children can feel comfortable in their own skins.
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The problem is you are confusing sex with gender. Sex is genitalia--male parts or female parts. Gender is masculine vs. feminine--that's more to do with hormones and wiring.
Truth is, some babies are born with "ambiguous genitalia." If obvious, see-able ambiguities can occur, then I don't know why some other, not so obvious, gender issues could occur biologically.
Sex, gender and sexual orientation are three separate issues that are more about weighted areas of grey, than strict black and white definitions.
It took me a long time to get my head around these ideas!
This is an interesting idea, and I agree that our society's view on gender is too binary. But in this case, no one is forcing the child to be anything. The child insists that she is a girl. It's not that she wants to be a girl, she insists she IS a girl. Any suggestion to the contrary causes a great deal of distress.
Childrens' gender identity is in fact well established at an even earlier age than this.
If society were in fact able to widen its definitions of gender, it would make it much easier for these individuals to live happy lives without feeling that they must fit neatly into 1 of 2 slots.
You are comparing apples and oranges when you try to make an analogy to race. Clearly you've never met anyone who is transgendered or even confused about his or her gender.
Numerous studies have indicated that it's not a female "soul" inside of the boy who believes he's a girl, but the hardwiring of his brain that CANNOT be changed. To attempt to thwart or ridicule an individual's perception of their gender identity is a surefire way to ensure that person won't live to be 25 (usually by way of their own hand).
I'd suggest doing your research before positing such an ignorant and narrow-minded opinion.
How can a boy's brain be hardwired to a different gender? Does he feel a phantom vagina? Does he feel phantom ovaries. If it's that he's inclined to certain behaviors or thoughts, it's him and the society in which he lives that classify them as "male" or "female" behaviors. It has nothing to do with his biological hardwiring or genetic gender, it has to do with his desire to act in a way not in conformity with society's expectations for his gender.
That's a HELL of a lot different than *being* a different gender in your soul. The conflict is not within the child, but between the child and society. And it's society that needs to expand their definition of "boy" to include him rather than force him to choose "girl" to find something closer to how he feels.
And don't give me "To attempt to thwart or ridicule an individual's perception of their gender identity is a surefire way to ensure that person won't live to be 25 (usually by way of their own hand)."
If society is wrong and he buys into society's wrongness, I'm pushing him into suicide by saying "you're both wrong"?
NOBODY is responsible for someone else's suicide. Suicide is a very personal choice that no one else can make for you. And using it as a form of blackmail like you did is not only manipulative and scummy, but could be a corollary to Godwin's Law.
Greg, you said it all right here, "It has nothing to do with his biological hardwiring or genetic gender, it has to do with his desire to act in a way not in conformity with society's expectations for his gender.
It's not the advocates that are turning these children M/F/F/M, but it is the same advocates that are giving these children the ability to be who their brains dictate they were meant to be. In "your" society you are male or female or black or white. you really should have done your homework before you posted this. I bet you believe that being transgender is a mental disease?
Take it from someone who is TG and has been battling these same issues for over 35 years.
Just so you know, I jumped right out of my heels and applauded the kids parents for being behind their child. I know my parents were not because society said back in the 70's that I a have a mental illness.
Where is this boy's father???? What in the hell is going on here??? Does society not have a standard anymore??? Penis means boy. Vagina means girl. Hello. What is so hard about this. So he feels like a girl. There are many girls who are also uncomfortable, hence the coined phrase " Tom Boy" How many girls are taping there new boobs to their chests with duct tape because they are embarassed??? You know what, they grow out of it. Since when has a girl been accomodated for this? Who are the idiots that will let a child have thier way or plant such an obserd thought. Oprah. Where is this kid? South Park, Colorado. is this kid's name Butters.
And as for the black skin etc. Look at the white kids who are called wiggers. They just go with society and what is cool and interesting to them. Maybe this kid likes dolls. So what. In psychology, this is a sign of intelligence. Boy can play with puppets, GI Joe, etc. Many brothers play barbies with their sisters to bond and have fun. This just got blown out of proportion by adults. Idiots. People are stupid. Let the kid grow up and let us pray that he does not become a Michael Jackson.
In regards to people who do not fit the gender norm, whether it is because of hardwiring from birth or simply a desire to act in a different manner than is "expected," the suicide rate is still unmistakably high. I was slightly baffled that you got so nasty about this point by saying that my calling attention to this "scummy" or assuming I was using that statement as some sort of "blackmail" against those who aren't advocates of transgendered people. I'm merely stating the truth.
If you've suffered a loss in your life by someone committing suicide, I apologize if that hit a nerve. (Truly.) But I still really doubt that you know anyone who actually IS transgendered, and perhaps you ought to make the effort to; your stance on this topic might be a little more balanced (and less hostile).
Nick, let me re-quote you:
"To attempt to thwart or ridicule an individual's perception of their gender identity is a surefire way to ensure that person won't live to be 25 (usually by way of their own hand)."
Now I don't know how you see that as the mere presentation of a statistic regarding that group's higher suicide rate. Claiming that an act by Person A is a "surefire way to ensure" Person B will die young and most likely by suicide, sounds to me and anyone I've shown it to like you're trying to blame Person A for Person B's death.
And when you're basically threatening Person A with Person B's suicide unless Person A acts in a specific manner or does specific things, how is it NOT blackmail?
I haven't lost someone to suicide, but I have known people and known of people who became slaves to someone else's demands because someone they cared about threatened to commit suicide if they didn't. Sometimes it was a family member. Sometimes it was a psycho ex. And it wasn't just the fear of losing the person that held them in thrall, but because they'd been convinced that they could cause that person's death, that the death would be their choice and not the suicidal person's choice.
It's a cheap manipulative trick. And NOTHING I say on this blog can cause someone to commit suicide. You know why? Because they have free will. They can say that I'm full of shit, publicly or privately. They can engage me in dialogue. They can post a rant about me on their own blog. They can say "who cares what he thinks" and shrug me off. But if they say that I pushed them over the edge and they off themselves, I will not lose sleep, because their death was their choice and I'm just their scapegoat.
Greg,
I think I see where the problem is. I wasn't specifically referring to YOU as possessing the influence to drive anyone to commit suicide; I honestly don't think anyone posting on a blog wields that kind of power. The point I was attempting to get across in the sentence of mine that you quoted is that when "the powers that be" in a transgendered child's life (parents, teachers, well-meaning therapists, etc.) attempt to thwart the expression of what that child feels is his or her identity, it can lead to a host of very serious problems--among them hopelessness, depression, and yes, often suicide.
I actually appreciate your advocacy of an expansion of the categories of "male" and "female"; if we lived in such a world, the child's situaton in Colorado would never have made national headlines. But we don't. Allowing the child TO CHOOSE to identify with the opposite gender seems like the best thing we can do to support him/her in our society as it is today.
Here is the story of this particular family:
http://www.highlandsranchherald.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19343530&BRD=2713&PAG=461&dept_id=559878&rfi=8
Here is a story explaining some basics of transgenderism:
http://www.highlandsranchherald.com/site/tab9.cfm?newsid=19343398&BRD=2713&PAG=461&dept_id=560243&rfi=6
It is clear to me that there is a lack of understanding of the scientific evidence we have on this subject. So...
Gender identity, as opposed to physical or genetic sex, is set, in large part, by the hormone balance in the womb at a certain stage of development of the fetus. Once this is set NO later hormone or other treatment seems to be able to change it. In studies of both rats and dogs, when the hormone balance in the womb was changed, the resulting offspring acted as if they were members of the opposite physical sex. I will try to post links to some of these studies, but I don't have the info at hand right now.
This is not a choice on the part of the individual, nor is it a problem with how society treats different genders, it's due to the physical and chemical structure of the brain.