Times article Stop forcing stereotypes onto girls

[BovaryX]

I couldn't see this posted, will remove if there is existing thread. There is an article in the Times which states in light of new guidelines, teachers are not to use regressive gender stereotypes and allow girls and boys to play however they like without assuming they are 'trans.' It says that the guidelines are maybe a response to advice from a certain charity.

Girls who dress or play in ways that could be considered tomboyish should not be told that they may have a different gender identity, teachers have been instructed. Guidelines issued to schools by the government on Friday stated that boys and girls should never be led to believe that their preferences mean that their personalities or their bodies are wrong.The guidance, published by the Department for Education and Skills, has been altered since last year, when it simply stated: “Gender identity should be explored at a timely point and in a clear, sensitive and respectful manner.”

Also see Mermaids statement in the article:

“ Mermaids said that it would be unaffected as it did not offer resources in England and Wales.”

No sessions or resources to teachers? really?

Share token here:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4327cd62-00eb-11eb-8b8a-e4fda883fd06?shareToken=718c545e0c0cdf4965982875aa234158

It also quotes Stephanie- Davis- Arai as saying 'We welcome this clarity and hope schools take note.' Good that the Times is reporting this, great that Liz Truss has responded to a grassroots campaign to get this damaging influence in schools challenged.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/let-girls-be-tomboys-says-gender-guidance-mnvzmxcq2

I’d like to hear from mermaids what they are doing with all the money that’s been shoved their way

They keep insisting they haven’t done the things we said they did

OK then, tell us what you have been doing

Thank you for the share token. So denial that they ran any training sessions or proferred advice and materials? That's an interesting response. Memory hole cranked up to maximum volume.

Is Mermaids going to survive this? They definitely shouldn't. But in a world where facts don't matter, they are seen as the good guys, and the government are seen as fascists... I fear they could keep hanging on, buoyed by the twitterati and woke celebs. What will put paid to them is their funding being stopped. I hope that happens soon.

Mermaids as an idea is a good one but its emphasis on trans children means it has become mired in it's own lack of clear vision and thought.

The organisations needs a complete overhaul with good safeguarding and oversite. If the organisation focused on sexual orientation in a balanced knowledgeable way, it would be a valuable resource for parents and children.

What are the chances????

Except, the name Mermaids is feminine, and that is also an issue

What is the idea of Mermaids? I thought it was all about trans children. Surely that would have to be a very small and highly specialised concern, at most? Or is there some other reason for their existence?

Mermaids are still singing their song eh? I wonder if all the money will stop rolling in. I suspect they will kick harder and focus on the US/Canada money. Kids Company moment coming?

Thanks @BovaryX @rogdmum

Seeing common sense in mainstream news is .... is... just... breathe. so uplifting

@rogdmum do you think mainstream exposure will help ROGD kids?

If mermaids are agreeing with all this now and doing a reverse ferret are they also going to explain why their trainer talked about clownfish and intersex people?

Kids Company moment is imminent, I think.

@Datun

If mermaids are agreeing with all this now and doing a reverse ferret are they also going to explain why their trainer talked about clownfish and intersex people?

And some of the statements were just a joke. Now considering the numbers of young people who have autism that go along this route - isn’t one aspect a literal reading of things (ie jokes not being particularly understood as not literal). So telling porkies or insensitive and ignorant of their audience?

Did anyone from kids company get charged with anything? Or banned from running an organisation or something like that? Did their cheerleaders ever apologise or try to make good?

@SerenityNowwwww not heard anything. If there are prosecutions, they are a long time coming. Charities commision will have barred people from forming future charities.

Government wont want this spotlighted again, it shows how daft they were. However, I was sad because it was such a good idea

I wonder whether there have been no court actions, because any court action against KC would have aired the dirty laundry of all the organisations that were falling over themselves to support a financially unstable entity, including a £3m grant from the Govt less than a week before it folded - given against the advice of officials.

I worked as a solicitor, and my firm's managing partner was desperate to get involved with KC, because they were the "charity du jour", without having any personal knowledge of what they did and certainly not giving a monkeys about the children it purported to help. It was all public relations.

I have felt that with Mermaids, history has been repeated, and lessons not learned. Corporates are always desperate to jump a good cause bandwagon to make themselves look good, and are never there sticking up for their previously sponsored cause when it all goes wrong.

In reaction to this mornings Times article Jo Maugham has decided that the good law project will take action to ensure that trans children get fast access to psychological support (which I don't think anyone here would deny them) except for hes doing it with the express aim that they should be able to access puberty blockers quicker which he has declared "reversible" in spite of NHS guidance.

He is also alleging that JKR is a "hobbyist" who has made thousands of childrens lives more difficult. At least JKR doesn't get the most basic facts about blockers wrong

twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1310476382732988416

The Kids Company investigation is rolling on: Alan Yentob is being brought before the Court in October and others will follow. The Charity Commission won’t publish its report into Kids Company until these Insolvency cases are heard. It seems to be taking forever. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8677757/amp/BBCs-Alan-Yentob-faces-barred-TV-autumn-legal-wrangle.html

Maugham is unhinged, isn't he? How can anyone in their right mind be advocating for children to be given dangerous, life-changing drugs?

Anyway, I think this could be the end of the road for Mermaids. What school will take advice or training from then in the wake of the new DfE guidance? And once schools can no longer use them, then others (parents, NHS trusts etc) will presumably shun them too.

Looking forward to a mass reverse ferret by the likes of Emma Watson et al.

Mermaids as an idea is a good one

Trans children are an adult experiment.

The very concept that children can be trans is abusive to children.

I agree with Jo M that children should have better access to mental health support. My agree,ent stops there. The tone of the texts indicates a personal connection there. He seems to be rushing in whilst Mermaids is retreating and promising that the Good Law Project will be looking at it. It is going to be interesting.

Anyway, I think this could be the end of the road for Mermaids.

Not yet, I fear. They still have a lot of money to do something and while English schools may avoid them if they don’t manage to reposition themselves as they are trying to, what about the likes of their ‘colleagues’ at the police?

And then there is Scotland...

Maugham is unhinged, isn't he? How can anyone in their right mind be advocating for children to be given dangerous, life-changing drugs?

Watching these people utterly confuse themselves is so frustrating.

On the one hand, they want to decide that being trans is like being gay, coming out, being accepted by society, coming to terms with one's own sense of who one is, amidst 'bigotry and prejudice'.

And on the other, want to medicate children, for what they perceive as a psychological condition.

Why have all these children got gender dysphoria?

It's nothing like, why are all these children gay?

The government announcements will go some way to detaching LGB, from the T. It was a political move, and is still confusing people like Maugham.

Why are these irresponsible men on Twitter talking about medicalising a response to society? It's infuriating.

@Datun

Why are these irresponsible men on Twitter talking about medicalising a response to society? It's infuriating.

I think that is key. Particularly because of the fact there has been a 4,000 percent increase in girls presenting for reassignment. The question which should be asked is what is happening to adolescent girls to make them feel so uncomfortable in their own skin? Part of the answer might be the suffocating female stereotypes which dominate the cultural landscape in the 21st century...