Transnegation Roundup/2020/08/15

‘I haven't seen it, so it doesn't really exist’

15:14 @K311yS “23 years for me and never a child born wrong in their body. I now work primarily with children 6 and under. They play and experiment with gender roles continuously, as is entirely natural and normal for children to do. They are all really LOVING their new body book this week! ♥”

• How does she know that none of them went on to develop dysphoria? What percentage of her students has she kept in touch with?
• Is it not possible that there were no actual trans children in any of her classes?
  • They are, after all, still a fairly small percentage of the population -- and those who discover their own transness as young children are an even smaller percentage.
• Maybe all the cis kids feel comfortable experimenting around her, but the trans ones don't.
  • How does she respond if a child starts to speculate about being a different gender than they appear?
    • Does she encourage them to talk about it?
    • ...or does she dismiss any idea that they might be trans, shunt them into "experimenting", and then conclude that they're now happy and everything is solved?

It's good that even gender-dysphoria "skeptics" are now encouraging flexibility in gender expression -- but it's important to note that not too long ago, that same social stagnationist mentality used to attack this as sick and dangerous (especially for children).

• Only a few years ago, they were strongly against gender-role experimentation because it might "turn kids gay"
  • ...and horrified at seeing a boy wearing a dress (some still are)
• Only a few decades ago, they were shocked at men with long hair (never mind boys)
• in the middle ages, they executed a girl for having short hair and refusing to wear dresses (see Joan d'Arc)

She may not be of that mindset, but she's still giving it fuel, and holding back the kind of progress which today allows her do give her students this freedom.

All that said, I'm glad she's encouraging children to explore gender-expression. I can assume good faith and goodwill on her part in her interactions with children -- but I can't ignore that she also heavily implies that this is evidence against the existence of transgenderness, which it isn't.