The video above is about a young boy who wanted to join the Girl Scouts, but was denied. The boy is clearly transgender, as he looks and acts like a girl. However, the Scout leader said that "It doesn't matter how he looks; he has boy parts, he can't be in Girl Scouts." While the interview with the boy was interesting, I found that the follow up commentary between the two news anchors and a psychologist, Dr. Worthy, were the most enlightening. I was expecting the psychologist to look down upon the transgender child and blame it on bad parenting, but instead, he gave the analogy of a child being a rock, and how parents can only smooth out the edges, and they can't completely change the "rock" without breaking it into pieces. "We determine great people by who they are...not by how they dress or the color of their skin," Dr. Worthy said. However, despite the fact that news anchors and Dr. Worthy were sympathetic and kind towards Bobby, I don't think that Dr. Worthy's statement is correct. Bobby will go through hard trials throughout his life because of his circumstance because we, as humans, are quick to make judgments without knowing all of the facts. While Dr. Worthy didn't go on about how Bobby can be "fixed" he talked about how Bobby needs to lay low and not become a target for other children, which emphasizes the fact that society is not ready to be completely accepting of everyone. I really liked what the femaile news anchor said at the end (at around the 5 minute mark), about how adults put their preconceived notions on children before they are even old enough to understand what is going on in the world. "We create our children's narrative about the world," Dr. Worthy said, and that we will not find a greater willingness to accept others for who they are until we start to change the way that we talk to our children about a touchy subject, like a transgender child.
-Monica Tillman
I think transgender issues are especially interesting and often overlooked in our society, particularly in the dominant Mormon culture of Provo. I think it's challenging to move past the ways we might have been taught to judge and often condemn individuals who do not neatly fit into the gender binary that has been established. Often, these issues result in the near erasure of the transgender identity and result in increased violence and aggression toward those who identify as trans*. These issues definitely challenge us to look outside of the oft rigid gender stereotypes we operate under and illuminate the need to make sure we are aware of the struggles trans* individuals face, and that we leave our moral judgments aside to make the space for them they are entitled to within our society.
ReplyDelete-Riley Payne
I totally agree with Dr. Worthy and Riley who commented above me. The family needs to find balance in raising their child. I think it would be wrong to force him to be a boy. It would be more beneficial to support their transgender child and help him because it will be difficult. Average society does not want to recognize these children for how they have decided to live their lives. Unfortunately, the Girl Scout leader is part of the society that is afraid to accept them and treat them as any other child. It is understandable where she comes from and it is a touchy subject that is still emerging and has not been looked at and accepted. Sadly, even though this boy should be allowed to join the troop, he is denied because of his biological sex, not by the way he is on the outside. Which I think really counts in this instance.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the psychologist in this situation. It is wrong to force the boy to be someone he isn't. However, I think that it is equally as wrong for him to bet part of girls scouts. That could make the girls in the troupe feel awkward, and I think it will make all kinds of drama. Besides, there is a boy scouts that he can join. It is not like his only options for scouts is girl scouts. I think that the child will be faced with many situations like this in his life. He can choose what gender he wants to live, but he can't expect everyone else to accommodate him.
ReplyDeleteJennae
Do we let our kids decide what they are? I'm interested to see what will happen to these kids when they reach puberty. Will their feelings change? Who knows.
ReplyDeleteI was interested in the parenting aspect of this discussion. This is a complex subject, especially for a child to understand. How do parent a transgender child? How you acknowledge their differences and identity they've created for themselves? How do you show love and care for those differences without encouraging it? That's some mean balance parents would need to find.
ReplyDeleteAnd to the post above-- I wonder if they've had that happen before. If transgender children have naturally changed. It seems far-fetched especially how defined their identity they've made for themselves. Could it be only a phase? Doesn't seem so.
-Amber Ah Sue
Lots of thoughts.
ReplyDelete#1. I have a cousin who was transgender as a teenager and is now fully transexual from a man to a woman. As such, this is a subject that is both close to my heart and widely discussed in my family.
I wanted to quote again what the psychologist said, as I think his words were spot on.
“We determine how great people are by who they are, by how kind the are…by what kind of people they are. NOT by how they dress or the color of their skin or any other of those physical properties. Those are just external manifestations. Get to know them and then make the decision if that is a good person or a good friend or not.”
I also agree with the news anchor, that the way we as adults approach subjects with our children is the way they will go on to percieve them in life. We need to teach more tolerance and love and be less judgemental over the life choices of others. Especially children who are so innocent and vulnerable.
I also wanted to point out that in the official statement from the Girl Scouts organization, they stated that they are working towards broadening their acceptance of transgender children and want to make services available for them and their families. I think in this case the child was denied by the local counselor herself and not by the organization as a whole.
Secondly, I strongly disagree that you should have to “find a balance” in society in order to fit in. I think everyone should be true to themselves and we, as a society, need to better accept everyone for whomever they choose to be and whichever gender they manifest.
Lastly, I do not agree with Jennae who stated, “There is a boy scouts he can join”. I honestly doubt he would be accepted more readily in boy scouts, or that his presence there would make the boys feel less awkward. He identifies as a girl, he looks and acts like a girl. A girl scout troop is a much better place for him right now in his life.
~Rebekah Lindsley~