So, letting people be who they want to be is a good thing. That’s shocking I tell you, just shocking. All I want to know is, how much time and money went into this research when you could’ve just asked trans folks how they felt for free
okay, A: they didask. they did listen. like… I don’t wanna exaggerate here but “asking trans kids how they feel” is literally the entire study:
“children (9–14 years old) and their parents completed measurements of depression and anxiety (n = 63 transgender children, n = 63 controls, n = 38 siblings). Children (6–14 years old; n = 116 transgender children, n = 122 controls, n = 72 siblings) also reported on their self-worth”
and B: this isn’t the kind of study researchers do because “oh gosh we just aren’t really sure yet, we really just don’t know”, they do it because cis people have been sitting on their asses for decades ignoring anything that’s not an Official Scientific Study, so they said “okay fuck you, here’s the study, you’re wrong, now do something helpful or shut the hell up”
#Thank you #I’m super over this smug ‘yeah we knew that’ response to studies #I mean I get the impulse to go ’…yes and water is wet thanks captain obvious’ #But the thing is that you *need* this kind of hard data in order to act on it #Which is actually a good thing #BC ‘we don’t need no stinkin science’ policies based on ‘we just Know This ok don’t ask for our data just shut up and do it’ #Is how you get anti choice laws based in pseudoscience and religious belief #And climate change not being addressed in law and policy #Besides. Just think how satisfying it is to throw hard data in some asshole’s face to counter their claims.
Scientist: Treating trans people like people is the way to make them happy. Cis Person: Yeah but…………how do we KNOW? Scientist: *sighs* can I have a grant to study it? Cis Person: Sure. Scientist: Hey, Trans Person, would you be happier if people treated you like people? Trans Person: Of course. Scientists:
Specifically, this study can now be used in medical offices and courtrooms. A trans kid’s parent can take this study to their bigoted local doctor and say “see, this is why you should either treat my kid or give us a referral to a doctor who will.” Or this can be taken into various legal proceedings about name changes, birth certificate changes/corrections, and custody hearings where it becomes necessary to prove to a judge that yes, helping the kid transition (and perhaps leaving the kid with the parent/guardian who is willing to help) is what is best for the kid.
These kinds of studies are exactly what we want, folks. Don’t knock it just because it’s something you already knew.
“These kinds of studies are exactly what we want, folks. Don’t knock it just because it’s something you already knew.”
We already knowed it, we just had to prove it – don’t knock the proof.
So, this past weekend, I took my 11-year-old daughter to SuperCon to meet her favorite actor (and favorite Doctor), Peter Capaldi.
She wore a little blue TARDIS-decorated dress and some Doctor Who pins, and she nearly cried with joy when Capaldi greeted her for the photo op. He was a consummate gentleman and such a sweet and enthusiastic person.
An hour or so after the wonderful photo op experience, she and I were sitting at a table in the food court area.
A burly, older man plopped down nearby. He looked at my little girl’s outfit, smiled, and said, “Do you even KNOW anything about Doctor Who?”
WTF, dude?
I was too stunned for a second to even respond, so he started right in with the ‘quizzing.’
“Who are the Doctor’s biggest enemies, and what planet does he come from?” this stranger asked.
Now I had moved past shocked and right into indignant/angry/protective mode.
“I don’t want her to be quizzed on something she loves, because I don’t want her thinking she has to prove ANYthing in order to be a fan,“ I told him.
Looking at my daughter, I said “You don’t owe strangers explanations or information, ok?“ She said OK and looked relieved.
Still he pressed on, patronizing grin and all: “Oh, I just want to be sure parents are raising their kids right.” Then he turned to my daughter again and asked “Who was the first Doctor, then?”
I cut him off right there. “No. I don’t want her quizzed. At all.”
Dude blinked in disbelief, sighed, and left about a minute later.
“Thanks,” my daughter said. “He was making me feel awkward.”
I held her hand and looked into her eyes. “Some men think they can have power over you by making you prove yourself. You never have to do it. They’re just insecure and pitiful, so they want to make you feel like it, too. It’s not only about fan stuff, and it’s not always just men, but be careful not to fall into that trap, ok?”
That crap isn’t harmless fun. It sets up a pattern of approval-seeking, self-justification, self-doubt, and fear of exclusion that is very dangerous for children (particularly girls).
Fuck that.
TL;DR: Do NOT come at me, my little girl, or anyone in my vicinity with your condescending, gatekeeping bullshit.
The next time, I won’t make the mistake of even TRYING to be polite.
Ladies (and gentlemen who Get It, and folks who are both or neither and also Get It): don’t forget, if you see someone doing this to another fan in a public space, you most def can speak up and call them a shithead for it. Even if the quizzing isn’t a fandom you’re into.
Can you even imagine being the poor alien sod responsible for auditing an earthling spaceship’s spending allowance? Like:
“I see, and why do you require many tubes of white plant flavoured paste?”
“Oh well, if we don’t rub that on our teeth twice daily the bacteria living in my mouth will begin to devour me teeth.”
“…Noted.”
“I have also noticed several large shipments of specific medications, and a variety of individually packaged absorbent material – however injury records do not show sufficient numbers to justify these recurrent deliveries.”
“Ah, yeah, it’s not really an injury per say. As part of our natural reproductive cycle approximately half the population will shed the lining of one of their internal organs and expel it.”
“…that is the most horrifying thing that I have ever heard.”
“Yeah.”
“Does such a process not hurt?”
“That’l be what the medication’s for. Pain killers for the cramps, birth control to stop the process.”
“…and your reasoning behind the fully functional, high-tech entertainment system?”
“Okay, that we could probably do without. But in our defence that was actually insisted on as a standard feature of all fleet-ships expected to encounter Terrans. Admiral Plo’Kaght insisted on it. Something about bored humans and a an illegal betting ring featuring a cleaning robot with a knife strapped to it going up against a human with a mop?”
“…I believe I should speak with my superiors.”
I love how Stabby the Roomba has become such a consistent in-joke among these sorts of blogs.
Galactic hero stabby the roomba: his legend continues
The Archery Range 