I’ve NC for this. My 14 yr old daughter has been breast binding. We’ve talked about feminism and trans stuff for a while now. She was always interested in feminism, never a stereotypically “girly” girl. I hoped I was helping her see that women come in all shapes and sizes, can do what they want, look how they want. But her group have been very into gay and trans stuff, former, no prob, but usual mis information re latter - suicide and mortality stats.
Every girl around here at the local schools looks the same, I kid you not - all have long hair, centre parting, it’s scary. She has very short hair, always wears trousers at school.
So, I had a word with a few teachers/nurse at school re the binder on the basis of safeguarding. I think they’re better than most schools - agree the safety issues, work with parents etc, but one said “oh yes, we thought given that she wears trousers and doesn’t look like the other girls, that she may be questioning her gender identity”.
My heart just broke. Is there no room for girls who DON’T want to look like the prescribed image ? What are we telling our girls? There is just this ONE way to “be a girl”, and if you don’t do it right, people will think you must be ‘trans”, really a “boy”? If all around are thinking this - including whoever got her the binder - what chance does she have? I feel broken, so sad, so angry with a very dysfunctional world at the moment. I know all the stuff that is going on, have raised my kids to be themselves, ignoring stereotype, but I feel the world is against me.