Non binary 12 year old on Today Program

84 replies

PancakeAndKeith · 10/10/2019 07:55

Quick post as I’m getting ready for work.

Boy said he was non binary and talked about how he didn’t feel that he fitted in.
However everyone referred to him by a male name and called him him.

It struck me that he was a very articulate and sensitive boy who was never going to fit in with the standard idea of masculinity. I wonder if he is struggling and the more gendered world of high school.

It’s a shame that children like him feel that they have to tie themselves in knots just because they don’t fit in with a stereotype.

OP posts:

nauticant · 10/10/2019 08:23

It was annoying that because the child obviously needed to handled with great sensitivity it was not possible to examine him on any of the stuff he was coming out with (which I assume had been absorbed from the Internet). The BBC interviewer said in a tweet she was "stunned by your maturity and bravery".

Apparently there's going to be a follow-up segment at the end of the Today programme, I think 8.50 was mentioned. Having heard the non-binary segment I'm not expecting informed discussion.

SarahTancredi · 10/10/2019 08:14

Um, mammals do. What the hell are they teaching these days if a twelve year old doesn't know that?

And again, who benefits from the fact they dont...

ArnoldWhatshisknickers · 10/10/2019 08:12

humans are animals and animals don't need to have two distinct sexes

Um, mammals do. What the hell are they teaching these days if a twelve year old doesn't know that?

SlowasaSnail · 10/10/2019 08:11

That boy articulated the feelings I had at his age. I was still sure I was a girl though. It’s a shame his parents aren’t affirming his biology as well as his right to reject social stereotypes.

FannyCann · 10/10/2019 08:07

Is anyone teaching children about (human) sexual reproduction and contraception these days I wonder?

ContessaLovesTheSunshine · 10/10/2019 08:03

The thing that mildly amused me was that it was immediately followed by a Thought for the Day on the topic of mantras and how helpful they can be. Transwomen are women, perhaps?

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 10/10/2019 08:02

He’s a kid. All he knows about boys and girls at that age is ‘boys like football and blue’. He probably doesn’t like either - and I wonder if his school had a ‘special assembly’ by a particular group or ‘charity’?

IfIShouldFallFromGraceWithGod · 10/10/2019 08:01

That's true. Instead of saying you don't have to be a boy or, as I read in a FB group, asking toddlers if they are a girl or a boy😱
They should be saying you can like and play with anything you want. There are w no boys toys or pastimes, everything is ok

nauticant · 10/10/2019 07:58

One thing made me sigh and to me indicated that his parents are not necessarily guiding him as they should. In explaining what non-binary means he said that humans are animals and animals don't need to have two distinct sexes. Like worms.

This tweet on the non-binary segment was interesting:

twitter.com/SophieRunning/status/1182186574487937025

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