LogFAQs > #902794540

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

By forcing others to treat these people a certain way the experience from such a trial period won't be an authentic one and could give them a false impression of what life would be like after doing anything irreversible.

Clearly, the answer is for everyone to stop being assholes about it, so that sheltering them from assholes while in school ends up being reflective of the real world. Cultural shift, yo. Get cracking.

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

Not all identities are normal or healthy.

They are indeed not. Effectively raising children - whether as a parent, teacher, or any other formative figure - entails encouraging and respecting healthy exploration of new identities while guiding them away from unhealthy ones. The distinction requires a solid basis for considering those identities to be unhealthy, though. Conveniently, there's a whole field of medicine dedicated to figuring that out. Maybe people should defer to what that field says instead of deciding they know better?

For the record, I fully support the idea of teachers recommending that students struggling with their gender identity speak to a doctor about it instead of experimenting unguided, in the event that a kid has chosen to try out a different gender without talking to a doctor first. When identity disorders come into play, it's a good idea to involve a doctor in exploring one's identity.

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

Who are they to tell anyone which name to addressees them with?

They are literally the only person who has that authority.

SKARDAVNELNATE posted...

If a man says he's a T-Rex does that make him a T-Rex?
If a man widens his mouth, shortens his arms, and has surgery to implant a prosthetic tail does that make him a T-Rex?
If a woman says she's a male, does that make her a male?
If a woman takes hormones that are wrong for her body and has elective cosmetic surgery does that make her a male?
No, the woman is as much a male as she is a T-Rex.

Depends how you define each of those latter states. There are many aspects of masculinity which can indeed be quite closely approximated by behavioural and surgical changes that are well within the realm of modern medicine's capabilities. Authentic T-rexitude, however, is far beyond our current capabilities, and it is unlikely that that will ever change given the widespread destruction a close facsimile of a T-rex would cause if unleashed in society.
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