I listened to the last episode with interest, particularly the vignette with “Noah” a trans man. One cannot help but be struck by the connection between young women suffering gender dysphoria and anxiety/depression. Does no one understand (on the left) that all of these young transitioners are on meds? That there is no mentally healthy y…
I listened to the last episode with interest, particularly the vignette with “Noah” a trans man. One cannot help but be struck by the connection between young women suffering gender dysphoria and anxiety/depression. Does no one understand (on the left) that all of these young transitioners are on meds? That there is no mentally healthy young person with gender dysphoria? And that transitioning does not cure the anxiety/depression? As I listened to Noah saying how “he” would have killed himself if not allowed to transition I thought to myself that this person has severe mental illness and has been deluded by the current social contagion. What makes me angry is the “health care professionals” behind this scam profiting from the mutilation of our young women.
don´t forget young boys as well , can´t see how loading young people with hormones can end with good results , teenage years are hard enough with natural changes , boosting things can´t be good . Like boosting horse power in cars with NOS , sometimes things explode . How Doctors go along with this shit is unreal are they educated or indoctrinated ?
Not sure – I think these doctors are getting paid by the big medical system, regardless. They’re gonna get paid whether the client list swells (because of these damaged kids) or not.
I think the problem is, at least with the doctors that I know personally, they have to go along with the Board or lose their licenses. So: No doctor’s talking to another doctor and disputing it.
The only hope is that the powers that be in the medical community will stop this.
Makes you wonder what the left would give into just to polish their SJW status. What if a large group of people suddenly decide they identify as having one arm. Then what if they say will commit suicide unless a physician cuts off one of their arms? Are we just supposed to do whatever people say without any scientific basis whatsoever? Gender dysphoria is a medical condition and should be treated as such, with compassion and all the understanding we have of mental illness.
I agree with you 100%, Miguel. I think that describes where our society is right now.
People who actually have gender dysphoria (a tiny number) should be treated with compassion and all the understanding we have of mental illness. Then, there is this huge cohort of kids and teens who have picked up a cult narrative. They are uncomfortable or whatever for lots of reasons including puberty and they have learned to say they have "gender dysphoria" and make demands. They make adults jump around and call them new names, etc. They have a lot of power. They do not fathom the track they are on or just what a messed up place they will find themselves in someday. It is so wrong that this has become a political cause with Biden declaring it the "civil rights cause of our time". How useful for him.
As Dr. McHugh, former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, has said:
"Another subgroup consists of young men and women susceptible to suggestion from "everything is normal" sex education, amplified by Internet chat groups. These are the transgender subjects most like anorexia nervosa patients: They become persuaded that seeking a drastic physical change will banish their psycho-social problems. "Diversity" counselors in their schools, rather like cult leaders, may encourage these young people to distance themselves from their families and offer advice on rebutting arguments against having transgender surgery. Treatments here must begin with removing the young person from the suggestive environment and offering a counter-message in family therapy.
Then there is the subgroup of very young, often prepubescent children who notice distinct sex roles in the culture and, exploring how they fit in, begin imitating the opposite sex. Misguided doctors at medical centers including Boston's Children's Hospital have begun trying to treat this behavior by administering puberty-delaying hormones to render later sex-change surgeries less onerous—even though the drugs stunt the children's growth and risk causing sterility. Given that close to 80% of such children would abandon their confusion and grow naturally into adult life if untreated, these medical interventions come close to child abuse. A better way to help these children: with devoted parenting.
At the heart of the problem is confusion over the nature of the transgendered. "Sex change" is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder."
And we have First Female Four Star Admiral Richard Levine (likely a fetishist who has not "fixed" himself down below) who promotes mutilating children as "life saving medical care" high up in government. There are no long term sound studies suggesting that any of this is life saving. And, where are the mass graves from before we had such Frankenstein treatments for kids?
It is not only bad for the girls who "transition" but it is dangerous for society. We seldom hear about female mass shooters but the Nashville killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was likely on Testosterone. Roid Rage is a thing.
"Noah" may feel differently even just a year from now when she will only be 17.
See Chloe Cole and Layla Jane Lawsuits against Kaiser in Oakland, CA. They regret what was done to them.
It’s a small thing, but I just flashed on teenage girls’ obsession with boy bands, back in the day. Does anybody remember that? So you’re going through puberty… and then you start filling your mind with trans videos online.
And now you become what you desire. A cute, rebel boy.
I’m can’t really blame them, though. Like, would you rather be Harry Styles, and have people heap praise on you for doing unremarkable things like wearing a dress or being nice to gay people? Or Taylor Swift, and have people speculate that you’re pregnant whenever you gain a few pounds?
I like the direction in which you’re going. But I have to say – since when is speculating about a beloved, talented, brilliant person who may be pregnant a bad thing? I know it’s personal for her. I for one could not bear children. And being asked that — and having to field the question gracefully — was painful. But mature, famous people accept that fans will be fans.
Women have an unbelievable power to create new human beings. It comes with a burden of “ adoration, speculation, castigation“. Women are up to it. I was up to it. Women are strong. They’ve endured much worse. This trans-gender attack on women is right up there with the most violent that I’ve ever come across.
I don’t think most people - famous or not - want their bodies SO closely scrutinized that people notice a change of a few pounds. And most not-pregnant women don’t want people thinking they look pregnant. I’ve got two kids, and while I wouldn’t be offended if someone thought I was pregnant, I wouldn’t be very happy about it, either. It would just remind me that I’ve got an excess of belly fat and should lose around twenty pounds.
I’m sorry you couldn’t have kids. My parents had a lot of infertility problems - I’m their only child - and I’ve heard about how tough it was for them, especially when people said “reassuring” things like, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll happen soon.” No, it didn’t, and wouldn’t have at all if they hadn’t had the money for a lot of fertility treatments.
Honestly, I didn’t really feel powerful or strong being pregnant. I didn’t dislike it, but it made me anxious, and being a mother comes with all kids of pressure and social judgments that being a father doesn’t. Mothers are “bad mothers” if they’d rather not breastfeed. Fathers are “incredible fathers” if they’re physically present, financially contributing, and change some diapers.
Wow. I’m gonna be 68 years old and I have no idea of all the things you’re talking about.
I feel like a sham. Like I’m talking about something that I don’t know. Thank you for understanding, but more than anything thank you for explaining some of the tough realities of motherhood. I owe you.
Thanks. Don’t feel bad - I didn’t realize a lot of this stuff until I had kids. I thought that except for pregnancy and breastfeeding, my husband and I would have basically the same role in relation to our kids, but I didn’t realize that other people wouldn’t view us that way. Including the kids. Did you ever watch the early ‘90s show “Dinosaurs,” where the baby dinosaur referred to his father as “not the mama”? (If you didn’t, don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.) Babies and toddlers are like that IRL. Mama is the supreme omnipotent parent, and everyone else is “not the mama.” (The baby dinosaur used to smack his dad with a frying pan because he wanted his mother instead.)
There’s so much pressure, which some women can shrug off and others can’t so easily. I didn’t particularly like breastfeeding my first kid, but I did it for fifteen months because it was “the best.” Then I figured that I had to do the same for my second kid, or else it was “unfair.” Only I really needed to be back on my regular psych meds, which I couldn’t have while breastfeeding. I ended up having a semi-breakdown, voluntarily spending time in a psych ward, and - wait for the completely insane part - declining to go back on my regular meds once I went home, so I could keep breastfeeding. Because what kind of mother doesn’t want to sacrifice so her kids can have “the best”?
The healthy kind, as it turns out. It’s really been a maturing experience, because I realized that I actually do get to pick how to raise my kids. I sort of subconsciously thought before that my job was to “follow the rules” all the experts set out, like putting together Ikea furniture. Connect this with that and tighten the bolts and you get a well-raised, healthy child. Only it doesn’t work that way. I’ve started to see a lot more nuance in life since having kids.
I was one of those girls. I was pretty certain I'd marry Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran. I still have my scrapbook. And you nailed it. Nowadays I'd want to BE him. The irony is, no one wants to look like George Costanza, but that's what testosterone does to you.
Yes. I know of one f to m who used to be a perfectly presentable teenage girl with an attractive face and figure. Now less than ten years later, she looks like George Costanza. No. Actually, she looks worse than George Costanza. Compared to this woman, George Costanza looks like Brad Pitt.
I had some of the same responses to Noah and I share your fury at the health care so-called professionals who are exploiting young people's pain. But in all fairness, Noah did freely acknowledge that he has severe mental issues that still exist even after his transition. I was actually quite struck by Noah's obvious intelligence, his sense of fairness, his willingness to consider both sides of the debate and ability to discuss them. For instance, he was perceptive and understanding about his parents' initial reluctance to support his transition, appeared to understand that their feelings were grounded in love and in greater life experience than he had, and wasted no time denouncing them as "transphobic" as many would. He even tried, though not very successfully IMHO, to be kind and fair about Rowling herself -- although he still deeply fails to understand her. Make no mistake, I think what has happened to him is a tragedy. But nonetheless, his observations were well worth listening to and I'm glad he was part of the podcast. Neither side should close itself to trying to understand the other side!
I agree with you about Noah. But later that day, I read about a trans woman who was featured in United Airlines ad that showed her as happily transitioned and successful in her job as a flight attendant. She’s 25. She just committed suicide. She apologized to her many fans and supporters for letting them down. 😢
Articulate and likable both. But Noah is 16 years old for gosh sakes, and he only recently transitioned. Let’s see what he says in a decade or two with real life experience under his belt. Since when do teenage minors become the voice of a community?
Thank you for the stab. It's a great comment and adds alot to the conversation.
As a parent on PITT I am trying to bring reality back to language as I think language is so important. A recent PITT article ended with:
"“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” - George Orwell, 1984"
This is my view of "using pronouns:
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” ― Theodore Dalrymple" "
Sixteen?! Oh my god. I thought he was in his 20s. When I think back to who I thought I was at 16, and compare that to who I became by the age of 25 ... holy moly, big difference.
I know, Sea Sentry, I fully agree. Since listening to Noah, I've been thinking about the distortions in teenagers' perceptions of time. Noah said at one point, with such touching confidence, that while he knew transitioning might be a mistake for some people, it had "turned out" to be the right choice for him. This, at barely 17, only a few weeks after his "top" surgery, when his surgical wounds must still be healing and nothing can possibly have "turned out" yet in any way at all! He believes with such faith that "enough" time has passed to know he chose well, while unintentionally revealing that, in fact, he has no comprehension at all of the years of time and experience that lie ahead of him before he will grow into a full understanding of the ramifications of his adolescent choices. So heart-breakingly naive.
And this, of course, is why, until very recently, no one thought teenagers were capable of making life-altering medical decisions! It will be the greatest scandal in modern medical history when our society finally faces up to how it happened that the medical profession so suddenly and so fully lost its grip on foundational precepts like "informed consent" and "First, do no harm."
Frankly, I am disgusted with some of the medical and psychotherapeutic community who have pursued Gender Affirmation with such enthusiasm. It's like a Gender Affirming Industrial Complex.
Of course, money is a factor. And not just a factor, but the factor.
If you're a young doctor with half a million dollars in student loans, you don't dare speak out against the Tranny Industrial Complex. Because if you do, you'll lose your job, possibly your medical license. And you'll never work again.
You're so right, Catherine - the medical community is going to lose a lot of public respect in the fullness of time when the "First, do no harm" template is superimposed over the lives of maimed adolescents, many of whom will one day look at their adults and say "where were you?"
If memory serves, the 'top' surgery had been performed less than a month before the interview was taped. That doesn't seem like a sufficient amount of time to be able to make a judgment as to the success of the procedure when it pertains to the individual's mental health.
I was struck by that too, and how, in making his case he listed the ways he indoctrinated himself. Particularly that he rewatched buzz feed videos of trans men over and over. Maybe one way to find out if anyone these days is “truly trans” would be to see how they feel after a 90 day internet break.
This is a very insightful response, but it’s not trans health, it’s all mental health. Every parents first response to mental health issues should be to get their kids off devices, outside, and exercising. The same thing they should have done for covid. The issue is almost every parent involved is also highly medicated and disconnected from natural reality
I'd add one thing - service - and I'd expand the definition to "serves all people well."
Adults need goals and objectives, acts of service, and healthy play just as much as children do (perhaps different quantities and different definitions, but the fundamentals are the same).
I think the service aspect, and a willingness to be served, are such a huge part of this, as well. So much healthy ego is developed by understanding how you can help those around you and by understanding how those around you can help you. You get those two things right, so many other things fall naturally into place.
Yes! I thought that too. Another way to see if a trans identity lasts—simply don’t go the gender clinic route. Don’t give it oxygen to grow and flourish. That’s how I’m doing it with my daughter.
When this happened to my daughter, I locked down the internet so fast. Then I started introducing her to other friends who were not obsessed with this trend. It took over a year, but she desisted and is fully back to herself.
My daughter is just now starting to have children and terrified of how difficult it is becoming to "clamp down" on the Internet, as you put it. She was raised television free entirely (we rented movies), and internet free until well into high-school. And we thought that was difficult. She fought with us some but now recognizes it has given her a freedom and independence of thought she highly values. But today schools require Internet access for schoolwork, etc. And kids are brilliant at getting around parental controls. She thinks it will be impossible and can't see how to protect her children from all this. I wish I had something intelligent I could say to her. That's why I asked.
My parents always cautioned "don't follow the crowd". When all my friends were experimenting with drugs, I didn't. Inner-city Bronx, NY, so not that easy. My siblings and I were more 'afraid' of our parents than losing our friends. I continued that with my 90s children when they wanted to participate in the latest trends. AOL chat rooms were brand new. I believe in complete freedom and transparency and teaching discretion above all else and not being afraid to challenge group think, even if you are shunned. It takes strength and confidence and willpower, but it makes a better person, one who can discern rather than follow. Good luck.
Our son is 6 and so far we’ve managed a low-tech home by limiting the internet to movie nights. But what has been by far the greatest support for us in this conviction has been enrolling him in an independent, low-tech school (essentially tech-free for the young kids). I’m saying this not as a suggestion (these schools are not on every corner) but as an expression of despair for how education institutions make it almost impossible to guard kids. Our little school is not posh. A bunch of families like ours - middle class going without in order to give our kids something better. Not everyone has alternatives available to them - that’s not lost on me - but without others (other like-minded families) I’m not sure how we’d manage.
I’m not sure why I’m writing this except to say that I stand with her. There are more parents out there fighting this.
Yes, Where are the mass child and teenage graves of kids from the 1700s who did not have "gender confirmation" medicine?
We need a National Millstone Act.
"‘Texas Millstone Act’ Would Prohibit Gender Mutilation Procedures for People Under 26
As more people have been taken advantage of by greedy physicians, the Texas Millstone Act would help protect innocent people from these life-altering procedures."
My sister tried to commit suicide 3 times when she was a teenager. Now she’s a beautiful woman, almost 80 years old, who lived through that horrible time. By the grace of God society wasn’t supporting her to transition into hell.
Per my comments above and what others pointed out, it is ONLY those with concerns or objections that can be considered to have a bad position. WE are the ones who must face the accusation that WE are wrong. Our society only rewards those who consent to the popular opinion, who consent to surrendering to the "feelings" of others.
Your comment above resonated with me as I, too, thought "Oh, the old 'danger of suicide' as the ultimate horror-to-be-avoided, when such threats are as old as adolescence. Like children kidnapped while playing out in their yard, our over-reaction to a statistically rare occurrence that is shared breathlessly by our modern communications miracles does more harm in the long run than the matter itself.
David, your perspective, to me, is incorrect. It is intellectually honest for all to consider the possibility that they are the ones in error.
However, if we are the ones raising the objections, the onus should be on us to provide a robust explication in support of the points that we are making, at least to the point that our position might be plausible.
I do no know enough about the gender dysphoria issue to be a reliable spokesman for any position.
I do, however, have a disquieting sense that much of this is the fad du jour for the current crop of teenagers trying to find the hot buttons of the adults to assure that they are as uncomfortable as the teens are themselves...The on-going cycle of kids-to-adults-to-parents-to-kids since Adam had his rib-ectomy some twelve-to-fourteen thousand years ago.
L.K. - astute observation. I should have said that the question should be asked of all parties in a discussion. I certainly take into account the fact that I can be entirely wrong about things I believe, and believe in. I assume it, in fact. Such circumspection seems sadly lacking in many lately, in all areas of the socio-political realm.
And not just the Pritkers, but the equally evil Strykers, Rothblatts and other "trans" and "trans-adjacent" billionaires who make their fortunes from the healthcare industrial complex. These sick, money mad monsters have used their ill gotten gains to capture every institution in the US and around the world -- schools, universities, medical associations, hospitals, mainstream media, governments. The list goes on and on.
Given that society today's society that children be kept on their parents health insurance, isn't some of the stuff going on considered to be child abuse?
Come on folks. at least think your positions through and be consistent in your applications of moral imperatives
You seem to be discounting the sea-change in information delivery that we have seen over the past six decades.
We have seen the demise of the weekly news and opinion magazines like Life, Time, Newsweek. We have watched the local newspaper shrink from five sections to five sheets. We have seen the Sunday paper read become a thing of the past. TV news is now a 24/7 firehose of "breaking" news that is neither breaking or news, but it is breathlessly delivered to assure that we are sucked into turning the sound off for the ad blocks. We have the internet delivering firehoses of firehoses of information we cannot possibly all absorb, that is if we had any inclination to absorb it. We have iPods and Walkmans that provide us with a connectivity that causes us angst should we ever get beyond the reach of a cell tower that can provide in our hand just about anything in the knowledge base of man.
There's no way a family can compete effectively without ultimate-level of parental tyranny.
What you write, RT, reminds me of the Russia Hedrick Smith observed in the 1970's...A superior cabal that controls all of the levers of society with a busy hive or teaming anthill underneath going about life, fairly successfully, in spite of the omnipotence of the omnipots.
1. Years ago I read an article that said the most unnecessary operation was a hysterectomy. Which tells me money over science. What ever happened to "First do no harm."?
This reminds me of when I severed a tendon in my finger. When they wheeled me into the O.R., Pink Floyd, Brain Damage was playing. The lunatic is on the grass. I thought that this could be good! Or, this could be bad! I was just bummed because I couldn't listen to the whole thing.
I am going to take a different tack on this segment with JKR.
In a free society where you value free speech, nothing should be banned or burned. I don't care how offensive it is. It may be offensive to you but to someone else it might be a scared truth. If you don't like something don't read it. Even as disgusting as it is (in my opinion) an essay calling for sadomasochistic violence should not be banned. Of course some sickos who read it might act on it but if they are that mentally unbalanced, they are probably going to do something violent anyway.
Freedom is a dangerous thing. Where do you draw the line? We have all sorts of laws that define that line between absolute freedom and what should be curtailed. However I would rather live in a free society warts and all than under a brutal dictator like North Korea or the CCP or any of the socialist countries.
The left, with their PC/Woke tyranny, puts pressure on the 1st amendment daily. We need to fight the Democrat woke assholes tooth and nail. or we will slip into tyranny.
Not much has changed for those who resist dogma since the Roman Inquisition tried and found Galileo guilty of heresy for daring to state that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. I wonder how long it will be before burning at the stake is re-introduced as punishment for the “guilty”.
The porn industry has so successfully co-opted feminism that Progressives aren’t allowed to question the obvious impact that porn has on society in general and young women in particular. Even when contemplating it in their own minds they can only get so far before they begin to look for another explanation. The same critics who rave about thin models in clothing ads see nothing damaging about porn.
The pop singer Billie Ellish, talked about how her porn addiction that started at age 11 destroyed her brain and gave her nightmares, because it was so violent and messed her up when she started dating.
Forgive me, Deb, but anyone who describes her life in such a fashion had a lot more going on than just a porn addiction that should have been addressed.
I personally don't know any of her songs. She won like five grammys at 18. I'm sure she had a lot going on just living in the music world. She's probably 21, 22, now. My point was that a lot of young people look up to her, and she's using that influence to warn others of how porn can warp their minds. We seem to think it's just a male problem. But it's also a female problem too.
You are wrong Mr. Stephen C Watson. I was influenced by pornography at the ripe young age of five. I can only speak for myself, but that happened in 1960 – Today’s youth don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell.
I don’t know what kind of social studies you’re talking about or research that was never proven. But I am a living testament to the psychological scars of pornography.
I listened to the last episode with interest, particularly the vignette with “Noah” a trans man. One cannot help but be struck by the connection between young women suffering gender dysphoria and anxiety/depression. Does no one understand (on the left) that all of these young transitioners are on meds? That there is no mentally healthy young person with gender dysphoria? And that transitioning does not cure the anxiety/depression? As I listened to Noah saying how “he” would have killed himself if not allowed to transition I thought to myself that this person has severe mental illness and has been deluded by the current social contagion. What makes me angry is the “health care professionals” behind this scam profiting from the mutilation of our young women.
don´t forget young boys as well , can´t see how loading young people with hormones can end with good results , teenage years are hard enough with natural changes , boosting things can´t be good . Like boosting horse power in cars with NOS , sometimes things explode . How Doctors go along with this shit is unreal are they educated or indoctrinated ?
Not sure – I think these doctors are getting paid by the big medical system, regardless. They’re gonna get paid whether the client list swells (because of these damaged kids) or not.
I think the problem is, at least with the doctors that I know personally, they have to go along with the Board or lose their licenses. So: No doctor’s talking to another doctor and disputing it.
The only hope is that the powers that be in the medical community will stop this.
indoctrinated and out for profit
well said. It's incredibly sad.
Makes you wonder what the left would give into just to polish their SJW status. What if a large group of people suddenly decide they identify as having one arm. Then what if they say will commit suicide unless a physician cuts off one of their arms? Are we just supposed to do whatever people say without any scientific basis whatsoever? Gender dysphoria is a medical condition and should be treated as such, with compassion and all the understanding we have of mental illness.
I agree with you 100%, Miguel. I think that describes where our society is right now.
People who actually have gender dysphoria (a tiny number) should be treated with compassion and all the understanding we have of mental illness. Then, there is this huge cohort of kids and teens who have picked up a cult narrative. They are uncomfortable or whatever for lots of reasons including puberty and they have learned to say they have "gender dysphoria" and make demands. They make adults jump around and call them new names, etc. They have a lot of power. They do not fathom the track they are on or just what a messed up place they will find themselves in someday. It is so wrong that this has become a political cause with Biden declaring it the "civil rights cause of our time". How useful for him.
As Dr. McHugh, former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, has said:
"Another subgroup consists of young men and women susceptible to suggestion from "everything is normal" sex education, amplified by Internet chat groups. These are the transgender subjects most like anorexia nervosa patients: They become persuaded that seeking a drastic physical change will banish their psycho-social problems. "Diversity" counselors in their schools, rather like cult leaders, may encourage these young people to distance themselves from their families and offer advice on rebutting arguments against having transgender surgery. Treatments here must begin with removing the young person from the suggestive environment and offering a counter-message in family therapy.
Then there is the subgroup of very young, often prepubescent children who notice distinct sex roles in the culture and, exploring how they fit in, begin imitating the opposite sex. Misguided doctors at medical centers including Boston's Children's Hospital have begun trying to treat this behavior by administering puberty-delaying hormones to render later sex-change surgeries less onerous—even though the drugs stunt the children's growth and risk causing sterility. Given that close to 80% of such children would abandon their confusion and grow naturally into adult life if untreated, these medical interventions come close to child abuse. A better way to help these children: with devoted parenting.
At the heart of the problem is confusion over the nature of the transgendered. "Sex change" is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder."
https://couragerc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/TransgenderSurgery.pdf
McHugh wrote the above in 2014 and mentions Boston Children's Hospital.
Today there are at least 100 "gender" clinics in the US who "treat" children. See https://pitt.substack.com/p/why-is-this-happening-and-who-can
And we have First Female Four Star Admiral Richard Levine (likely a fetishist who has not "fixed" himself down below) who promotes mutilating children as "life saving medical care" high up in government. There are no long term sound studies suggesting that any of this is life saving. And, where are the mass graves from before we had such Frankenstein treatments for kids?
It is not only bad for the girls who "transition" but it is dangerous for society. We seldom hear about female mass shooters but the Nashville killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was likely on Testosterone. Roid Rage is a thing.
"Noah" may feel differently even just a year from now when she will only be 17.
See Chloe Cole and Layla Jane Lawsuits against Kaiser in Oakland, CA. They regret what was done to them.
The doctor who prescribed testosterone to Audrey Hale should lose his medical license.
Yes
Yes and Helena Kirschner described the rage she felt on testosterone that led her to cut herself.
It’s a small thing, but I just flashed on teenage girls’ obsession with boy bands, back in the day. Does anybody remember that? So you’re going through puberty… and then you start filling your mind with trans videos online.
And now you become what you desire. A cute, rebel boy.
Sad.
I know a girl who went from being a fan girl of a boy band to going "ftm" herself.
I’m can’t really blame them, though. Like, would you rather be Harry Styles, and have people heap praise on you for doing unremarkable things like wearing a dress or being nice to gay people? Or Taylor Swift, and have people speculate that you’re pregnant whenever you gain a few pounds?
I like the direction in which you’re going. But I have to say – since when is speculating about a beloved, talented, brilliant person who may be pregnant a bad thing? I know it’s personal for her. I for one could not bear children. And being asked that — and having to field the question gracefully — was painful. But mature, famous people accept that fans will be fans.
Women have an unbelievable power to create new human beings. It comes with a burden of “ adoration, speculation, castigation“. Women are up to it. I was up to it. Women are strong. They’ve endured much worse. This trans-gender attack on women is right up there with the most violent that I’ve ever come across.
I don’t think most people - famous or not - want their bodies SO closely scrutinized that people notice a change of a few pounds. And most not-pregnant women don’t want people thinking they look pregnant. I’ve got two kids, and while I wouldn’t be offended if someone thought I was pregnant, I wouldn’t be very happy about it, either. It would just remind me that I’ve got an excess of belly fat and should lose around twenty pounds.
I’m sorry you couldn’t have kids. My parents had a lot of infertility problems - I’m their only child - and I’ve heard about how tough it was for them, especially when people said “reassuring” things like, “Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll happen soon.” No, it didn’t, and wouldn’t have at all if they hadn’t had the money for a lot of fertility treatments.
Honestly, I didn’t really feel powerful or strong being pregnant. I didn’t dislike it, but it made me anxious, and being a mother comes with all kids of pressure and social judgments that being a father doesn’t. Mothers are “bad mothers” if they’d rather not breastfeed. Fathers are “incredible fathers” if they’re physically present, financially contributing, and change some diapers.
Wow. I’m gonna be 68 years old and I have no idea of all the things you’re talking about.
I feel like a sham. Like I’m talking about something that I don’t know. Thank you for understanding, but more than anything thank you for explaining some of the tough realities of motherhood. I owe you.
Thanks. Don’t feel bad - I didn’t realize a lot of this stuff until I had kids. I thought that except for pregnancy and breastfeeding, my husband and I would have basically the same role in relation to our kids, but I didn’t realize that other people wouldn’t view us that way. Including the kids. Did you ever watch the early ‘90s show “Dinosaurs,” where the baby dinosaur referred to his father as “not the mama”? (If you didn’t, don’t worry, you didn’t miss much.) Babies and toddlers are like that IRL. Mama is the supreme omnipotent parent, and everyone else is “not the mama.” (The baby dinosaur used to smack his dad with a frying pan because he wanted his mother instead.)
There’s so much pressure, which some women can shrug off and others can’t so easily. I didn’t particularly like breastfeeding my first kid, but I did it for fifteen months because it was “the best.” Then I figured that I had to do the same for my second kid, or else it was “unfair.” Only I really needed to be back on my regular psych meds, which I couldn’t have while breastfeeding. I ended up having a semi-breakdown, voluntarily spending time in a psych ward, and - wait for the completely insane part - declining to go back on my regular meds once I went home, so I could keep breastfeeding. Because what kind of mother doesn’t want to sacrifice so her kids can have “the best”?
The healthy kind, as it turns out. It’s really been a maturing experience, because I realized that I actually do get to pick how to raise my kids. I sort of subconsciously thought before that my job was to “follow the rules” all the experts set out, like putting together Ikea furniture. Connect this with that and tighten the bolts and you get a well-raised, healthy child. Only it doesn’t work that way. I’ve started to see a lot more nuance in life since having kids.
I was one of those girls. I was pretty certain I'd marry Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran. I still have my scrapbook. And you nailed it. Nowadays I'd want to BE him. The irony is, no one wants to look like George Costanza, but that's what testosterone does to you.
Yes. I know of one f to m who used to be a perfectly presentable teenage girl with an attractive face and figure. Now less than ten years later, she looks like George Costanza. No. Actually, she looks worse than George Costanza. Compared to this woman, George Costanza looks like Brad Pitt.
I had some of the same responses to Noah and I share your fury at the health care so-called professionals who are exploiting young people's pain. But in all fairness, Noah did freely acknowledge that he has severe mental issues that still exist even after his transition. I was actually quite struck by Noah's obvious intelligence, his sense of fairness, his willingness to consider both sides of the debate and ability to discuss them. For instance, he was perceptive and understanding about his parents' initial reluctance to support his transition, appeared to understand that their feelings were grounded in love and in greater life experience than he had, and wasted no time denouncing them as "transphobic" as many would. He even tried, though not very successfully IMHO, to be kind and fair about Rowling herself -- although he still deeply fails to understand her. Make no mistake, I think what has happened to him is a tragedy. But nonetheless, his observations were well worth listening to and I'm glad he was part of the podcast. Neither side should close itself to trying to understand the other side!
I agree with you about Noah. But later that day, I read about a trans woman who was featured in United Airlines ad that showed her as happily transitioned and successful in her job as a flight attendant. She’s 25. She just committed suicide. She apologized to her many fans and supporters for letting them down. 😢
Such a tragedy. I only know of the cases I read about, but mental issues seem to accompany or precede transitioning for at least some.
Articulate and likable both. But Noah is 16 years old for gosh sakes, and he only recently transitioned. Let’s see what he says in a decade or two with real life experience under his belt. Since when do teenage minors become the voice of a community?
Hi Sea Sentry,
I agree with your statement but cannot "like" it because of all the male pronouns.
We cannot help anyone or right our society with fantasy language, IMO
It does a kindness to no one.
That's OK. I'm a bit confused about the whole pronoun thing myself. I took a stab.
Thank you for the stab. It's a great comment and adds alot to the conversation.
As a parent on PITT I am trying to bring reality back to language as I think language is so important. A recent PITT article ended with:
"“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” - George Orwell, 1984"
This is my view of "using pronouns:
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” ― Theodore Dalrymple" "
Very well-said, LM.
Sixteen?! Oh my god. I thought he was in his 20s. When I think back to who I thought I was at 16, and compare that to who I became by the age of 25 ... holy moly, big difference.
No kidding. I was clueless. Well, my wife might say I still am.
I know, Sea Sentry, I fully agree. Since listening to Noah, I've been thinking about the distortions in teenagers' perceptions of time. Noah said at one point, with such touching confidence, that while he knew transitioning might be a mistake for some people, it had "turned out" to be the right choice for him. This, at barely 17, only a few weeks after his "top" surgery, when his surgical wounds must still be healing and nothing can possibly have "turned out" yet in any way at all! He believes with such faith that "enough" time has passed to know he chose well, while unintentionally revealing that, in fact, he has no comprehension at all of the years of time and experience that lie ahead of him before he will grow into a full understanding of the ramifications of his adolescent choices. So heart-breakingly naive.
And this, of course, is why, until very recently, no one thought teenagers were capable of making life-altering medical decisions! It will be the greatest scandal in modern medical history when our society finally faces up to how it happened that the medical profession so suddenly and so fully lost its grip on foundational precepts like "informed consent" and "First, do no harm."
Frankly, I am disgusted with some of the medical and psychotherapeutic community who have pursued Gender Affirmation with such enthusiasm. It's like a Gender Affirming Industrial Complex.
I hate to think money is a factor. Maybe it's ideology. Or both. I really don't know.
Straight from the horse's mouth:
https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313523232931840
Of course, money is a factor. And not just a factor, but the factor.
If you're a young doctor with half a million dollars in student loans, you don't dare speak out against the Tranny Industrial Complex. Because if you do, you'll lose your job, possibly your medical license. And you'll never work again.
Then there's this:
https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-explainer-california-transgend/fact-check-california-law-gives-courts-clear-jurisdiction-over-minors-seeking-gender-care-in-the-state-idUSL1N3111JR
Yes. Scott Wiener is at it again.
https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/a-predators-paradise
You're so right, Catherine - the medical community is going to lose a lot of public respect in the fullness of time when the "First, do no harm" template is superimposed over the lives of maimed adolescents, many of whom will one day look at their adults and say "where were you?"
If memory serves, the 'top' surgery had been performed less than a month before the interview was taped. That doesn't seem like a sufficient amount of time to be able to make a judgment as to the success of the procedure when it pertains to the individual's mental health.
I was struck by that too, and how, in making his case he listed the ways he indoctrinated himself. Particularly that he rewatched buzz feed videos of trans men over and over. Maybe one way to find out if anyone these days is “truly trans” would be to see how they feel after a 90 day internet break.
He actually referred to it as “researching.” He did his research on Reddit and YouTube.
This is a very insightful response, but it’s not trans health, it’s all mental health. Every parents first response to mental health issues should be to get their kids off devices, outside, and exercising. The same thing they should have done for covid. The issue is almost every parent involved is also highly medicated and disconnected from natural reality
Chores, high expectations for grades and plenty of time outside playing served my kids well.
I'd add one thing - service - and I'd expand the definition to "serves all people well."
Adults need goals and objectives, acts of service, and healthy play just as much as children do (perhaps different quantities and different definitions, but the fundamentals are the same).
I think the service aspect, and a willingness to be served, are such a huge part of this, as well. So much healthy ego is developed by understanding how you can help those around you and by understanding how those around you can help you. You get those two things right, so many other things fall naturally into place.
How true.
He also seemed to have been powerfully influenced by a therapist who apparently introduced the idea that he might be trans to him in the first place.
Always remember that in every "therapist" hides "the rapist."
Yes! I thought that too. Another way to see if a trans identity lasts—simply don’t go the gender clinic route. Don’t give it oxygen to grow and flourish. That’s how I’m doing it with my daughter.
When this happened to my daughter, I locked down the internet so fast. Then I started introducing her to other friends who were not obsessed with this trend. It took over a year, but she desisted and is fully back to herself.
Godspeed to you and your family.
How old was she at the time?
Just turned 12
My daughter is just now starting to have children and terrified of how difficult it is becoming to "clamp down" on the Internet, as you put it. She was raised television free entirely (we rented movies), and internet free until well into high-school. And we thought that was difficult. She fought with us some but now recognizes it has given her a freedom and independence of thought she highly values. But today schools require Internet access for schoolwork, etc. And kids are brilliant at getting around parental controls. She thinks it will be impossible and can't see how to protect her children from all this. I wish I had something intelligent I could say to her. That's why I asked.
you just have to be smarter. computers in my house were locked down for years
My parents always cautioned "don't follow the crowd". When all my friends were experimenting with drugs, I didn't. Inner-city Bronx, NY, so not that easy. My siblings and I were more 'afraid' of our parents than losing our friends. I continued that with my 90s children when they wanted to participate in the latest trends. AOL chat rooms were brand new. I believe in complete freedom and transparency and teaching discretion above all else and not being afraid to challenge group think, even if you are shunned. It takes strength and confidence and willpower, but it makes a better person, one who can discern rather than follow. Good luck.
Our son is 6 and so far we’ve managed a low-tech home by limiting the internet to movie nights. But what has been by far the greatest support for us in this conviction has been enrolling him in an independent, low-tech school (essentially tech-free for the young kids). I’m saying this not as a suggestion (these schools are not on every corner) but as an expression of despair for how education institutions make it almost impossible to guard kids. Our little school is not posh. A bunch of families like ours - middle class going without in order to give our kids something better. Not everyone has alternatives available to them - that’s not lost on me - but without others (other like-minded families) I’m not sure how we’d manage.
I’m not sure why I’m writing this except to say that I stand with her. There are more parents out there fighting this.
Good luck to you
Writing as a physician and neurologist, my knowledge base of the relevant science says your facts are indisputable.
Yes, Where are the mass child and teenage graves of kids from the 1700s who did not have "gender confirmation" medicine?
We need a National Millstone Act.
"‘Texas Millstone Act’ Would Prohibit Gender Mutilation Procedures for People Under 26
As more people have been taken advantage of by greedy physicians, the Texas Millstone Act would help protect innocent people from these life-altering procedures."
https://texasscorecard.com/state/texas-millstone-act-would-prohibit-gender-mutilation-procedures-for-people-under-26/
My sister tried to commit suicide 3 times when she was a teenager. Now she’s a beautiful woman, almost 80 years old, who lived through that horrible time. By the grace of God society wasn’t supporting her to transition into hell.
Per my comments above and what others pointed out, it is ONLY those with concerns or objections that can be considered to have a bad position. WE are the ones who must face the accusation that WE are wrong. Our society only rewards those who consent to the popular opinion, who consent to surrendering to the "feelings" of others.
Your comment above resonated with me as I, too, thought "Oh, the old 'danger of suicide' as the ultimate horror-to-be-avoided, when such threats are as old as adolescence. Like children kidnapped while playing out in their yard, our over-reaction to a statistically rare occurrence that is shared breathlessly by our modern communications miracles does more harm in the long run than the matter itself.
David, your perspective, to me, is incorrect. It is intellectually honest for all to consider the possibility that they are the ones in error.
However, if we are the ones raising the objections, the onus should be on us to provide a robust explication in support of the points that we are making, at least to the point that our position might be plausible.
I do no know enough about the gender dysphoria issue to be a reliable spokesman for any position.
I do, however, have a disquieting sense that much of this is the fad du jour for the current crop of teenagers trying to find the hot buttons of the adults to assure that they are as uncomfortable as the teens are themselves...The on-going cycle of kids-to-adults-to-parents-to-kids since Adam had his rib-ectomy some twelve-to-fourteen thousand years ago.
L.K. - astute observation. I should have said that the question should be asked of all parties in a discussion. I certainly take into account the fact that I can be entirely wrong about things I believe, and believe in. I assume it, in fact. Such circumspection seems sadly lacking in many lately, in all areas of the socio-political realm.
Follow the money. The billionaire Pritzker family profits from trans drugs. Name, shame, sue, and punish all doctors who do harm to children: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-do-no-harm-part-2
And not just the Pritkers, but the equally evil Strykers, Rothblatts and other "trans" and "trans-adjacent" billionaires who make their fortunes from the healthcare industrial complex. These sick, money mad monsters have used their ill gotten gains to capture every institution in the US and around the world -- schools, universities, medical associations, hospitals, mainstream media, governments. The list goes on and on.
Given that society today's society that children be kept on their parents health insurance, isn't some of the stuff going on considered to be child abuse?
Come on folks. at least think your positions through and be consistent in your applications of moral imperatives
You seem to be discounting the sea-change in information delivery that we have seen over the past six decades.
We have seen the demise of the weekly news and opinion magazines like Life, Time, Newsweek. We have watched the local newspaper shrink from five sections to five sheets. We have seen the Sunday paper read become a thing of the past. TV news is now a 24/7 firehose of "breaking" news that is neither breaking or news, but it is breathlessly delivered to assure that we are sucked into turning the sound off for the ad blocks. We have the internet delivering firehoses of firehoses of information we cannot possibly all absorb, that is if we had any inclination to absorb it. We have iPods and Walkmans that provide us with a connectivity that causes us angst should we ever get beyond the reach of a cell tower that can provide in our hand just about anything in the knowledge base of man.
There's no way a family can compete effectively without ultimate-level of parental tyranny.
What you write, RT, reminds me of the Russia Hedrick Smith observed in the 1970's...A superior cabal that controls all of the levers of society with a busy hive or teaming anthill underneath going about life, fairly successfully, in spite of the omnipotence of the omnipots.
See: Hedrick Smith, "The Russians"
I’m embarrassed by my profession. Pediatrics. Totally swallowed the propaganda
My brother is a physician (urologist), and from comments he's made about some of his colleagues, I suspect he would largely agree with you.
Two comments:
1. Years ago I read an article that said the most unnecessary operation was a hysterectomy. Which tells me money over science. What ever happened to "First do no harm."?
2. I saw a list of the professions that have the most sociopaths. Number 4 was preachers, which didn't surprise me at all and number 1 was surgeons which also did not surprise me. (Here is a revised list: https://www.businessinsider.com/professions-with-the-most-psychopaths-2018-5)
You have to take the two statements above with a grain of salt Anybody can write a column and have it published. However, I believe them to be true.
This reminds me of when I severed a tendon in my finger. When they wheeled me into the O.R., Pink Floyd, Brain Damage was playing. The lunatic is on the grass. I thought that this could be good! Or, this could be bad! I was just bummed because I couldn't listen to the whole thing.
I still remember just how painful my version of that surgery was!
I am going to take a different tack on this segment with JKR.
In a free society where you value free speech, nothing should be banned or burned. I don't care how offensive it is. It may be offensive to you but to someone else it might be a scared truth. If you don't like something don't read it. Even as disgusting as it is (in my opinion) an essay calling for sadomasochistic violence should not be banned. Of course some sickos who read it might act on it but if they are that mentally unbalanced, they are probably going to do something violent anyway.
Freedom is a dangerous thing. Where do you draw the line? We have all sorts of laws that define that line between absolute freedom and what should be curtailed. However I would rather live in a free society warts and all than under a brutal dictator like North Korea or the CCP or any of the socialist countries.
The left, with their PC/Woke tyranny, puts pressure on the 1st amendment daily. We need to fight the Democrat woke assholes tooth and nail. or we will slip into tyranny.
Not much has changed for those who resist dogma since the Roman Inquisition tried and found Galileo guilty of heresy for daring to state that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. I wonder how long it will be before burning at the stake is re-introduced as punishment for the “guilty”.
So true, Cynthia, so true. "Healthy and chaste"--what a concept.
The porn industry has so successfully co-opted feminism that Progressives aren’t allowed to question the obvious impact that porn has on society in general and young women in particular. Even when contemplating it in their own minds they can only get so far before they begin to look for another explanation. The same critics who rave about thin models in clothing ads see nothing damaging about porn.
Yeah, what happened to the feminist anti-porn movement? Where have you gone, Catherine McKinnon?
The pop singer Billie Ellish, talked about how her porn addiction that started at age 11 destroyed her brain and gave her nightmares, because it was so violent and messed her up when she started dating.
Forgive me, Deb, but anyone who describes her life in such a fashion had a lot more going on than just a porn addiction that should have been addressed.
I personally don't know any of her songs. She won like five grammys at 18. I'm sure she had a lot going on just living in the music world. She's probably 21, 22, now. My point was that a lot of young people look up to her, and she's using that influence to warn others of how porn can warp their minds. We seem to think it's just a male problem. But it's also a female problem too.
Interesting comment. Thanks Cynthia.
Women are watching it too. Maybe not to the degree of men but they're out there.
something wrong here I agree with RT 3 times one page I need to roll 2
Hey RT - astute comment. Sounds like Romans 1:21-32.
Peace.
You are wrong Mr. Stephen C Watson. I was influenced by pornography at the ripe young age of five. I can only speak for myself, but that happened in 1960 – Today’s youth don’t stand a snowballs chance in hell.
I don’t know what kind of social studies you’re talking about or research that was never proven. But I am a living testament to the psychological scars of pornography.