I am so glad you are working on submitting a piece! I think it is important to hear your perspective on this topic. I think the most genuine way to push back on dehumanizing rhetoric is to provide humanizing stories and experiences. Especially important given that many transitioned folks and long-timers in the trans community don't agree…
I am so glad you are working on submitting a piece! I think it is important to hear your perspective on this topic. I think the most genuine way to push back on dehumanizing rhetoric is to provide humanizing stories and experiences. Especially important given that many transitioned folks and long-timers in the trans community don't agree with the agitation that is coming from the far left, but of course could never agree with voices from the right that literally refuse to recognize their existence. They are stuck in a way. And the ones I know are far from woke, we literally laugh about things together, like the mono-focus on pronoun-sharing from many millennials etc.
Social contagion is very real, as we both have seen. It has been incredibly frustrating seeing professionals handwave something so common aside. I mean, we've all been teens so we all know how important peer opinions can be. My friends who are parents in Berkeley are seeing a wave of their children now identifying as trans. All but one are trying to be "good liberal straight people" with their reactions, but I think they need to not be afraid of recognizing that something that may feel incredibly important & life-changing for a teen right now could literally shift in a year. Because teens are shifting their identities all the time.
It's naïve to think otherwise. And the one who differs has gone over the deep end, and now doesn't think any trans identities are real.
You're right, something dangerous is happening. This always happens when children are involved. I'm old enough to remember all of the hysteria and misinformation that happened during the pervasive satanic daycare sex abuse scares of the late 80s & early 90s. I feel like I'm hearing similar rhetoric these days, whether it's about Disney or about drag queens.
Wow, Mark. Great insights! This has been a great conversation. I ended up calling my son and sharing much of it with him because it is so refreshing to talk about this in a non-polarizing way with someone other than him. I especially liked your comments, "Especially important given that many transitioned folks and long-timers in the trans community don't agree with the agitation that is coming from the far left, but of course could never agree with voices from the right that literally refuse to recognize their existence." You described my son's position perfectly. We have always been left-leaning, but this topic and many of the other movements of the past several years have felt threatening and I find myself (as a commentator that I like and follow says) politically marooned. My son has said to me that as frustrated as he is with left ideologies, at least they don't want to see him without any rights (or dead), like some on the far right do. One of the reasons he decided to pursue his master's degree in a more conservative state was because he wanted a different experience than his California undergraduate one. Of course both experiences have had disappointments, but that is life. It's also challenging because my extended family is pretty conservative. And while they love my son, they have been bringing up the "trans agenda," so then I become a little defensive. I still contend that something is going on, but it is not from the actual trans community, although they will suffer the brunt of it. Thanks again for the thoughtful and engaging conversation.
I am so glad you are working on submitting a piece! I think it is important to hear your perspective on this topic. I think the most genuine way to push back on dehumanizing rhetoric is to provide humanizing stories and experiences. Especially important given that many transitioned folks and long-timers in the trans community don't agree with the agitation that is coming from the far left, but of course could never agree with voices from the right that literally refuse to recognize their existence. They are stuck in a way. And the ones I know are far from woke, we literally laugh about things together, like the mono-focus on pronoun-sharing from many millennials etc.
Social contagion is very real, as we both have seen. It has been incredibly frustrating seeing professionals handwave something so common aside. I mean, we've all been teens so we all know how important peer opinions can be. My friends who are parents in Berkeley are seeing a wave of their children now identifying as trans. All but one are trying to be "good liberal straight people" with their reactions, but I think they need to not be afraid of recognizing that something that may feel incredibly important & life-changing for a teen right now could literally shift in a year. Because teens are shifting their identities all the time.
It's naïve to think otherwise. And the one who differs has gone over the deep end, and now doesn't think any trans identities are real.
You're right, something dangerous is happening. This always happens when children are involved. I'm old enough to remember all of the hysteria and misinformation that happened during the pervasive satanic daycare sex abuse scares of the late 80s & early 90s. I feel like I'm hearing similar rhetoric these days, whether it's about Disney or about drag queens.
Wow, Mark. Great insights! This has been a great conversation. I ended up calling my son and sharing much of it with him because it is so refreshing to talk about this in a non-polarizing way with someone other than him. I especially liked your comments, "Especially important given that many transitioned folks and long-timers in the trans community don't agree with the agitation that is coming from the far left, but of course could never agree with voices from the right that literally refuse to recognize their existence." You described my son's position perfectly. We have always been left-leaning, but this topic and many of the other movements of the past several years have felt threatening and I find myself (as a commentator that I like and follow says) politically marooned. My son has said to me that as frustrated as he is with left ideologies, at least they don't want to see him without any rights (or dead), like some on the far right do. One of the reasons he decided to pursue his master's degree in a more conservative state was because he wanted a different experience than his California undergraduate one. Of course both experiences have had disappointments, but that is life. It's also challenging because my extended family is pretty conservative. And while they love my son, they have been bringing up the "trans agenda," so then I become a little defensive. I still contend that something is going on, but it is not from the actual trans community, although they will suffer the brunt of it. Thanks again for the thoughtful and engaging conversation.