Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/06/19/the-atlantic-again-concern-tro.html
…
11 Likes
The Atlantic again concern trollies
Am i being dense or is this title really confusingly worded? Dealing with a migraine at work right now so its likely i’m being dense, i don’t know.
3 Likes
“Concern-trolls” might have been a better phrasing for readability.
9 Likes
It really doesn’t matter what the arguments on either side are. One of this nation’s founding principles is that as people, we should be free to pursue our own happiness. Sure, sometimes that pursuit bites us in the ass but that’s part of what life is about.
6 Likes
Haven’t read Singal’s article (and don’t intend to), but isn’t the very premise upon which he bases his argument wrong? My understanding of children/minors transitioning is that the lengthy process starts with hormone blockers, usually administered under the guidance of gender dysphoria clinics, and only with the permission or consent of parents/guardians, and in some places (like Australia) solely by court consent. If that’s correct, then children can not simply “have” sex changes, because a parent or even court has to give permission.
14 Likes
I just understood the phrasing, took a while for me to get there 
thanks. I think saying “The Atlantic concern-trolls again” might be a clearer phrasing though
2 Likes
That’s right, though the controversy is similar to minors and reproductive rights. Should a teen be able to get birth control or an abortion even if their parents forbid it? Most of these regret stories focus on young people with affirming parents, because these writers believe it’s better that trans children not get treatment to ensure that not one single non-trans minor be misguided by “social contagion.”
14 Likes
I’ve been pretty disappointed in the Atlantic recently… Sometimes I’ll start reading an article and within a couple paragraphs my bullshit detector goes crazy. Then, after a quick google, I find that the author is a complete right-wing nutjob or whatever. It’s a rag at this point, just going for clicks.
8 Likes
6 Likes
I do love me some linguistics. Thanks again
2 Likes
Well… Considering transitioning is difficult, does it not follow that one who has transitioned would prefer they could have done something to make it easier?
What about the people who didn’t transition who are glad that they were not pressured to transition at a younger age?
1 Like
That plus (quick check) forty-seven ad trackers to read one story (I didn’t click on the garbage Singal story, don’t worry).
4 Likes
That’s the thesis of all these biased stories. No one is “pressured” to transition. It’s something a young person must actively express and vocalize consistently over a long period of time. It’s not like some doctor is going “C’mon, what, are you chicken? All the other kids are doing it!” The pressure to conform to gender roles is so pervasive and so overwhelming that only the most adamant of children can even hope for getting their needs met.
23 Likes
Is that what the kids are doing these days? Pressuring their peers to transition? Why in my day, it was phone booth stuffing and lindy hops.
7 Likes
Fair enough; a poor choice of words. But can a young person be encouraged to actively express and vocalize consistently a desire to transition? Can a person later regret having actively expressed and vocalized etc such a desire?
Thank you Mildred Brown for my next screenplay idea.
4 Likes
Sure. The young people in the story describe a number of things that made them seek out transition: trauma, attention, and so on. Some said they were influenced by reading and watching the personal stories of others. Regret for youthful decisions happens a lot. I regret not transitioning sooner. But ultimately, I need to take responsibility for that youth decision on my part.
15 Likes
@AndreaJames Thank you, in general, but especially thank you for this:
The transgender rights movement is also a reproductive rights movement.
I have always explicitly linked my transgender experiences to reproductive rights, and freedom of choice, and it is good to encounter others who get this. 
If anything the opposite!
15 Likes
5 Likes
I was thinking more of a ex-mobster, fish out of water story a la Lillyhammer meets Myra Breckinridge.
