Transgender children:

[Greengardenpixie]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32037397

This just doesnt seem right. Can this mother be right in letting her child dress as a girl? Just seems a little young to be making this decision! Or am i wrong? Please discuss this with me!

Btw, this kind of is in my mind atm because my ds has two sisters and he is 7 and frequently dresses up with them as princess's and most recently much argument was had with my dh regarding him wanting a sofia amulet [mostly for girls] and he has wanted his nails painted in the past. I just regard this is normal because he has two sisters but my dh thinks this will lead to him becoming efemminate.

What is wrong with being effeminate?

Is that the problem nowadays - there is no division? Should there be a division? Or should we all act the same way - male and female? Are children now confused by this? Men are different from women biologically, is that where it should end? I really dont know, hence why i raised this!

This article concerns me. I think mostly because i wonder if children are mature enough to make a decision about what sex they should be?

Greengarden - it's a difficult problem and I share your concern. But I agree with the principle of letting a child express themselves however they want, in terms of clothing and toys. Did you see the recent Louis Theroux documentary on the subject of transgender kids? It's an eye opener and worth watching. It's probably still on iplayer.

Thanks for that, i will have a look on iplayer for it :) I totally agree with you about letting children express themselves and that is what i do with my son but to me, its a whole different ball game in this article.
I dont want to offend anyone. Infact, it would be interesting to hear about anyone who has a transgender child.

There are interesting threads running on this in other subjects and the feminist section if you want to take a look.

It's really not about just letting your child dress as a girl. It runs much deeper than that.

It's an incredibly complex thing that I don't think anyone could even come close to understanding unless they or their child have been through it themselves.

Sadly you will see that a lot of people seem to dismiss it as "just a phase" or use the old "what if they're just effeminate boys who grow up to be gay". It's not the same. Gender and sexuality are not the same.