Ted?
4 Likes
Sure. But I think with bullying it’s often also aimed at people who just don’t conform to norms and expectations. I do think that even when it’s aimed at cisgendered, able-bodied children, it’s still a problem to be addressed as a social issue.
Indeed. But I still think that that person should be held responsible for their actions when possible. Especially when it’s adults bullying children.
1 Like
No to both, I’d say. Let your kids explore our culture and figure out where they fit in. Support them as best you can and try to understand them as individuals. Honestly, I don’t think it’s that hard.
1 Like
Why wouldn’t I - I’m not inside my kid’s head and I don’t know what they are thinking or feeling. When people tell you who they are (especially your children, who presumably trusts you and loves you) you should believe them. I’ve known a variety of gay men, and frankly most of them weren’t into frilly “girly” stuff. I mean, have you heard of bears?
6 Likes
Again, you’re lucky to have gotten that support. Of course, not all kids do.
How about coaches? They seem to have a problem keeping hands to themselves.
Unfortunately, people who want to abuse kids often work their way into jobs where they are around them a lot.
3 Likes
Yep. It’s not just catholic priests.
4 Likes
Yes, I know. A large part of surviving bullying is the emotional support from parents and teachers and friends. It’s why I sometimes say I won the lottery at birth.
2 Likes
Talking about butterflies reminds me of Papillon , the movie about a french criminal sent to the prison colony in French Guyana. He was called Papillon, the butterfly, because he had a butterfly tattoo.
1 Like
Yeah, I was also taught that if I just ignored them, if I didn’t react, they’d go away. Maybe some of them would. The others escalated until I was forced to respond. It’s hard to ignore someone breaking your arm.
2 Likes
I think it’s just one of those things that is just horrifying for no reason.
1 Like
They seem happy enough. Maybe that’s what makes it so terrible 
1 Like
So happy to hear this. When I was growing up, and then when I was an auto bodyman and mechanic, and when I was a computer programmer and technician, society sure as hell thought it was weird enough to be derided and bullied for for it. I was not allowed to play with my brother’s Tonka trucks in the sandbox, and I was never given the erector set that was permanently on my Christmas list.
It’s better now then it was then, in the 60s, because Woman’s Lib and such, but ask some women working in a predominately male field how accepted they feel by both co-workers and society. You may be surprised by the answers.
Of course. Why not? I’ve known a lot of teens who presented “feminine” or “masculine” in opposition to their assigned gender, and were interested in the opposite sex. And some who were interested in the same sex. And some who were interested in all the sexes, and some who were asexual. (I work in a volunteer group that has teens doing community service hours with us. We get a new batch every year, and I’ve been with the group over 20 years. I’ve seen a LOT of teens.)
It’s all normal. We can’t help who or what we’re attracted to. We can be trained out of it, or trained to accept other things, but whether it’s a color, a toy, or a romantic partner, we can’t help liking what we like.
5 Likes
That’s what I was taught, too!
Thank the gods I only was pelted with rocks. They never escalated to actually breaking parts of me. That’s horrific, and I hope your assailant(s) had to pay for it in some way.
3 Likes
At least one of them got suspended. Which was more than I expected given that it didn’t happen on school grounds; I was riding my bike home the same way I always did, some popular kids decided to make it a thing that I was “following” them, and then they tried to pass it off as a game of “bike tag” gone wrong.
Naturally all their friends decided it was my fault and how could I be so mean to get poor Billy suspended. Fortunately “that girl will make stuff up to get you in trouble” didn’t gain too much traction when I had a cast for 6 weeks.
4 Likes
Where I used to live in Arizona, where they deal with monsoons, the catchbasins were big enough and deep enough to fit at least one if not two clown cars. I stayed way the hell away from them.
1 Like
A wise choice, my friend.
…but aren’t they symbols of male violence and toxic masculinity?
I’m not being facetious.
That would be kind of a weird thing for a body part belonging to all mammals.
