Frustrated noises about trans* info

[reynardo]

I have trans* friends (Hello there, my lovelies) whom I love dearly, who have helped me in my understanding.

But then I know them, can talk with them, and am very proud to call them my friends. Along with all the other wonderful variants we all are that make up this world.

Trouble is, I have some friends from Uni to whom I don't seem to be able to explain things well. They're in their early 20s, and supposedly intelligent. They've been seeing the news from the US, including a really dodgy 60 minutes piece. Apparently the articles are about kids who have realised at ages 4, 6, 8 etc that they're in the wrong-gendered bodies, and the fights the parents have had to allow these kids to use appropriate bathrooms and changerooms, and be accepted for the gender the children feel they are.

The arguments have been basically that "no kid is going to know at 4 or 6 or 8 that they're in the wrong gendered body - it's just a phase", "the boys are just doing it to get into the girls' toilets", and "It's the parents pushing the kids to do this."

I've looked, and there's some great information for later-aged trans* kids - and for their parents and friends. But there's not a lot out there about the much younger kids except for the sensationalist stories or the lovely ones where the parents have let the kid be who they want to be. There's not a lot explaining why it's important to let the kids find out, or how the counsellors can tell if the kid means it when they say "I'm called Tom but inside I'm really Janie", or even studies that I can show my Uni friends about how unlikely a kid is to claim gender issues just to look inside the girls' toilets.

So - anyone able to point me to some decent stuff? Articles I can link for my friends so that they actually learn?

(If I told you that some of their favourite shows include "Big Brother" and "X-Factor", does that help?)

Comments

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

Sorry I can't help with links.

(If I told you that some of their favourite shows include "Big Brother" and "X-Factor", does that help?)
Yes, that does help. Enough to make you weep, isn't it?

And if someone were to grow up with a fluid gender identity, why would that be such a bad thing? (It's only a bad thing if you consider trans-ness to be inherently wrong in the first place). And oh dear god, pretending to get into the girls' toilets???

I know, I'm preaching to the choir. I need to calm down but the stupid, it burns!

[malada.livejournal.com]

how unlikely a kid is to claim gender issues just to look inside the girls' toilets.

I think claiming 'gender issues' to sneak into woman's toilet rooms speaks more for about the mindset of the nay-sayers then the kids involved.

That said the study of children and gender is a minefield few want to trespass on. It's best to approach the subject by looking at gender policing in our everyday world. Yes, you will run into a lot of radical feminism but for heaven's sake buy a clue.

You might also enjoy:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/zinniajones

She's also on YouTube. And totally awesome.

-m

[sly-girl.livejournal.com]

My guess is: there ain't none. I'd not be surprised to find there's no (or very little) data to say it is a good idea.

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

some links about the alternatives might help http://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences

http://www.acb.org/pipermail/blindlgbtpride/2010-January/000011.html

and some very heavy writing on what it is like to not have that support http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=26766183&postID=6472747271467717845

[horngirl.livejournal.com]

She hasn't gotten to doing a specific episode about trans yet (though she's promising to), but Sexplanations on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/sexplanations/videos might be a good resource for them regardless.