Anyone else hearing of backlash against trans ideology among their teens?

[KnittingDiva]

My 14 year old DS has been telling me that among his age group now there is no tolerance for Trans/NB TikTok influencers and that they are being ridiculed etc..

This is a very different attitude than when my older two (17 and 19) were at that age and it was the start of that trend and they would have been overtly respectful on that issue (would have avoided it mostly but not ridicule).

It seems it is now seen as being an 'older' person trying to be cool with the kids and a bit creepy.

Anyone else noticed this change or is it just here (Rep of Ireland)?

There have been trans women on TikTok ridiculing tampons « where does that go? Does that go inside you?! » which there has been lot of backlash about.

There have also been trans women on TikTok who have claimed to have a period. When called out on this, with people saying a period is shedding uterine lining, they have sought to redefine language to say they do have a period (mood swings etc) but don’t menstruate.

Its really upsetting.

I think you might be confused about who is guilty of bullying in this situation. Teenagers, like everyone else, must be fed up to the back teeth with cancel culture and demands to pander to attention seeking behaviour. Also, like most adults, teenagers are likely to be pretty live and let live but must find the constant policing of language and pronoun/name changes exhausting.

The ideology deserves to be ridiculed. Attention seeking individuals should be ignored rather than indulged at the expense of everyone else's mental well being.

This is sickening.

@Mykittensmittens sorry to @ you. My holding position is no compelled speech and no agreeing to hormones, surgery or saying she's a boy. At 14 you've got some space for the madness to subside. Dd is 16 and I'm very worried.

DD13 is at a girls school and she and her friends refer to the “they/thems” in pitying tones…by all accounts it seems to be the girls who are unpopular/overweight/unhappy that get captured by the ideology. It is NOT seen as aspirational, more something to be pitied.

@Tiggernpoo This is my experience too. DD thinks only the uncool kids are into the Trans trend. I can see why. As a PP has said, they get the attention/validation that they need and crave by following this ideology.

@Mykittensmittens I'm afraid I don't have any nuggets of wisdom, just huge amounts of sympathy. Have you read 'Irreversible Damage' by Abigail Shrier? If not, I wholeheartedly recommend it, as it's a book on the craze of teen girls wanting to change gender, why and how to combat this craziness. You should find it helpful.
Irreversible Damage: Teenage Girls and the Transgender Craze

You may find this charity helpful too:
Transgender Trend

I would be concerned if my DC were ridiculing trans and non binary children. What kind of a mum is so self-congratulatory about such bullying?

There is a girl at my son's school who wears a tail because she is a 'furry'.

Can you honestly expect 16 and 17 year old young people not to laugh at that? That girl, sorry furry, has been set up for ridicule by adults who should know better and are too scared to tell her to not be so stupid for fear of upsetting her as she pins her tail to her jeans.

A couple of observations about class and trans ideology.

Being working class and growing up in care / being at risk are not synonymous or even that overlapping.

I wonder if the working class communities where trans ideology is endemic are ones where there are a lot of publicly funded charities running youth activities of the TQ+ variety...I often see Gender Rainbow Youth Clubs, Period Poverty Initiatives etc advertising in deprived urban areas.

Wow. So many proud parents here, proud of their children bullying others.
You know a lot of these children who are trans are autistic. They don't deserve to be laughed at and ridiculed.

The OPs comments just made me think of Andrew Tate and this whole new wave of hate and misogyny.

I get the reasons you don't like the trans thing but don't be proud of kids being bullies FFS

Some people need to learn the difference between 'ridicule' and bullying.

As the great gender-non-conforming philosopher Adam Ant once said 'ridicule is nothing to be scared of'

Just horrible

My teens and their friends despise they/them as it isn’t grammatically correct apparently!

They despise them?? Really? You must be so proud

Oh aren't you brilliant!

My two older children (past teenage) have observed that all those they’ve come across who claim a trans identity are completely screwed up.

Screwed up wow

You're being deliberately obtuse now. The PP clearly mean the use of 'they/them' as a singular pronoun.

Yes you can laugh at them behind their backs

Great parenting

I think the poster meant that their teens despise the terms 'they / them' rather than the people whose pronouns they are.

Her teens despise the poor grammar, not the people.

Perhaps read a little more carefully before wading in? I realise the poor grammar IS confusing, which is why so many of us despise it.

That is really interesting.

@Radi06music I guess comprehension isn’t your strong point. Have one of these for free 🙄. I was saying that I could understand why kids who are suffering for the various reasons stated, are seduced by an ideology which gives them the attention that they need and crave.

*Her teens despise the poor grammar, not the people.

Perhaps read a little more carefully before wading in? I realise the poor grammar IS confusing, which is why so many of us despise it.*

Yes I realise that now. Easy to make the mistake with all the other posts full of proud parents who's children are congratulated for hating other kids

@Radi06music I guess comprehension isn’t your strong point. Have one of these for free 🙄.

Yes I'm really thick. You can ridicule me if it gives you pleasure

What does my IQ have to do with anything? I don't understand your posts. Are you wilfully misunderstanding other posters or just trolling? Where has anyone said that their child is bullying anyone else? Mine certainly does not.

@maranella thank you. I knew about the website but not the book; which I will order now.

the question is, what do we DO? Change schools? Remove access to social media? Risk pushing her away? At the moment I’m doing a spectacular performance of June Whitfield in ab-fab and just saying ‘yes dear’ all the time. But I want to challenge this, irrefutably.

sorry, derailing. I really should start a thread for help but I’m not sure where to post it. If I put it on the teens board I’m worried I’ll get a load of ‘be more accepting’ stuff.