I found this article/blog on WOOT earlier about CHILDREN and GENDER EXPRESSION. The resulting forum thread is surprisingly intelligent, well discussed, and seems completely non bigoted.
http://kids.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=5005091 will get you to the forum thread that I was speaking of.
Both the article and the responses are quite interesting food for thought, and there seems to be no biased involved!
Comments
Society has a lot to answer for
Gender stereotyping has been forced on children for years. It's so sad that childen can't be allowed to be themselves but have to fit into a short narrow box that society decrees is 'the norm'.
S.
I tried to respond to the article...
Somehow, it did not work.
My experience with this, even now knowing that I am PAIS, is that parents can do a lot to mold you. I think I could have survived living as a male if I had grown up with a male role model that was appealing and not so repulsive that he made me want to puke. By the time I was 18 I hated males and I was one of the enemy. And, yes I had come out at 5 but I still think that a path as a moderate male would have been less painful than transitioning.
I'd have gone through life as a very mild male who did not get sports and man stuff at all. I could have easily been a designer, nurse or some sort of care giver, perhaps even a Pastor. My brothers all thought I would be a pastor.
Now, having transitioned before I knew all this, amazingly my life is quite nice, after 6 years of horrific pain and rejection.
I think that every infant born should have a Kariotype test so that some of this gender non-congruity can be detected early.
G
Suppression
I feel that the suppression of gender expression in children is wrong. In my case, said suppression and the associated emotional and physical abuse used to enforce it, lead to years of suffering. As I child I fought back, but it eventually broke me and lead to substance abuse, which I have conquered, and low self-image and self-esteem issues that resulted in weight problems and self-hatred. Only now, in my 50s am I able to deal with some it, that being how deep the bruises go.
Amy-Lynn
Boys vs. Girls.
Okay, aside from the physical differences between the two sexes, what is the actual thing that has most people stirred up? That boys act like girls or girls act like boys, or boys want to be girls or girls want to be boys? I think what has most people stirred up is the fact that they don't have the courage or the stamina to stand up for themselves, so they rely on second hand information, or the way others may think about these issues.
Aside from all of this, we have the M2F and F2M transsexual; the M2F and F2M cross dresser; the male and female bi-sexual; and the male and female gays.
On my page here in BC/TS I have a short acrostic called LGBT. It is gender neutral, and actually makes a good point. If you have the time, please read it. I think you will see that LGBT doesn't always have to mean Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.
There is also in my blog The Times They Are A Changing. I cannot stress that enough. Ladies, Gentlemen or however you perceive yourself, The Times They Are A Changing. This is the 21st century and we need to get away from sexual stereotyping. In other words, if boys want to plays with dolls, or jump double dutch with the girls, or dress up in pretty dresses, who are we to say no. OH! My Bad! It says in the Bible "thou shalt not put on anything that pertains to a woman". Except my research shows that this is not the holy word of God, but is in fact a Jewish canon law. Well, if this is a Jewish canon law, why are they portraying it as the word of God? That is blasphemy at its finest. It also says, "Thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman". OH NO! This, too, is Jewish canon law, not the actual holy word of God. My goodness. It just goes to show how the church has brainwashed people for centuries. Now that we are coming out in droves, so to speak, the religious right, with the help of the United States House of Representatives, is on, "an abomination to God" crusade. It is time somebody who has been affected by this "religious" interference in our lives, to bring civil action against this disruptive influence in the United States District Court, and sue for the right to be left alone and be ourselves.
While I agree you have got to stand for something, it is not our place to tell others how to live or how to behave or how to dress. IF I HAVE TO BE THIS GIRL IN ME, THEN I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE. I sign my comments with this, because as a human being, I have the right to be who I am.
"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."
Love & hugs,
Barbara
"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."
Don't go in the women's tents.
Deut 22:5, according to a Jewish scholar friend of mine who actually understands the old languages, that portion actually says that men and women are not to enter each other's tents.