I’m still having a difficult time wrapping my head around this one.
There exist parents that are attempting to raise their children as gender neutral, thus allowing them to choose their own genders later in life. “Theybies” is what this new parenting technique is called.
See here:
And here:
I’m not entirely sure when biologically defined genders fell out of grace, but the refusal to teach children how they fit into the world around them seems ill-advised.
Men and women are different. Biologically and in countless other ways. There’s no harm in acknowledging and appreciating this basic fact of life, there is harm in pretending otherwise.
To the issue of gender identity and whether it’s fluid or even negotiable, I turn to the expert on this — Jordan Peterson.
In a discussion on gender identity and whether it’s subjective, Peterson said:
“Identity classification is actually a socially negotiated process and that’s the thing about your identity, the idea that identity is a subjective construct — it’s like, and I’m being literally truthful about that — that’s what two-year-olds think and that’s why they can’t play with others. Two-year-olds are egocentric and they cannot expand their conception of the world to include the minds of others, they don’t really learn to do that until between two and four, and by the way, if they don’t learn that by four, they never learn it. …Your identity is actually part of the public commons and the idea that it’s your subjective determination is so primordially wrong psychologically, it doesn’t even register.”
In a separate interview, Peterson elaborated, explaining that (at least at the time of the interview), he’d heard from 30 transexual individuals, those who’ve gone through transition surgery, and 29 out of the 30 agreed with him.
“The idea that gender identity is independent of biological sex is insane. It’s wrong. The scientific data are not only clear, they’re clear beyond dispute. It’s as bad as claiming that the world is flat, in my estimation. Having said that, there are masculine women and there are feminine men. …Identity is a set of tools that you use to operate in the world and if those tools don’t function, you don’t have a functional identity. It isn’t just something that you put on because you feel that way, it has to be something that other people know how to respond to or you will become completely alienated. …It’s narcissistic to the core.”
Peterson has discussed at great length how the most egalitarian societies amplify gender differences, how (all backed by scientific studies) job preference, even in the most progressive countries, is often dictated by gender, not because of social norms, but because of personality traits that serve most of each gender. Namely, agreeableness.
Further, to forcibly change any society’s agreed upon gender roles would require a measure of tyranny; requiring some to assume professions or roles with which they’re not naturally inclined.
His arguments are far more detailed and well reasoned than the excerpts and summaries provided above.
Parents have a responsibility and obligation to grow, encourage, and teach their children to be the best people they were created to be. Part of knowing how to survive and thrive in the world is knowing, understanding, and being able to navigate the world around you.
Seems a horrible disservice to deprive a child of the framework they need to properly function in their environment.
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