Great article. BTW I think you’re me, down to the aversion to certain noises (look into misophonia).
But anyway, my theory is a little kinder. I’ve always thought that women pushed these theories partly because we’re so damned nice and hate to think that we’d be exclusionary. We know what it feels like to not be physically able to do something; we’ve been in places that made us uncomfortable but we stayed anyway... Most of us (maybe especially if we’re mothers) never want to contribute to someone else having to feel left out.
But I do like your theory about teachers. Their self righteousness and (sometimes) false sense of intellectual acumen sort of place them perfectly for the role of fervent gender apostles.
You’ve made a lot of interesting points as have your commenters. There’s a lot to consider here. As I’ve written about some of these points, I’ve come to wonder if part of the motivation isn’t the same as that motivating women who push their young girls into beauty pageants. As a psychologist, I find the whole thing as fascinating as it is disturbing.
Well, you may be hitting the core of gender nonconformity in uncovering the /conformist/ teacher mindset. (Now I’ll channel my old elementary teacher brain:) “She” (or could be he, as I am a he, so ..) do not have the intuition to grasp where she lives intellectually: inside a sensate template of a world where all incoming students must learn role-taking (psychological phase), take turns, line up, be patient, all of which gives kids essential human skills, to get along for the rest of their lives! Sorry for all the parentheses. I felt like such a square peg with what my wife called “the igloo maker” teachers, ones who cut igloos from foam board for kids to stick on glitter, those who stress doing doing doing, not knowing knowing knowing. Procedural knowledge versus declarative knowledge. So while kids in those classes danced, made dioramas, grew plants, had authors’ chair, and just fun, lots of FUN! they weren’t necessarily encouraged to evaluate or think like individuals. I wonder if igloo making teachers don’t constantly clutch onto “stuff to do” and force kids to work together, instead of letting kids just have sacred downtime. Their hunger for nonstop “stuff to do” ugh. These teachers, I think, love pronouncing that kids who don’t or won’t conform must be born into the wrong bodies, but it serves the conformist teachers’ appetite for standing out and resisting that gender binary and going with the trendy and spicy NON-BINARY, which to me, ain’t a thing. Kids gonna present all spectrum-y anyway. I say all of this without any science-y basis. I just don’t believe in “wrong body” shit. That’s yet another genderbread oops-admission that sex is binary. Ha. Sorry for blathering. Ok, hitting send! Yikes!
Yes, you do post about your moral disgust with gay people on quite a few Substacks. I’m sorry other adults’ choices to love people of the same-sex upset you so much. It’s interesting that none of these Substacks that you post to are anti-gay, yet you continue posting your anti- gay messages. What I care about is the indoctrination and medicalization of troubled kids who are probably pre-gay. Leaving their bodies alone and living as gay is a desirable outcome, in my opinion.
I mentioned adults living others of the same sex. No pedo in that phrase or concept. You’re mistaken that children only become gay if adults “teach” them to be, and you’re clearly not open to any challenges to your strongly held beliefs, so I don’t know why I bothered reacting to you.
Great article. BTW I think you’re me, down to the aversion to certain noises (look into misophonia).
But anyway, my theory is a little kinder. I’ve always thought that women pushed these theories partly because we’re so damned nice and hate to think that we’d be exclusionary. We know what it feels like to not be physically able to do something; we’ve been in places that made us uncomfortable but we stayed anyway... Most of us (maybe especially if we’re mothers) never want to contribute to someone else having to feel left out.
But I do like your theory about teachers. Their self righteousness and (sometimes) false sense of intellectual acumen sort of place them perfectly for the role of fervent gender apostles.
Misophonia is my middle name
You’ve made a lot of interesting points as have your commenters. There’s a lot to consider here. As I’ve written about some of these points, I’ve come to wonder if part of the motivation isn’t the same as that motivating women who push their young girls into beauty pageants. As a psychologist, I find the whole thing as fascinating as it is disturbing.
Well, you may be hitting the core of gender nonconformity in uncovering the /conformist/ teacher mindset. (Now I’ll channel my old elementary teacher brain:) “She” (or could be he, as I am a he, so ..) do not have the intuition to grasp where she lives intellectually: inside a sensate template of a world where all incoming students must learn role-taking (psychological phase), take turns, line up, be patient, all of which gives kids essential human skills, to get along for the rest of their lives! Sorry for all the parentheses. I felt like such a square peg with what my wife called “the igloo maker” teachers, ones who cut igloos from foam board for kids to stick on glitter, those who stress doing doing doing, not knowing knowing knowing. Procedural knowledge versus declarative knowledge. So while kids in those classes danced, made dioramas, grew plants, had authors’ chair, and just fun, lots of FUN! they weren’t necessarily encouraged to evaluate or think like individuals. I wonder if igloo making teachers don’t constantly clutch onto “stuff to do” and force kids to work together, instead of letting kids just have sacred downtime. Their hunger for nonstop “stuff to do” ugh. These teachers, I think, love pronouncing that kids who don’t or won’t conform must be born into the wrong bodies, but it serves the conformist teachers’ appetite for standing out and resisting that gender binary and going with the trendy and spicy NON-BINARY, which to me, ain’t a thing. Kids gonna present all spectrum-y anyway. I say all of this without any science-y basis. I just don’t believe in “wrong body” shit. That’s yet another genderbread oops-admission that sex is binary. Ha. Sorry for blathering. Ok, hitting send! Yikes!
And female librarians! The middle aged librarian at my school just can’t put enough pro-trans books on the shelf. I think it gives her a frisson.
Get a life and some antipsychotics.
Yes, you do post about your moral disgust with gay people on quite a few Substacks. I’m sorry other adults’ choices to love people of the same-sex upset you so much. It’s interesting that none of these Substacks that you post to are anti-gay, yet you continue posting your anti- gay messages. What I care about is the indoctrination and medicalization of troubled kids who are probably pre-gay. Leaving their bodies alone and living as gay is a desirable outcome, in my opinion.
I mentioned adults living others of the same sex. No pedo in that phrase or concept. You’re mistaken that children only become gay if adults “teach” them to be, and you’re clearly not open to any challenges to your strongly held beliefs, so I don’t know why I bothered reacting to you.