How Children are Taught What is Acceptable for the Genders
These next few videos elaborate on the fact that gender is influenced by society. Society has its “norms” as proven in the first video below. This video interviews various children and asks them questions, such as, “Are you a boy or a girl?” or “Can boys wear dresses?” One boy says that if he wore a dress, “All the girls and all the girls would laugh at me”
The part that I found most shocking was the Barbie and Ken doll experiment. The children were asked which doll likes to clean the house, which doll takes care of the babies, and who goes to work? All the children answered the same way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWc1e3Nbc2g
Transgender Children
I wondered upon a Transgender children website while searching google. My first reaction was “Are you serious?! Transgender children?!” I thought that this was absolutely ridiculous. It almost seemed to me as though parents were influencing their children to “transform” into the opposite gender norms.
The TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation (TKPR) has a mission statement that says that the organization is, “Dedicated to funding research and education about transgender issues to build a brighter future for all TransKids. Our children aren't pink or blue - but rather - various shades of purple.”
The foundation further goes on to state specific goals of its mission. I have listed a few that I found particularly interesting below. If you wish to view them all, you can locate the information at: http://www.transkidspurplerainbow.com/mission.htm
“TKPRF is committed to the premise that Gender Identity Disorder is something a child can't control and it is society that needs to change, not them.
TKPRF will strive to encourage families to allow their children the ability to grow-up free of gender roles.”
What is your opinion of the organization? I feel as though the organization is almost trying to urge children to embrace non-typical behaviors. The fact that is wants “the ability to grow-up free of gender roles” is a ridiculous statement. This is never going to be possible with the impact of society. Unless the parent locks their child away from the world for his or her entire life…which may I add, would be HIGHLY unhealthy!
Transgender Children – PT2
I found a 20/20 special with Barbara Walters on the topic of transgender children. It has five parts, but I have only included the video for part 1. It is really interesting to watch and hear a family’s story of a boy who is transgender (now a girl). It appears to me that the parents did not influence this change and were in initial shock. It is a story of how they came to accept their child as they are.
Gender Identity Disorder is a recognized disorder in the manual used by mental health experts. According to the 20/20 special, transgender children are apt to high rates of depression, drug abuse, violence, and suicide.
I thought that the interview with the kids was very interesting. It stated that kids as early as 3 or 4 know the difference in gender roles. This is showed by those questions and the barbie and ken experiment. The kids were pointing out that men should go to work and the women should clean and take care of the kids. This is obviously established by society. I never knew that there was a website and organizations for transgendered kids. The mission statements were interesting and came off as good and things that should be acknowledged by all. But I think that in our society today not everyone is accepting of transgendered kids and that a website is not going to change this. I think that it is a good way for people to get involved or learn more about transgendered people.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the the 20/20 interview, I think that it is courageous that the parents feel open enough to talk about and share this with society. They go into a lot of details that many parents or even transgendered people might be ashamed of. The one kid said, "it is like nature played a cruel joke on me". I think it is sad that the children have to go through this. Like they said, they didn't choose this. I would like to see the rest of this episode to see how the other children and parents deal with this.