So very true
Kids that young are essentially gender neutral, and are still being taught ‘gender norms’ by adults who should know better.
I have the world’s most precious nephew. When he was 3, he asked his mom and grandma if he could be a girl. Now, my family is smart. Both his mom and his grandma asked “why?” He said it was so he could have long hair.
His mom showed him photos of famous musicians with long hair, along with Johnny Depp. His grandma showed him photos of Brad Pitt, Troy Polamalu, and Jared Leto with long hair. Then they told him “Boys can have long hair, see?” He said “oh” and went on about his life being a boy.
When he was 4, this same nephew decided again that he wanted to be a girl. This time, the reason was so he could wear skirts and paint his nails. Same reaction: his mom and grandma showed him photos of men in kilts, and men with painted nails, and said “boys can do that, too.” He said “oh”, and decided he was okay being a boy.
At the root of it, he didn’t really want to be a girl. He just wanted to do the same things he saw his mama doing. When he understood he didn’t have to be a girl to do those things, he shrugged it off and was cool with being a boy.
Now, if he ever adamantly decides that he is a girl, not that he wants to be a girl, myself, his mom, and his grandma will be okay with that. We just want to make sure he actually is transgender instead of deciding “oh he wants to do these things, so he is a girl.” We are extremely firm believers in making educated decisions.
I feel that a transgender four year old is more like a cat who is vegan because the cat’s owner’s misunderstood the cat eating grass to mean it is vegan.
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆
well i was really hoping when i saw this on my dash it would be because someone was calling out this bullshit but i guess not
why are you people comparing a vegan cat (aka a cat who is malnourished and actively being abused) to letting a child experiment with their gender, causing NO HARM TO ANYONE, just because they may or may not turn out to be actually trans when they grow older?
its not like the four year old is going to get gender confirmation surgery at that age or any long-lasting life change that they may or may not regret later.
their parent isnt FORCING them to be trans like a person trying to make their cat vegan is forcing their cat into a lifestyle change that is detrimental to its wellbeing.
what the hell is wrong with you people? this is fucking revolting
Also, why is this parent waiting until their child says “I want to be a girl” to show them that boys are allowed to have long hair or wear dresses?
It seems like these parents were perfectly okay with only exposing their kid to the narrowest definition of masculinity, only to very reluctantly acknowledge that exceptions are “allowed” when their child seems like they might reject the box their parents have put them in.
Does the child know that these parents will be okay with them being transgender if that turns out to be true? Because based on @areasontobreathe ’s story, at no point did the parents ever say “you can be a girl” or otherwise indicate that trans people exist and that being trans is valid – their only response was to ask “why do you want that?” and then immediately explain why the child shouldn’t want that.
If a little girl asks “can I marry a girl” she might not actually fully understand what marriage is. She might not grow up to be a wlw.
But parents who aren’t homophobes will still use that question as an opportunity to let their kid know that yes, sometimes people mary people of the same gender, and that’s okay, and if she still wants to marry a girl when she grows up she has that option.
It sounds like these parents refused to show even this modicum of acceptance, and went straight to saying “WHY do you want that?? Give me a REALLY GOOD REASON why you think you want that. You probably DON’T really want that.”
And then they pulled the same evasive bullshit the next time the kid asked.
Thoughtfulfangirling 