Daniel Radcliffe again

No, LouiseandSophie is a woman who liked ‘boy’ things when she was young (so did I), and her parents accepted that and let her grow up unharmed by sex stereotyping! So did mine. Thank god.

@Louiseandsophie There is no “biological gender”.

I didn’t realise Daniel’s wife /partner is due to give birth sometime soon. I’ll be really interested to see if using car seats and stair gates / cutting up chewy food / not letting toddlers run around near ponds and rivers or play with matches / going to school in the correct uniform etc will all be seen as “condescending” in his eyes because, y’know, kids can make their own decisions.

Or whether DR will regret everything he’s ever said about children once the full responsibility and sheer terror of parenting lands on him.

When you mean sex, just say sex, @Louiseandsophie

I’ve become extremely suspicious of the motives of adults who argue for the [insert your own adjective here] ‘liberation of children’

Just the glaring entitlement to be pronouncing on an issue Radcliffe clearly knows fuck all about. The glaring lack of critical thinking. The incautious wish to adultify and venerate every young child who says the magic word ‘trans’.

What is Daniel Radcliffe, (or the adults who have persuaded him this is a good idea), getting out of him trying to be a figurehead for transitioning of young kids?

I mean biological gender.

I mean, do whatever, like whatever, just enjoy your life.. I have a DS and DD, they played with trucks and Barbie's, both dressed in pink and blue... Sometimes DS would dress as a princess, DD would be a Builder... Stereotypes, stereotyped roles, colours... I didn't care.. they're very much 'stereotypical' boy and girl now... I just let them be kids.. they were and are happy and do what they like to do...

Hm. Interesting question. I wonder.

I don't think a parent should decide their child's gender

May I ask what you mean by gender in this comment?

I didn't like dresses until I was in my 20s, I climbed trees and built Lego, I did play with Barbie/Sindy dolls but mostly when my brother was there too with his Action Man and the giant tank... My parents let us both be kids and supported our choices without stereotyping, but at the same time they were aware that I was biologically a girl and my brother was a boy. Our choices of toys and clothing would have had no impact on this biological knowledge for them.

However, if we follow the logic that Daniel is supporting.. and if I'd been told at school in RHSE/story time that I could be a different "gender" to match how I felt (the clothes I wore, the toys I played with), I could well imagine that being attractive to me. Particularly during my awkward teenage phase where I never felt attractive as a girl. And in this context "gender" is now more important than biological sex for many children, hence them requesting hormones of the opposite sex in the belief that it will fix their problems.

I wonder if Radcliffe being an actor has anything to do with his views. After all, he did persuade us all he was a wizard and he clearly is not. I read a critique by an actor of those of us who say 'acting is pretending to be something you are not'. He said it's finding that character within yourself, we all have the murderer, the charmer, the fool deep within us and an actor has to find that and bring it out.

I'm not sure what point I am making really, apart from Radcliffe, as an actor since childhood, has a skewed view of reality. As we can see.

We are all born the sex we are. Nothing can change that.

To encourage and enable children to believe that they are born in the wrong sex because they don't conform to gender stereotypes is appalling.

It might sound wonderfully progressive and child-centred but the reality is they will feel compelled to begin an experimental, brutal medical regimen against their biological reality.

It's lazy and dangerous thinking. It's taking an ideological stand in the face of science and facts. It's betraying children and young people and subjecting them to physical harm.

How about encouraging true freedom of thought and freedom of expression Daniel? So that every child is able
to feel of value and worth within the immutable reality of their own bodies.

When Daniel was 12, was he in charge of his own film contract or was a parent dealing with the lawyers etc?

When my DD was small around 3 or 4 she asked me when she was going to grow a willy. I said you won't because you are a girl. She also like pretending to be Spiderman. If she did that these days a stupid parent would probably assume she was trans. Instead of a girl who has a brother and likes superheroes.

I'm so disappointed (but not surprised) that even when children show him that they are making these decisions based upon stereotypes and don't understand the difference between accepting reality and rejecting it in favour of a fantasy, that he cannot see they are too young.

Why don't we let children get tattoos, Daniel? They know who they are.

@Louiseandsophie

Might go to school dressed as a boy or a girl

I think a lot of the issue around "dressing like a girl" are that it reinforces the stereotypes that we're trying to move away from.

I always liked the way Izzard phrased it before he went off the deep end: They're not women's clothes, they're my clothes!

Daley added: 'I don't understand why I can't just decide that I'm a girl. If it's a big decision to decide I'm a girl, it's a big decision to decide I'm a boy.'

This child is 11. Surely their parents would have told them when they can’t just decide they are a girl/ aged 25/ different race/ a dog/ born into an incredibly wealthy family/ a child prodigy.

We learn, from guidance of our parents and other adults around us that the circumstances of our birth, our genetics and our heritage are unchangeable. There would be no kindness is telling a child they could just decide to be any of those things as it’s not physically possible.

It’s so galling to hear a feckless adult nod along to fantasy rather than show real kindness and be honestly with children. Especially when we know what the consequences are.

"please keep talking about me". When he watches his partner having a baby, maybe he'll learn some biological reality.

Seriously, this child doesn’t understand why they can’t ‘decide to be a girl’? Has nobody mentioned the actual differences between the sexes? The reproductive role? The huge overlap in mental ability and personality? The much wider gap in physical ability, post puberty? The impossibility of switching anything but superficial aspects of appearance? (OK , you might need shorter words for an 11 year old, and possibly also for Daniel.)

Daniel is an actor, talking to a child. Both think ‘you are who you believe you are’ is a useful, even vital mantra for their life. Hey ho.

My nearly 11 year old spent yesterday pretending to be a dog. She’d have little idea what trans is and I’m hoping to keep her a child for a little longer without any of this being pushed on her.

Daley added: 'I don't understand why I can't just decide that I'm a girl. If it's a big decision to decide I'm a girl, it's a big decision to decide I'm a boy.'

exactly! We KNOW you don't understand why! That's our whole point! Jfc.

I learned out of the cradle that I was a boy: "I should like blue, I should like sports, I should be manly, I should like superheroes".'
As Radcliffe nodded, she continued: 'And I never associated myself with those things and we are told that we are not old enough to know this yet.

GC people: "the stereotypes are wrong".
TRAs and Daniel Radcliffe: "your body is wrong".

Acknowledging that adults sometimes know better than children is not condescension, it's parenting and safeguarding. It's why we set bedtimes, make them eat vegetables, go to school, tell them not to go with the man to see his puppies and, sometimes, that it's impossible for humans to change sex so not to rush into having their breasts and genitals removed.

Ive kinda met him…I’d describe him as not a very people person - awkward, shy, not great around strangers…. He is very much a champion for young peoples causes, but as a figurehead…. at least that was true when I met him about 5 years ago.

However, had I met him more recently, i would have shared with him the issues that ‘trans’ is but a symptom of. I know first hand that it’s a warning sign of a young person in a mental health crisis, in a downward spiral that can lead to suicide. I supported my child in her choices (glad that she wasn’t asking for blockers or hinders yet) but it served no purpose for her unhappiness or attempts to find a place for herself. It only served to provide a barrier for support from those she loved. 3 suicide attempts later, counselling, and the distancing of an activist teacher at her school, she finally became a different person, returned to being female. we accepted her new name she chose, just thanking god she got through it all intact.

what I’d say to anyone who supports trans in teenagers - you’re being naive and mis diagnosing most children in need - denying them help. Do you give an alcoholic more alcohol, a gambler more money, a druggie more more drugs. No you help. Reinforcing trans in 99.9% of kids - is child neglect or worse abuse.

i say this as a parent who supported their trans kid. And nearly lost them.

It is absolutely awful what is being done to little kids and when this does all collapse - which it will - I really hope people like Radcliffe will be held accountable.

In the meantime, I am willing to compromise. If you are dead set on this horrible course of action, at the very least can it be restricted to just your own kid and keep this crap out of schools.

Are you suggesting that liking things not stereotypically matching their sex makes a child trans?

Surely to "let kids be kids" means saying "you're a boy who likes Barbies, that's fine, like whatever you like" instead of "you're a male who likes Barbies, so you must a a girl in the wrong body".?