Society’s Acceptance of Child Abuse

When I was eight years old I told my mother I wanted to cut my breasts off….if I ever got any. My mother simply shrugged and said “why don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it?” This was coming from a child who allowed her older sister to cut off her long blonde hair, hair that was an enviable shade of white only a child can achieve, in favor of a boy’s bowl cut. I played in mud puddles on rainy days, you could find me and my little brother sitting in the street next to the curb as water from a passing Florida shower ran over us, proudly touting our buckets of dirt, covered in filth. I hated dresses and the color pink, but no matter what my mother dressed me in from age one to probably twelve it would be stained within the hour. Once, in fifth grade, I wore the same outfit three days in a row because it didn’t smell yet (I didn’t realize this was a faux pas until one of the popular girls made fun of me). I hated being carried or helped, my infamous refrain was “I can do it myself!” Boys were of no interest unless I was trying to beat them at something.

By age fifteen I was anxiously awaiting my breasts, all my friends had developed by now! At sixteen I was proudly displaying my b-cups in a push up bra in my favorite little black dress. I had my first major crush on the cutest boy in the world…but I never told him. I kissed many boys - and a couple girls - but the boys were my favorite. Whether it was house parties or drinking at the park friends could expect me to show up in a miniskirt and full make-up because by my teen years I loved getting dressed up! Why wear ripped jeans when you could just as easily wear tights and a skirt? Fast forward to now, I am a happily married woman with a house and a husband planning for her first child and all I could think about after reading this article was what if my mother had told me - all the way back at age eight - that I didn’t want breasts because gender is a spectrum and that I was probably really a boy trapped in a girl’s body.

I worshiped my mother, her word was law. She knew all the answers on Jeopardy and could answer any question I could throw at her. She taught me how to read chapter books and make cake, she would - and still does - patiently listen to my never ending stories and chatter, giving her input if asked. If she had told me I was really a boy I would have believed her, after all, boys were my favorite companions and I didn’t start participating in traditionally feminine activities until I was a teenager. If she had given me hormone pills I would have gladly taken them, if she had sent me to a transgender therapist to get me through my “transition” I would have gone, never resisting. My mother knew best.

Imagining just how different and confusing my life would have been if my mother had responded to me differently as a child makes my skin crawl. Why would anyone try to make their child’s life more difficult by lying to them about their gender? Men and women have different genetic make up as well as different physical characteristics. To tell a child they can “be” one or the other is a blatant falsehood. No matter how much testosterone I took, I could never beat Floyd Mayweather in a fight and, no matter how much estrogen Floyd takes, he will never be able to carry a child. In addition to these physical limitations, being a transgender person is a difficult life, of that 0.6% of the population over 40% commit or attempt suicide and those that get actual gender reassignment surgery tend to regret it. All this being said, if an adult chooses to make an informed decision to have the surgery it’s up to them.

In 2011 0.3% of the US population identified as transgender and now in 2017 that amount has increased to 0.6% but it seems - at least to me - that the increase is not a naturally phenomenon, it seems to be coming from a societal push. From Jazz Jennings reality show on TLC, Blair White on Youtube and frequent articles like this one transgender-ism is being glamorized and encouraged. And now this push has spread to the school system, teachers should not be telling their impressionable five year old students they can choose their gender, especially when most children with gender dysphoria grow out of it. Because of Jazz Jennings consumption of hormone blockers at such a young age her penis never fully developed, meaning there will be major difficulties inverting her genitals to form a vagina.

It’s one thing for both parents and teachers to to strive for gender neutrality, encouraging both boys and girls to dress how they like, and to play with the toys that appeal to them but it’s another thing entirely to lie to them and ply them with drugs to support these lies.