James has a post Illusions, and I commented there about the possibility that some of these odd new identities might be a way to be left alone rather than gain attention, a method for parking on a side street.
There were a couple of comments on this path at Andrew Sullivan's latest DishCast on SubStack (Amy Chua On Immigrant Success, not sure if it's public or not) from women as well.
Jenn "I wonder if the huge increase in teenage girls with gender dysphoria who come out as trans is related to how much of a pain it is to go from being a skinny kid who can in many ways outrun and outplay boys to experiencing the very real and very unpleasant signs of puberty..."
Patricia "This is certainly how I felt. I started to develop early and hated hated hated it. There was no place to bring the discomfort and shame, the disgust I felt over the creepy, unwanted attention..."
And I'll add that the constant drumbeat of how whitecisheternormativepatriarchy is running everything might inspire some people to decide they want to join that team.
Interesting quotes. There was a South Park episode about this. I actually saw about a third of it, I can't remember why or where. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebe%27s_Boobs_Destroy_Society
Being male, this did not come to mind immediately, but I can see how it makes sense from the perspective of a teenage girl who is trying to find some way OUT of this awkwardness.
Patricia's comment above seems very close to some things I have seen in several girls--albeit from afar.
Interesting how the "respect a NO" puts the first burden on the girl, isn't it? You'd think that addressing discourtesy a little earlier in the process might be more fruitful, but that smacks of chivalry, and I've been astonished at how much chivalry is hated.
There were a couple of comments on this path at Andrew Sullivan's latest DishCast on SubStack (Amy Chua On Immigrant Success, not sure if it's public or not) from women as well.
ReplyDeleteJenn "I wonder if the huge increase in teenage girls with gender dysphoria who come out as trans is related to how much of a pain it is to go from being a skinny kid who can in many ways outrun and outplay boys to experiencing the very real and very unpleasant signs of puberty..."
Patricia "This is certainly how I felt. I started to develop early and hated hated hated it. There was no place to bring the discomfort and shame, the disgust I felt over the creepy, unwanted attention..."
And I'll add that the constant drumbeat of how whitecisheternormativepatriarchy is running everything might inspire some people to decide they want to join that team.
Interesting quotes. There was a South Park episode about this. I actually saw about a third of it, I can't remember why or where. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebe%27s_Boobs_Destroy_Society
ReplyDeleteBeing male, this did not come to mind immediately, but I can see how it makes sense from the perspective of a teenage girl who is trying to find some way OUT of this awkwardness.
Patricia's comment above seems very close to some things I have seen in several girls--albeit from afar.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how the "respect a NO" puts the first burden on the girl, isn't it? You'd think that addressing discourtesy a little earlier in the process might be more fruitful, but that smacks of chivalry, and I've been astonished at how much chivalry is hated.
I suspect that the well-known viciousness shown by Mean Girls to members of their own sex, especially about middle-school age, plays a part as well.
ReplyDelete