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My Life CBBC Transgender

88 replies

MrsPatterson2014 · 03/03/2018 10:16

I have been reading these threads for months, never felt brave enough to post. Have been promted by my 7 and 9 year old telling me that people can be born in the wrong body and they are Transgender. They both repeated this as a matter of faith as being 7 and 9 their critical faculties are still very much in development. Hence a conversation with them about how no one can be born in the wrong body etc. Have only watched about 10 mind of the programme ( will watch the rest later) but was presented very uncritically. Am rambling a bit as in a hurry but I think my point is, should CBBC really be presenting this issue as fact to young and susceptible children?

OP posts:
SusanBunch · 07/03/2018 08:39

Watched a few minutes of this just now. Leo comes across as loving and well-adjusted. The thing that struck me was that what Leo was uncomfortable with was gender stereotypes. She felt like she was really a boy because being a boy meant X and being a girl meant Y and she felt more aligned to X. That was the issue- not being born in the wrong body.

If Leo had been born in the 80s when I was born, she would have been a gender non-conforming child and may have grown up to be a gender non-conforming adult, possibly a gay woman. Puberty would no doubt have been difficult for her, but she would have got through it. I had friends who were very similar to Leo when I was growing up. It wasn't anything abnormal at all- they were accepted for who they were, including the fact that they were not typically 'girlie'.

The huge difference between my friends and Leo is that Leo has been offered dangerous drugs that will alter her body irreparably. No long-term studies have been done on the effects of these drugs in children. Adults are often denied similar drugs because of harmful side effects. Leo will be likely to be left infertile with low libido as a result of this. It's completely insane. Kids are being used as lab-rats when they are just behaving like normal kids. I dread to think what will happen in 10 years time when we realise the long-term impact of letting someone take drugs as a child. I started a thread the other day about a really sad story of a boy who thought he was trans but later changed his mind at 14 (which is totally normal and which happens in nearly all cases of gender dysphoria). But it's too late for him because the hormones have permanently altered his body and his bone growth. It's horrific.

Kids need to be told that they cannot put off or change natural processes. We all get older and that brings with it changes. Yes, you might not like growing boobs, but if you get a decent bra, it's not too bad and we all have to go through it. Thinking back to being a child, I didn't want to go through puberty either, but I realised that I had no choice and just accepted it. These kids need support, but they do not need drugs.

Kokeshi123 · 07/03/2018 08:19

Oh Christ, yes.

I hadn't even thought about that. But you could well be right.

soapboxqueen · 07/03/2018 07:59

That's a really good point damnde

DamnDeDoubtanceIsSpartacus · 06/03/2018 20:49

I can see parents enforcing gender roles in future as they won't want there kids to be medicated.

DamnDeDoubtanceIsSpartacus · 06/03/2018 20:48

and am not sure what the solution is

Work together to get rid of gender roles, without these expectations placed on each sex there would be little to feel uncomfortable with. We need to accept feminine men and masculine girls, let people love who they want so long as it's consensual.

loveyouradvice · 04/03/2018 17:46

I agree with everything said above.... the stereotypes and the blithe recommendation of Lupron.... that said, I also feel enormous sympathy for the Leos of the world.... and am not sure what the solution is

DamnDeDoubtanceIsSpartacus · 04/03/2018 17:42

the movement is based on stereotypes and actively promotes sexist stereotypes. It is deeply sexist and homophobic.

soapboxqueen · 04/03/2018 16:06

My ds(8) with aspergers has watched this. He asked me if I was transgender because I have hairy legs. He also thought one of his teachers was trans because she isn't very girly.

Fairyflaps · 04/03/2018 16:01

Please write and complain to the BBC. It is not balanced and has no scientific basis. And as you have discovered, young children are coming across it on CBBC - which for many parents and children is a trusted channel of information and entertainment - and are swallowing the girl's brain/ boy's brain and wrong body narrative uncritically.

loveyouradvice · 04/03/2018 15:51

well.... what did you think having watched I am Leo? S/he does come across as very well-adjusted.....

HermioneWeasley · 03/03/2018 10:53

Why are the men who run the BBC so invested in transitioning children?

ReluctantCamper · 03/03/2018 10:33

is this the episode 'I am Leo?'

I will watch later and decide if I need to write to the beeb about it. I feel a bit like I'm turning into Mary Whitehouse, BUT hopefully the difference is that I don't want to stop people discussing things, I'd just like them to be handled even handedly. So if the programme makes it clear that Leo cannot actually change sex and it's fine for her to wear boys clothes, have short hair etc then I will be completely fine with it.

Can't believe I'm going to spend my valuable post kids bed time watching a CBBC show!

Tinycitrus · 03/03/2018 10:21

Yes I found my three watching this Hmm

It doesn’t help that DD3 is a little girl who
Kicks about in jeans and t shirts, won’t wear dresses and plays football three times a week.

We had the whole ‘there’s lots of ways to be a girl’ conversation and that liking football etc doesn’t mean you are a boy.