The effect of lockdown on transitioning teen girls

Stop treating us as though we're poor people

Ok, will do.
Back to the specific group of people in OP's school: it's interesting that year 9 is where you have spotted this happening. I found year 9 to be the hardest by far. Even the nice boys were foul then! (Behaviour wise)

Worker friends? So you are not a transitioning teenage girl in high school then? Hardly comparable.

While I won't state my assigned gender at birth, I was in school when I started to question my gender identity, yes. Stop treating us as though we're poor people being peer pressured into being transgender and removing any kind of agency from our decisions.

Another anecdote. A teen FTM acquaintance on one of my groups, very very "sure" of it, determined to get phalloplasty. I talked with her a few times about other issues. She reminded me of myself at her age--in hobbies, interests, she's autistic and lesbian. I just saw her in another group and she has detransed during lockdown. I literally cried I was so relieved.

This is such an interesting thread. I have little to add save than to say as a primary school teacher I have long seen the tendency of colleagues to use girls to moderate boys’ behaviour, and to use high-achieving girls to support low-achieving boys. They’re both very common strategies but ones which I refuse to employ. I also actively discourage girls from tidying up for the boys on their table where those boys do not already pull their weight.

High-achieving boys are never expected to halt their progress to help girls. They are given the time and space to extend their own skills. Girls are expected to play the helpful, kind role and stop their work in order to make up for the deficiencies in boys’ learning when they could be pushing their own learning on. What often happens is that boys then become reliant on girls to do their work for them and in fact, expect them to. Well, not on my watch.

Dd 17 ASD who identifies as male has been far less morose and not consumed by who she believes herself to be during lockdown. More like who she used to be. She has been online shopping very recently and the first lot came today, they are definitely from the women's section, flowers and pastels which came as a surprise. I've not commented, just take it as it comes, but I'm sure it's because without the scrutiny of her peers she can be herself instead of fitting in with the adopted cause.

I am sure the counter view will be that these poor children have been coerced into detransitioning by their transphobic families over lockdown.

This. I came across a quote from Mermaids recently (in relation to how Covid had affected the work of charities) saying how awful lockdown was for trans children and young people - locked away with their families who they were desperate to escape from I rolled my eyes as my gut feeling was that a lot of young people might do better without being around their peers. This has been the case for one of my teens who's been bullied at school in recent months.

Yep
_>
This is interesting. Aside from the school influence, I wonder if these girls are also enjoying another unexpected lockdown benefit - namely it's now socially acceptable to cross the road and actively avoid people when out on the streets. No more having to walk through groups of men fearing the inevitable "cheer up love" or worse.

Glad to hear so many girls are growing comfortable in themselves now they aren't subjected daily to the harsh teenage judgment of their peers.

I follow you on twitter ( I assume you're the same one).

Sometimes people here are iffy about journalistic requests but I just want to reassure that your work is great. This would make a good article.

It’s just like Caroline Criado-Perez’s book says about the lack of research around how certain drugs affect women differently, they just don’t want to put the time and effort in so go with “male = default human”.

Apparently women’s menstrual cycles with complicated and varying amounts of hormones throughout the month make us more difficult to study needing larger sample sizes and longer trial periods and expense.

That drafted biology again. Funny how it keeps popping up.

S'funny, I'm still non-binary despite being very isolated through lockdown with a large majority of essential worker friends.

Hi I'm a Brazilian journalist but I write for two publications in English and I'm interested in writing a piece about it. If approved, it could be published either on 4w.pub or Uncommon Ground Media. Thanks!

This is interesting. Aside from the school influence, I wonder if these girls are also enjoying another unexpected lockdown benefit - namely it's now socially acceptable to cross the road and actively avoid people when out on the streets. No more having to walk through groups of men fearing the inevitable "cheer up love" or worse.

Honest to god if I ever win the Euromillions I’m setting up a foundation that will fund research into this sort of thing, y’know the “boring” stuff that only affects women/children.

It’s just like Caroline Criado-Perez’s book says about the lack of research around how certain drugs affect women differently, they just don’t want to put the time and effort in so go with “male = default human”.

Not to be too nit-picky but I think it's important to be accurate in these troubled times. Caspian was refused ethics approval. He wasn't asking for funding. Even a small scale research project can cost quite a lot of money and it's really really hard to get funding for anything except Covid-19 and economics at present (has been hard to get funding for a long time). And it would be specially hard to get funding for this I think, though it really needs researching.

I worry for some kids and the idea of remote education isn't really workable for most people, but I think it really does point to the fact that schools have become quite inappropriate environments for kids all round. There needs to be a real rethinking of the whole set-up.

So much of it is performance, getting their kick out of being affirmed, that can’t happen so much in lockdown, nobody to stare at you in the street, nobody to be uncomfortable when you use the ladies loos and changing rooms. So what’s the point, right?

I have noticed a lot more affirmation-seeking on FB though - someone briefly added me to a dress manufacturer customer group (fuck knows why as I don’t wear or post about dresses!) and in the time I was on there I kept seeing so much sucking up to men posting about their latest purchases. The comments were far, far more cloying than on women’s photos. About how envious they were of their legs etc. I honestly could have worked out which posts were from which sex without looking at the photos.

Maybe lockdown doesn’t affect adult men so much because they can get their kicks that way online.

(Sorry if derailing, I’ve not finished reading the thread yet)

Ygritte I was actually really disappointed when in Scotland the First Minister announced that instead of blended learning, schools will go back full time in August. Nothing to do with Corona for me, just wishing DD could ease back into school a bit more.

I suspect court cases are the only thing that will halt it, sadly.

My point was that maybe without the constant onslaught of school and peer pressure these girls feel able to relax and not "perform" for their class mates and friendship groups. I think I'd be looking at home education if my dd was going down the transitioning route and I found she had desisted during lockdown.

DuDuDu My initial knee jerk reaction was that we should pull her but DD really doesn’t want to change schools because she finally has a little group of girls she’s friends with. The school no longer affirms her as a boy and if she were to change, we’d be starting all over with the fight to not affirm at the new school (they are very pro affirmation here). It’s all such a mess with the schools.

Oh and dd is at an all girls school no not even having to deal with boys at all but still seems happier.

I have noticed a huge difference in my teen dd with ASD, since lockdown. She's become massively more independent and wants to try new things. Her self care has come on in leaps and bounds and her attitude to the on line school work is hugely improved, she'd avoid it at all costs at the beginning, tears and meltdowns. She has started taking an interest in her appearance and clothes etc. I have wondered if without the pressure of school to process she is now able to think about other things and not have to shut down to let her mind deal with that. It's as though there is room for other things to be thought about, more head space. I'm in no rush for schools to go back tbh.