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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Meeting with Social Worker and GC(ish) discussion

10 replies

namechangedDoris · 05/03/2020 22:23

Name changed, I am GC but for privacy (and some shame) I cannot be outed.

I've had to have some dealings with a social worker recently due to some family mental health reasons. I won't go in to that, it's not a social services case so I guess in theory could be talked about, but it's irrelevant to this.
[I would like to say though that the SW I've been dealing with has been incredible, I know they get a bad rep at times].

Anyway, she had asked me to have another meeting next week, but I said I couldn't because I was speaking at an event for IWD (no, not the 'big one' Grin!). She asked me how I was feeling about that, I said anxious, because I knew my topic but as there would be work people there I would have to choose my words carefully.

She asked why, and I gave her a mild brief on my GC beliefs. She was curious, and asked me a few questions. She wasn't aware of the male rapists self-ID-ing in to women's sports, or all the other issues regarding sports, honours awards etc, but I think she clicked on to what I was saying. She brought up Dawn Butler's statement about babies, and gave me an interesting story about a non-Western group of people (I should look this up) - some 'tribe' - where there are many intersex children being born, but they let the child evolve naturally and during puberty it becomes obvious which sex they were. She then went on to say that she fully disagreed with children having the choice to be medically altered - she was very concerned about the recent trend to be 'trans' and she thought it was due, for girls, to the extreme stereotyping enforced by the media. She suggested that this might be the 'new anorexia'.

I don't think she is a reader of the Times, Spectator, MumsNet FWR as she wasn't aware of Karen White. I think she came up with this thinking all by herself.

So, under her own steam, something I suspect she's not paid to do, she said she was setting up a 'girls only' support group for girls under her care to connect with their bodies by getting them outdoors, making sure they engage physical activities which teach them to appreciate and nurture their strength and capability.

I know that this is a small story but to me it was powerful nonetheless. My DD possesses most of the mental health and disorder(s) which may well easily progress to a referral to GIDS; so it's refreshing that there are SWs out there who are critical of that.

OP posts:
namechangedDoris · 05/03/2020 22:24

*She wasn't aware of the male rapists self-ID-ing in to women's prisons, not sports!

OP posts:
LangClegsOpinionIsNoted · 05/03/2020 22:27

Amazing op, well done. That's a sterling days work!

namechangedDoris · 05/03/2020 22:36

I didn't do anything that but thanks anyway LangClegs :-).

Just a point really about how we might not all be full blown GC - but there are people out there making good, independent, evidence-based personal decisions on how to safe-guard children.

OP posts:
LangClegsOpinionIsNoted · 05/03/2020 22:39

Well that's a good thought to go to sleep on, at least. I'll take it!

namechangedDoris · 05/03/2020 22:48

Yes, it's why I posted here. And obviously over the moon that we have a SW who thinks this way! :-)

OP posts:
littlbrowndog · 05/03/2020 22:52

💪💪🌹great work

Lollygaggles · 05/03/2020 22:54

That is such a positive story, well done you. Every voice counts.

GodwinsRulebook · 07/03/2020 15:23

Thank you for posting such a heartening story - in the midst of the gloom around women being de-centred from IWD.

OhHolyJesus · 07/03/2020 15:29

It might have been this tribe she was talking about. Notice the opinion and how it's noted how this tribe was studied in 1974.

All were still either girls or boys but developed differently from other groups which is interesting.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34290981

This is reassuring OP, thanks for sharing.

LanguLangWeetabixsavager · 07/03/2020 15:48

There are more of us than you think (!) and we're quietly doing things to make positive changes. The safeguarding aspect hits hard in social care. they still make us do wanky training though which we roll our eyes at and invite us to share our pronouns, I pretended not to understand and went for me/I

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