I love this podcast as well as the Free Press tremendously! Megan is doing a fantastic job bringing both sides of the issue to light. It is my opinion that the interview with Noah really showed why transitioning as a teenager is so dangerous and shouldn't be allowed. His description of the wild ride of emotions he went through is exactly…
I love this podcast as well as the Free Press tremendously! Megan is doing a fantastic job bringing both sides of the issue to light. It is my opinion that the interview with Noah really showed why transitioning as a teenager is so dangerous and shouldn't be allowed. His description of the wild ride of emotions he went through is exactly spot on! To go from thinking that larger breasts will "fix" things to thinking changing your gender is the answer sums up adolescence. He is a brilliant young person, but at this age, he still doesn't know what he doesn't know and he reinforced my opinion that children are no where near ready to make the decision to opt into surgery.
Noah's interview broke my heart. What an intelligent, articulate, and funny young person. I wish him nothing but good things and hope the medical interventions he received continue to make him happy. However, his discussion of the struggle to accept his adolescent body (struggles many typical females face), the affirming therapy he received, and his many other mental health diagnoses did not convince me that juvenile transitioning is a good idea. Rather, it confirmed my concerns that children aren't ready to make such truly life-altering decisions. In my opinion, social transition if you must, but save the medical interventions for adulthood.
"Under Defendants’ advice and supervision, between 13-17 years-old, Chole underwent harmful transgender treatment, specifically, off-label puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatment, and a double mastectomy."
I believe they are both 18 now. A sane way forward:
"‘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."
Yes, he says that he never "feels like himself". The poor young man has been abused by his mother and many others at least since he was 6 years old. Medical people gained glory through him. His family became rich and famous. I think some of his surgeons who are men in women-face themselves (such as Marc/Marci Bowers who you can see interviewed on the "What is a Woman?" documentary) likely got off on it sexually - but that is an opinion. And, the whole world enjoyed the display of the reality tv show. The whole thing was shameful.
He's really physically and emotionally damaged but may find some peace someday as himself - which is a young man born Jaron Bloshinsky. He is an innocent victim and I hope that he can find some peace.
I understand the evolution that has occurred in society that has led to 'gender-affirming care'. But so much of the civil rights struggle that I've witnessed during my lifetime has been convincing society to accept people for who they are. Wouldn't the logical progression then be 'body-affirming care', i.e. going out of your way to ensure that people are accepting of their physical body, without having to resort to irreversible treatments? I guess that's where social transitioning comes in?
I agree with everything you said here except that "social transitioning" is a commitment gadget. Kids change their names and then it's hard for them to admit they were wrong...
And the mental health establishment realizes that there's an issue at hand and treats the patient accordingly, i.e. they're not going to allow that person to starve themselves to death if they can help it. I'm not sure if it's a perfect analogy, but I'd need someone to explain to me why the two situations are different and thus they believe require treatments that are seemingly 180 degrees out of phase with one another.
I listened to the podcast yesterday, but I was struck as to how recently the 'top' surgery had been performed, yet Noah was drawing conclusions already as to the effectiveness of the procedure on his mental health. I seem to recall him stating that other therapies and interventions had been effective in the short term, but that longer term they weren't working out. What makes him think that this procedure will be any different when he looks back in five years?
Top surgery= radical mastectomy = not only breasts, but the removal of axillary lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue as well as the pectoral muscles from the chest wall.
There will be a time when treatment is needed because the lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue have been removed. This is one of the many reasons why surgeons no longer automatically go to radical mastectomy for treating breast cancer and why so many women in previous years suffered so terribly post surgery.
The label "top surgery" denies what is really happening, the word "radical" needs to be included. Consider it a preferred adjective!
Yes, Noah’s interview really hit a nerve with me. He clearly wore his parents down as they wanted to do anything to make him happy and not kill himself. The affirming doctors which “showed he was right to transition” probably were sick of dealing with him and just gave in. It’s actually pretty easy to get whatever you want from a medical professional. They just want to do their jobs and move people along. And when he listed all his actual mental diagnoses (adhd, ocd, etc.) and then said they were because of his gender dysphoria… I was like… what a disaster this all is. A tragic disaster.
Or maybe the doctors wanted to make a million dollars off the gender affirming procedures and hormones Noah will require over the course of a lifetime?
I found Noah’s interview to be upsetting. Noah laid out the whole process—feeling uncomfortable in your body during puberty, going online and watching trans influencer videos on YouTube 24/7, going to a therapist who suggests your mental health struggles are related to gender, going to the gender clinic, getting medicalized.
Noah having this solidified identity AS transgender (as many do) is confusing in itself. Trans is something YOU DO not who you are. I understand if trans-identified people form friendships etc with other trans-identified people as they may have common experiences etc, but you can’t BE trans anymore than you can BE anxiety, or depression, or an eating disorder.
This episode drove home for me that kids/teens cannot have unfettered access to the internet without consequences. We must engage our kids with their bodies and minds in IN-PERSON activities and connections.
This reminds me of Judith Harris' book (The Nurture Assumption - Why Children Turn Out the Way The Do). She was combating the - at the time - assumption that children are born as blank slates and that from then on parents and families make them have the personalities they end up with. A modern variant of the Rousseau ideology. She drew on extensive research which establishes about 40% heritable traits in a variety of behaviors and development outcomes. But what reminds me of this book here is the other 40% category, which she found to be "peers". Families only account for about 20% of long term development outcomes. The big wildcard which is as powerful as heredity is peer influences. And that is where the Internet is coming into play now. It used to be a neighborhood effect to some extent. Then, when going to larger schools, a wider community effect. But now, it's this world-wide self-sorting into various pathologies and exaggerated concentrations of unhealthy ideas - at every point in the spectrum.
I love this podcast as well as the Free Press tremendously! Megan is doing a fantastic job bringing both sides of the issue to light. It is my opinion that the interview with Noah really showed why transitioning as a teenager is so dangerous and shouldn't be allowed. His description of the wild ride of emotions he went through is exactly spot on! To go from thinking that larger breasts will "fix" things to thinking changing your gender is the answer sums up adolescence. He is a brilliant young person, but at this age, he still doesn't know what he doesn't know and he reinforced my opinion that children are no where near ready to make the decision to opt into surgery.
Noah's interview broke my heart. What an intelligent, articulate, and funny young person. I wish him nothing but good things and hope the medical interventions he received continue to make him happy. However, his discussion of the struggle to accept his adolescent body (struggles many typical females face), the affirming therapy he received, and his many other mental health diagnoses did not convince me that juvenile transitioning is a good idea. Rather, it confirmed my concerns that children aren't ready to make such truly life-altering decisions. In my opinion, social transition if you must, but save the medical interventions for adulthood.
"struggles many typical females face" Yes! Poor kid.
Here are a couple young women who went the same route and are full of regret and filing lawsuits now:
"LAYLA JANE v. KAISER HOSPITAL FOUNDATION" Layla was 13 when she had the radical surgery. https://libertycenter.org/cases/layla/
"Chloe Cole v. Kaiser Permanente"
https://www.dhillonlaw.com/lawsuits/chloe-cole-v-kaiser-permanente/
"Under Defendants’ advice and supervision, between 13-17 years-old, Chole underwent harmful transgender treatment, specifically, off-label puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatment, and a double mastectomy."
I believe they are both 18 now. A sane way forward:
"‘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/
Jazz Jennings is starting to break. Where does she go to get a life back?
https://pjmedia.com/culture/megan-fox/2023/03/21/i-just-want-to-feel-like-myself-tearfully-admits-americas-most-famous-trans-kid-jazz-jennings-n1680077
Yes, he says that he never "feels like himself". The poor young man has been abused by his mother and many others at least since he was 6 years old. Medical people gained glory through him. His family became rich and famous. I think some of his surgeons who are men in women-face themselves (such as Marc/Marci Bowers who you can see interviewed on the "What is a Woman?" documentary) likely got off on it sexually - but that is an opinion. And, the whole world enjoyed the display of the reality tv show. The whole thing was shameful.
He's really physically and emotionally damaged but may find some peace someday as himself - which is a young man born Jaron Bloshinsky. He is an innocent victim and I hope that he can find some peace.
I understand the evolution that has occurred in society that has led to 'gender-affirming care'. But so much of the civil rights struggle that I've witnessed during my lifetime has been convincing society to accept people for who they are. Wouldn't the logical progression then be 'body-affirming care', i.e. going out of your way to ensure that people are accepting of their physical body, without having to resort to irreversible treatments? I guess that's where social transitioning comes in?
I agree with everything you said here except that "social transitioning" is a commitment gadget. Kids change their names and then it's hard for them to admit they were wrong...
Good point! There is a very high percentage of people with eating disorders who would need similar care
And the mental health establishment realizes that there's an issue at hand and treats the patient accordingly, i.e. they're not going to allow that person to starve themselves to death if they can help it. I'm not sure if it's a perfect analogy, but I'd need someone to explain to me why the two situations are different and thus they believe require treatments that are seemingly 180 degrees out of phase with one another.
I listened to the podcast yesterday, but I was struck as to how recently the 'top' surgery had been performed, yet Noah was drawing conclusions already as to the effectiveness of the procedure on his mental health. I seem to recall him stating that other therapies and interventions had been effective in the short term, but that longer term they weren't working out. What makes him think that this procedure will be any different when he looks back in five years?
Top surgery= radical mastectomy = not only breasts, but the removal of axillary lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue as well as the pectoral muscles from the chest wall.
There will be a time when treatment is needed because the lymph nodes and lymphatic tissue have been removed. This is one of the many reasons why surgeons no longer automatically go to radical mastectomy for treating breast cancer and why so many women in previous years suffered so terribly post surgery.
The label "top surgery" denies what is really happening, the word "radical" needs to be included. Consider it a preferred adjective!
The lobotomies of our time. Medicine has made great strides in the last fifty years, hasnt it?
This is why RCT's have to be done to learn anything. This wasn't even single-blind, let alone double-blind.
Yes, Noah’s interview really hit a nerve with me. He clearly wore his parents down as they wanted to do anything to make him happy and not kill himself. The affirming doctors which “showed he was right to transition” probably were sick of dealing with him and just gave in. It’s actually pretty easy to get whatever you want from a medical professional. They just want to do their jobs and move people along. And when he listed all his actual mental diagnoses (adhd, ocd, etc.) and then said they were because of his gender dysphoria… I was like… what a disaster this all is. A tragic disaster.
Or maybe the doctors wanted to make a million dollars off the gender affirming procedures and hormones Noah will require over the course of a lifetime?
I found Noah’s interview to be upsetting. Noah laid out the whole process—feeling uncomfortable in your body during puberty, going online and watching trans influencer videos on YouTube 24/7, going to a therapist who suggests your mental health struggles are related to gender, going to the gender clinic, getting medicalized.
Noah having this solidified identity AS transgender (as many do) is confusing in itself. Trans is something YOU DO not who you are. I understand if trans-identified people form friendships etc with other trans-identified people as they may have common experiences etc, but you can’t BE trans anymore than you can BE anxiety, or depression, or an eating disorder.
This episode drove home for me that kids/teens cannot have unfettered access to the internet without consequences. We must engage our kids with their bodies and minds in IN-PERSON activities and connections.
This reminds me of Judith Harris' book (The Nurture Assumption - Why Children Turn Out the Way The Do). She was combating the - at the time - assumption that children are born as blank slates and that from then on parents and families make them have the personalities they end up with. A modern variant of the Rousseau ideology. She drew on extensive research which establishes about 40% heritable traits in a variety of behaviors and development outcomes. But what reminds me of this book here is the other 40% category, which she found to be "peers". Families only account for about 20% of long term development outcomes. The big wildcard which is as powerful as heredity is peer influences. And that is where the Internet is coming into play now. It used to be a neighborhood effect to some extent. Then, when going to larger schools, a wider community effect. But now, it's this world-wide self-sorting into various pathologies and exaggerated concentrations of unhealthy ideas - at every point in the spectrum.
And the impact of screen time on that.
It was common knowledge but widely disbelieved by academics and the psychological community involved with child development.