I honestly don't know if that's really progressive and supportive parenting... or really irresponsible and scarring parenting. I mean, I do know two transgendered people who have always felt, since being 3 or 4 years old, like they were born with the wrong body. And growing up as the "wrong" gender was traumatic for them. But... this is a pretty huge step. And as a girl, the child could still go by a masculine nickname (say, Jo or Bobbie), play on unisex sports teams playing games which are typically "male", play with typically "male" toys, dress in trousers, and have male friends... These are things which a boy who felt like a girl would find more difficult.
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-09 18:27:10 +0000
Creepy, isn't it? Man.
Posted by rladew on 2005-03-09 20:19:28 +0000
hmmm
I would argue that you should be able to speak for yourself to have something like this done...
Parents speaking on behalf of a kid for a lifechanging event such as this doesnt sit well w/ me...
_______________________________
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-10 09:16:10 +0000
When you say "to have something like this done," do you mean a sex-change operation? Because it seems like what's been done is the child has been sent into school dressed as a boy, with a boy's name - which, while seemingly over-the-top (or OTT, for those of you you speak Gay), is not surgical or medical (hormonal) interference. Which, I have to say, I would be absolutely freaking out about if they did do that to a 9-year-old.
Or did I miss the operation part of the article?
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-10 09:29:06 +0000
There wasn't any mention of an operation- just the clothing change.
You down with OTT?
Quick story: there was this one camper who used to get dropped off by his dad every summer. The next year, he was dropped off by his mom, who had been his dad the summer before.
Posted by rladew on 2005-03-10 13:34:44 +0000
yeah - you guys were right - there I go again not paying attention to the main details of the article....
I would still have to say that the poor kid ought to be able to choose for him/herself at a more mature age than 9 sans parental interference....
my .02...
_______________________________
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-10 18:48:48 +0000
No worries, Rich, I still love you!
Yeah, I agree with you - I'd feel better about her just going tomboy. Much easier to change her/his mind later if needs be. When I was 9 all I wanted was to be in The Clash and make out with rock stars. Which, at the age of 9, probably also could have scarred me for life...
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-10 18:49:13 +0000
Was it Zeke???
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-10 18:58:03 +0000
It wasn't Zeke. He told me a story, though, about being shitfaced on a parade float on St. Patrick's Day shouting anti-Bush epithets in New York City. Pretty amazing.
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-10 19:00:49 +0000
Isn't there a very wonderful Zeke story you'd like to remind us of, involving strippers and viscosity?
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-10 19:20:37 +0000
(Inexplicably drawing a blank)
Posted by rladew on 2005-03-10 21:27:49 +0000
"all I wanted was to be in The Clash and make out with rock stars."
If this statement is true, then (for me at least) age 9 is the new age 30......
_______________________________
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-10 21:42:43 +0000
You're kidding! How can you forget a stripper flinging some of her... viscosity... onto Zeke's unsuspecting and virginal face???!!!
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-10 22:06:33 +0000
OH MY GOD.
I mist have blocked that particular memory out. Our poor Zeke!
Posted by pamsterdam on 2005-03-11 12:08:54 +0000
I remember what terminology he used now - "her juitheth".
You gotta feel sorry for the kid, but that's some funny shiznit.
Posted by frame609 on 2005-03-11 18:42:17 +0000
He'll be at Dennis's wedding this summer- I'm sure that more stories will follow.
Posted by tgl on 2005-03-14 17:13:43 +0000
This is way better than having an operation immediately after birth to correct your sex. The child will probably be traumatized by this, but, better than having your wang removed as an infant, only to figure out, twenty years later, that you really wanted a wang.
Not sure what "brain of a boy" means. How can you tell the sex of a brain?