Children's science book from 2002

[IckyPop]

I was flicking through a children's pocket science book from 2002 that a friend had passed on to me as her kids are teenagers now, and I happened upon this page.
I thought how refreshing to have basic facts about biology and society's influence on male and female behaviour. Then I thought, fuck, how is it that in 2020 this kind of text would potentially been as controversial!
It's a bit of a pointless thread, but it just made me feel despairing of our current times.

I like the descendents of British immigrants with their roast dinner in the middle of summer

Of course, this is where we have all been going wrong, getting our science from a children's book
it's all so, so much more complex than we have realised....

I don’t know - we are still told how women behave depends on where they are bought up. Consider northern women...

@StillWeRise

I like the descendents of British immigrants with their roast dinner in the middle of summer

That was a bit random! Nice illustration

@StillWeRise

Of course, this is where we have all been going wrong, getting our science from a children's book it's all so, so much more complex than we have realised....

🤦‍♀️ of course! Silly us!

@Aesopfable

I don’t know - we are still told how women behave depends on where they are bought up. Consider northern women...

I read it as men and women have different behavioural stereotypes due to societies' expectations or perceptions of what is masculine or feminine.

I read it as men and women have different behavioural stereotypes due to societies' expectations or perceptions of what is masculine or feminine.

I was referencing a BACP booklet on gender produced by a TRA that stated that women were emotional, illogical, passive, tender, other ridiculous stereotypes - apart from northern women who are aggressive.

My daughter went to a rural school (outside the UK) for a year, before going to university. I took her and spent a day there before dropping her off. I was truly delighted to see some rather ancient posters on the walls, which explained all about biological sex and chromosomes, and had detailed diagrams of the female and male reproductive systems.

@Aesopfable

I read it as men and women have different behavioural stereotypes due to societies' expectations or perceptions of what is masculine or feminine.

I was referencing a BACP booklet on gender produced by a TRA that stated that women were emotional, illogical, passive, tender, other ridiculous stereotypes - apart from northern women who are aggressive.

That's outrageous! I hadn't seen that. I'm gobsmacked!

I actually bought an old children's encyclopedia set from my childhood (not this one) exactly for this reason. It gives a no-nonsense, clear explanation of biology without the insertion of personal politics.

@Aesopfable

I read it as men and women have different behavioural stereotypes due to societies' expectations or perceptions of what is masculine or feminine.

I was referencing a BACP booklet on gender produced by a TRA that stated that women were emotional, illogical, passive, tender, other ridiculous stereotypes - apart from northern women who are aggressive.

was that anything to do the with tra campaign group up north that were making demands for training so they could do their own surgeries or am I confusing campaigns?

"Whether trans or cisgender, intersex or not, many people identify as
women. However, what this means varies a great deal depending on their other intersecting attributes. It is important not to assume, for example, that being a woman necessarily involves being able to bear children, or having XX sex chromosomes, or breasts. Being a woman in a British cultural context often means adhering to social norms of femininity, such as being nurturing, caring, social, emotional, vulnerable, and concerned with appearance.
However, of course, not all women adhere to all these things. For example some neurodiverse women (on the autistic/aspergic/ADHD spectrums) may struggle to express emotions, or with social situations. In some northern working-class contexts femininity is associated with strength and aggression. ...."

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3339137-BACP-Gender-Sexual-and-Relationship-Diversity-by-Dr-Meg-John-Barker

The link in that thread to the document seems to have gone.

www.bacp.co.uk/media/5877/bacp-gender-sexual-relationship-diversity-gpacp001-april19.pdf

@gardenbird48, no, you're thinking of Edinburgh Action on Trans Health and their manifesto. Anyone who used to enjoy Dave Spart in Private Eye will recognise the tone.

edinburghath.tumblr.com/post/163521055802/trans-health-manifesto

There's a long preamble and then we get to the lengthy list of demands.

There will be no clinics, and no authorities. We will conduct our own research, and experiment with our own bodies. We will heal and grow together. We will accumulate knowledge and share it freely and accessibly. We demand nothing less than the total abolition of the clinic, of psychiatry, and of the medical-industrial complex. We demand an end to capitalist & colonialist “medicine”.

We demand hormones & blockers are made available over-the-counter and by free prescription upon request. We need free, universal access to safe hormones & blockers at any age, the opportunity to decide our own doses, and universally accessible information on the safety & efficacy of different regimens. We are already taking hormones in this way, so this demand is simply that the danger of doing so is effectively mitigated.

We demand that all therapies that can be are made available at drop-ins, with self-referral for any therapy or procedure for which drop-in is unsuitable.

We demand anonymous blood tests, both postal & at drop-in endocrinology clinics, where we can seek the advice of a consultant if we wish.

We demand the freedom to alter our bodies without justification. We demand an end to all surgical prerequisites - nobody should have to prove life experience,health or have to be taking hormones in order to exercise bodily autonomy. We demand that these surgeries can be highly customised to meet our individual & unique needs. We demand the right to multiple surgeries, including reversal of previous surgeries if desired, so that we do not have to fear regret. We demand the free & timely provision of genital surgeries, additive & reductive chest surgeries, hysterectomies and orchiectomies, tracheal & vocal surgeries, facial surgeries, lipoplasty, contouring & microdermabrasion, surgical hair removal & transplantation, and any other possible procedure to meet our needs as we express them.

We demand resources for hair removal anywhere on our bodies, and the option of local anesthetic during these procedures.
We demand voice coaching that does not coerce us to alter our voices in ways we do not express a need for, but respects our accents and our right to express ourselves however we desire.

We demand access to counselling & and any other therapies we choose.
We demand the revocation of medical licenses from all gender clinic doctors & nurses, past and present.

We demand the power to hold abusers of medical & administrative power accountable for historical & present injustices.

We demand medical training to enable us to safely carry out medical procedures & research for each other, for anyone of us who wants to learn. We will enhance our collective knowledge, so that the means to understand our bodies is universally accessible. We demand to improve the quality of medications we take and procedures we undergo, to reduce negative side-effects in the long term, and to highlight our own experience and understanding of their effects on our bodies.

We demand research centres & libraries of knowledge, autonomously & horizontally organised by and for trans people, in which research subjects are equal participants in deciding the experiments conducted & the manner in which those experiments are carried out. We demand full funding for any research or projects undertaken by these collectives.

We demand mandatory education, written & taught entirely by trans people, at all educational stages, from nursery to adulthood. Trans kids have a need to understand themselves, in the context of their own bodies, lives & experiences. We must repair the damage done by section 28, the legacy of which is still causing harm to today’s children.

We demand material reparations for historical abuses against trans people, and for all people hurt by eugenicist medical practices and policies.

We demand an end to birth certificates and to legal gender. Gender records should be anonymised, and only ever recorded as part of equalities monitoring. Neither government, nor any institution, has any justification for keeping a register of trans people. Birth certificates are not just a violence against trans people, they are a material to the state’s oppression of “undocumented” immigrants and asylum seekers.

We demand good quality, accessible & safe homes for all; and demand adquate resources to trans and marginalised people to establish communes & housing co-operatives to schemes and projects.

We demand that trans people are immediately freed from police, military & government contracts without repercussions. We reject the system of blackmail that corporations and governments engage in, whereby trans people who can work are “rewarded” with slightly less mistreatment in exchange for the exploitation of our labour. We will not allow pinkwashing of the violence of capitalism, imperialism and the state.

We demand amnesty, recourse to public funds and indefinite right to remain for all trans, lesbian, gay and bisexual immigrants & asylum seekers. No one is illegal.

We demand immediate release & pardon for all trans prisoners.

***

Oh yes that one - thank you - my mistake. I’ve got brain rot today (and have been reading too much mad stuff) - I think they were mentioned as being involved in drawing up guidelines for some big organisation a while ago.

Yes, I think you're right, which makes me very cross. I'm currently suspended on Twitter for having the temerity to say that men can't become pregnant and breastfeed, but nonsense like the above apparently qualifies the writer to advise the government, or whichever other public body it was. Gah.

OMG Usbourne Starting Point Science Volume 3 page 68.

I've bought my kids those from a charity shop years ago and just went to look it up .

ah yes, Dave Spart, he'd be what, 65 ish now? I'd be interested in his take on all this. Wonder if he'd be a late life transitioner. That would be v amusing. Private Eye are you reading me?

Poor Dave Spart. You simply cannot satirise that Action on Trans Health rant!

@Melroses

"Whether trans or cisgender, intersex or not, many people identify as women. However, what this means varies a great deal depending on their other intersecting attributes. It is important not to assume, for example, that being a woman necessarily involves being able to bear children, or having XX sex chromosomes, or breasts. Being a woman in a British cultural context often means adhering to social norms of femininity, such as being nurturing, caring, social, emotional, vulnerable, and concerned with appearance. However, of course, not all women adhere to all these things. For example some neurodiverse women (on the autistic/aspergic/ADHD spectrums) may struggle to express emotions, or with social situations. In some northern working-class contexts femininity is associated with strength and aggression. ...."

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3339137-BACP-Gender-Sexual-and-Relationship-Diversity-by-Dr-Meg-John-Barker

The link in that thread to the document seems to have gone.

[quote Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]@gardenbird48, no, you're thinking of Edinburgh Action on Trans Health and their manifesto. Anyone who used to enjoy Dave Spart in Private Eye will recognise the tone.

edinburghath.tumblr.com/post/163521055802/trans-health-manifesto

There's a long preamble and then we get to the lengthy list of demands.

There will be no clinics, and no authorities. We will conduct our own research, and experiment with our own bodies. We will heal and grow together. We will accumulate knowledge and share it freely and accessibly. We demand nothing less than the total abolition of the clinic, of psychiatry, and of the medical-industrial complex. We demand an end to capitalist & colonialist “medicine”.

We demand hormones & blockers are made available over-the-counter and by free prescription upon request. We need free, universal access to safe hormones & blockers at any age, the opportunity to decide our own doses, and universally accessible information on the safety & efficacy of different regimens. We are already taking hormones in this way, so this demand is simply that the danger of doing so is effectively mitigated.

We demand that all therapies that can be are made available at drop-ins, with self-referral for any therapy or procedure for which drop-in is unsuitable.

We demand anonymous blood tests, both postal & at drop-in endocrinology clinics, where we can seek the advice of a consultant if we wish.

We demand the freedom to alter our bodies without justification. We demand an end to all surgical prerequisites - nobody should have to prove life experience,health or have to be taking hormones in order to exercise bodily autonomy. We demand that these surgeries can be highly customised to meet our individual & unique needs. We demand the right to multiple surgeries, including reversal of previous surgeries if desired, so that we do not have to fear regret. We demand the free & timely provision of genital surgeries, additive & reductive chest surgeries, hysterectomies and orchiectomies, tracheal & vocal surgeries, facial surgeries, lipoplasty, contouring & microdermabrasion, surgical hair removal & transplantation, and any other possible procedure to meet our needs as we express them.

We demand resources for hair removal anywhere on our bodies, and the option of local anesthetic during these procedures.
We demand voice coaching that does not coerce us to alter our voices in ways we do not express a need for, but respects our accents and our right to express ourselves however we desire.

We demand access to counselling & and any other therapies we choose.
We demand the revocation of medical licenses from all gender clinic doctors & nurses, past and present.

We demand the power to hold abusers of medical & administrative power accountable for historical & present injustices.

We demand medical training to enable us to safely carry out medical procedures & research for each other, for anyone of us who wants to learn. We will enhance our collective knowledge, so that the means to understand our bodies is universally accessible. We demand to improve the quality of medications we take and procedures we undergo, to reduce negative side-effects in the long term, and to highlight our own experience and understanding of their effects on our bodies.

We demand research centres & libraries of knowledge, autonomously & horizontally organised by and for trans people, in which research subjects are equal participants in deciding the experiments conducted & the manner in which those experiments are carried out. We demand full funding for any research or projects undertaken by these collectives.

We demand mandatory education, written & taught entirely by trans people, at all educational stages, from nursery to adulthood. Trans kids have a need to understand themselves, in the context of their own bodies, lives & experiences. We must repair the damage done by section 28, the legacy of which is still causing harm to today’s children.

We demand material reparations for historical abuses against trans people, and for all people hurt by eugenicist medical practices and policies.

We demand an end to birth certificates and to legal gender. Gender records should be anonymised, and only ever recorded as part of equalities monitoring. Neither government, nor any institution, has any justification for keeping a register of trans people. Birth certificates are not just a violence against trans people, they are a material to the state’s oppression of “undocumented” immigrants and asylum seekers.

We demand good quality, accessible & safe homes for all; and demand adquate resources to trans and marginalised people to establish communes & housing co-operatives to schemes and projects.

We demand that trans people are immediately freed from police, military & government contracts without repercussions. We reject the system of blackmail that corporations and governments engage in, whereby trans people who can work are “rewarded” with slightly less mistreatment in exchange for the exploitation of our labour. We will not allow pinkwashing of the violence of capitalism, imperialism and the state.

We demand amnesty, recourse to public funds and indefinite right to remain for all trans, lesbian, gay and bisexual immigrants & asylum seekers. No one is illegal.

We demand immediate release & pardon for all trans prisoners.

***[/quote]
that is unbelievable!

@christinarossetti19

OMG Usbourne Starting Point Science Volume 3 page 68.

I've bought my kids those from a charity shop years ago and just went to look it up .

Excellent! Ours is the pocket science book so perhaps a bit condensed.

Our copy is from 1993, and the page is exactly the same as the one that you posted.

It's a bit silly. 'Bali, South East Asia' indeed.

It is not true that women do the heavy work on building sites in Indonesia. Many women do. But it is still mostly men.

Women are popular for certain labourer positions in construction in Indonesia because they will work for less pay, and because men are perceived to be less reliable.

www.vice.com/id/article/xwweda/buruh-bangunan-perempuan-penopang-surga-pariwisata-bali