Another great piece on this confusing subject of gender and gender identity and the issue around ‘medicalized’ children and young people. I was born in the late 1950s and thankfully grew up in a family where we were encouraged to enjoy life and nature and strength in our bodies. As a younger sister of an older brother I couldn’t wait to get his hand me down corduroys and flannel shirts. I liked boys and I also liked running around the woods and being strong and adventurous. Nobody talked about gender. Nobody asked you how you identified. I can barely read these articles about gender and medical transition for young people. Of course I believe that medical transition is the right thing for some people but it seems that it is being pushed everywhere and taught in the schools and I do not know what is going on anymore. And now young people want to identify out of everything and say that they are non-binary. What does that even mean? To me it is only anti-reality. Our bodies are not Lego. I will stop ranting here and again say how grateful I am for your calm and nuanced approach to this subject. #donoharm
It really concerns me to see yet another group that should understand decades of research on child and adolescent development completely ignore that science when it comes to this topic.
Thank you. I am a gender-non-conforming woman and - while it was a rough in my younger years (and not from girls, who were fine with me as I was - but from boys) - I am very proud of my place on the female spectrum. And it pisses me off that they are trying to narrow what I fought to widen all my life. I have never for one second identified with or wanted to be a man. Thanks for being a tomboy champion, and writing it so clearly.
Already a word in the subtitle exhausts my mental energy for engaging with this important subject:
"Why does the mental health field insist on medicating "gender" nonconformity?"
I cannot sort out whether the word "gender" here means "sex," as it does for the public, or has the insider meaning of "sex stereotypes" or some other third meaning. Commenter "jo" calls it confusing and brings in the question of "gender identity." Seems to me that what trans people are identifying as--only legally, such as on birth certificates etc., for sex cannot physically be changed--is the opposite sex (or no sex at all). Since the stereotypes for both sexes on any dimension largely overlap, it would seem pretty hard for anyone to transition from one sex stereotype to another. (Of course, to promoters of opposite-sex legal identification as the solution to many, many problems, confusion is a feature not a bug. The word gender is their friend.)
Subscribers to this blog may also be interested to read about the current crisis in the Australian Greens brought on by blatantly anti-democratic actions from a certain (predictable) quarter.
Another great piece on this confusing subject of gender and gender identity and the issue around ‘medicalized’ children and young people. I was born in the late 1950s and thankfully grew up in a family where we were encouraged to enjoy life and nature and strength in our bodies. As a younger sister of an older brother I couldn’t wait to get his hand me down corduroys and flannel shirts. I liked boys and I also liked running around the woods and being strong and adventurous. Nobody talked about gender. Nobody asked you how you identified. I can barely read these articles about gender and medical transition for young people. Of course I believe that medical transition is the right thing for some people but it seems that it is being pushed everywhere and taught in the schools and I do not know what is going on anymore. And now young people want to identify out of everything and say that they are non-binary. What does that even mean? To me it is only anti-reality. Our bodies are not Lego. I will stop ranting here and again say how grateful I am for your calm and nuanced approach to this subject. #donoharm
It really concerns me to see yet another group that should understand decades of research on child and adolescent development completely ignore that science when it comes to this topic.
I'm looking forward to seeing you address the NYT magazine article that come out yesterday
Another fantastic essay, thank you!
Wpath conditions for puberty blockers (p 19, soc7):
The adolescent has demonstrated a long-lasting and intense pattern of gender nonconformity
or gender dysphoria (whether suppressed or expressed);
!!!!
Thank you. I am a gender-non-conforming woman and - while it was a rough in my younger years (and not from girls, who were fine with me as I was - but from boys) - I am very proud of my place on the female spectrum. And it pisses me off that they are trying to narrow what I fought to widen all my life. I have never for one second identified with or wanted to be a man. Thanks for being a tomboy champion, and writing it so clearly.
Already a word in the subtitle exhausts my mental energy for engaging with this important subject:
"Why does the mental health field insist on medicating "gender" nonconformity?"
I cannot sort out whether the word "gender" here means "sex," as it does for the public, or has the insider meaning of "sex stereotypes" or some other third meaning. Commenter "jo" calls it confusing and brings in the question of "gender identity." Seems to me that what trans people are identifying as--only legally, such as on birth certificates etc., for sex cannot physically be changed--is the opposite sex (or no sex at all). Since the stereotypes for both sexes on any dimension largely overlap, it would seem pretty hard for anyone to transition from one sex stereotype to another. (Of course, to promoters of opposite-sex legal identification as the solution to many, many problems, confusion is a feature not a bug. The word gender is their friend.)
You distill the essential arguments so well and so clearly. This is maybe my favorite example of it so far, and that's saying a lot! Thank you, Lisa.
Subscribers to this blog may also be interested to read about the current crisis in the Australian Greens brought on by blatantly anti-democratic actions from a certain (predictable) quarter.
https://greenstea.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-party-democracy?r=18l510&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Yes! Thank you, Lisa!
Please just leave our children alone to discover who they are. In their own time, not society’s time.