Nick Kiddle (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ksej) wrote,@ 2008-05-14 21:35:00 |
|
If I'm incoherent, it's because this upsets me
This story is everywhere at the moment. It's about a kid called Bradley who used to play with dolls and hang out with girls. Bradley's parents were worried - with good reason - about Bradley getting bullied by the gender police, and sought professional help.
This is where the story gets horrible. The professional they consulted told them that Bradley had a horrible scary condition called gender identity disorder and needed immediate intervention to teach him to be a proper boy. They trustingly followed his recommendations and started making Bradley give up the dolls, a few each day. When all the dolls were gone, Bradley just didn't play any more; instead, Bradley drew pictures of the forbidden dolls and other girlie things. The parents then asked Bradley to draw boys instead; once shown what a drawing of a boy looked like, Bradley dutifully complied. Slowly, Bradley is learning how to lead a double life, secretly and shamefully playing with dolls every time an opportunity presents itself and repeating the accepted answers: "No, NO! I'm happy being a boy."
Part of me just can't get past the toy-confiscation. Throughout my childhood, that was literally the stuff of my nightmares; my dolls and other cuddlies were my treasured companions, and if anyone had tried to make me give them up, I think I would have turned homicidal. And if they had followed up by telling me, when I tried to soothe my pain by drawing my lost friends, that I was doing it all wrong and ought to draw something else... It sounds to me like a recipe for screwing up a small child pretty thoroughly. But hey, it's better than Bradley ending up a tranny, isn't it?
Because that's what it's all about. The professional in question is quoted talking all about how sooper-scary trannyhood is, as if the only options are forcible masculinisation or eventual transition. It's not possible a boy could play with barbie dolls and grow up a well-adjusted guy with plenty of feminine side1. And certainly, telling a boy that pink and dolls are only for girls isn't going to convince him that transition represents his only chance to be his authentic self. Not to mention how trannies only turn out that way because their parents encourage them...
1I played with barbie dolls for most of my childhood. OK, I hardly score highly for well-adjusted, but what I'm saying is, it didn't turn me into a girl.
This story is everywhere at the moment. It's about a kid called Bradley who used to play with dolls and hang out with girls. Bradley's parents were worried - with good reason - about Bradley getting bullied by the gender police, and sought professional help.
This is where the story gets horrible. The professional they consulted told them that Bradley had a horrible scary condition called gender identity disorder and needed immediate intervention to teach him to be a proper boy. They trustingly followed his recommendations and started making Bradley give up the dolls, a few each day. When all the dolls were gone, Bradley just didn't play any more; instead, Bradley drew pictures of the forbidden dolls and other girlie things. The parents then asked Bradley to draw boys instead; once shown what a drawing of a boy looked like, Bradley dutifully complied. Slowly, Bradley is learning how to lead a double life, secretly and shamefully playing with dolls every time an opportunity presents itself and repeating the accepted answers: "No, NO! I'm happy being a boy."
Part of me just can't get past the toy-confiscation. Throughout my childhood, that was literally the stuff of my nightmares; my dolls and other cuddlies were my treasured companions, and if anyone had tried to make me give them up, I think I would have turned homicidal. And if they had followed up by telling me, when I tried to soothe my pain by drawing my lost friends, that I was doing it all wrong and ought to draw something else... It sounds to me like a recipe for screwing up a small child pretty thoroughly. But hey, it's better than Bradley ending up a tranny, isn't it?
Because that's what it's all about. The professional in question is quoted talking all about how sooper-scary trannyhood is, as if the only options are forcible masculinisation or eventual transition. It's not possible a boy could play with barbie dolls and grow up a well-adjusted guy with plenty of feminine side1. And certainly, telling a boy that pink and dolls are only for girls isn't going to convince him that transition represents his only chance to be his authentic self. Not to mention how trannies only turn out that way because their parents encourage them...
1I played with barbie dolls for most of my childhood. OK, I hardly score highly for well-adjusted, but what I'm saying is, it didn't turn me into a girl.
