Jumping right in today… I thought I’d touch on my thoughts about the whole “trans thing” happening in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be very clear, I don’t care what adults do as long as it isn’t harming another person – and I mean real<\/em> harm, not, “OMG Bob got implants and is living as a woman,” shock sorta harm. I don’t, however, feel that everyone needs to accept their “truth” and play along if they don’t want to. Adults are adults, and should be allowed to live their lives how they choose – straight, gay, and hell, even furries – you do you. But that doesn’t mean I need to embrace their lifestyle – and if your “pet” furry starts sniffing my crotch, they will be treated as an aggressor. I do believe many of the transitioned adults truly feel that way, but I also believe that many of the men just have autogynephilia<\/a> and that it isn’t their actual “truth” but them fulfilling a fetish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On to kids – I’m sure there are some who truly fall under that psychopathology, but I am also talking about the teens and pre-teens, not the little kids parents want to transition because they picked up a pink toy instead of a blue one. IMHO, those parents are just using their child for social clout and are harming their child. I feel that most of the trans kids are confused about puberty and looking for a group to belong to, and that this, like puberty, will pass after a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem is that this issue has been politicized to the point that both sides of the argument are pretty much saying, “if you aren’t with us, you’re against us,” and the unwashed masses, not wanting to be an outcast, pick a side and repeat those talking points without having any real thought or contemplation on the matter. I get it, I don’t think that biological men should be competing with biological women in sports. I don’t think biological women should be forced to share a restroom with a biological male. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are so many nuances to the discussion that it is much easier to just pick a side and go with it – but that’s not how I roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let’s get into the mud a bit and talk about the adults who are actively trying to transition kids. These adults, under the guise of being helpful are actually exhibiting predatory behavior. That’s not to say that all of them are necessarily trying to take advantage of them sexually, but trying to sequester the kids away from their parents and force feed an ideology that commits them to a long path in life that would likely be considered a normal speed-bump in growing up to get them permanently on “your side” IS<\/em> predatory behavior. They argue that they are trying to protect trans youth from unsupportive parents, but the reality is they are trying to recruit soldiers in their culture war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what is all this bitching good for if no solutions are offered? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s my take, and both sides will hate me for this: let kids transition, but only socially transition – no medical intervention for minors. Some will say doing that is cruel because then the child will develop physical features they don’t want, but that’s been a fact of life since the beginning of time, and when the child is an adult, they can decide for themselves what medical treatments they want. While I’m very reluctant to cede authority to the government in the form of new laws or regulations, this could be accomplished by just making any elective surgery for adults only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One side will certainly say that chemical or surgical transition is medically necessary for the mental well-being of the child, but again, it’s only in the last few years that medical transitioning has been popularized. Humans have grown up for millennia without hormone injections or puberty blockers – the children can wait a few years to get through puberty and make their own decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other side will certainly scoff at the idea of letting children socially transition, but that’s something that has been done for millennia as well. All the teens throughout history have gone through the same physical and biological changes, and during that period in life have looked to peer groups and social circles for support and acceptance. And throughout all of history, there were other kids that made fun of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So now that I’ve pissed off both sides of the issue, here’s why: kids are gonna be kids no matter what. They are going to go through puberty and be confused about all the changes happening with their bodies. They are going to gravitate towards social circles they feel accepted in. They will push back against authority and rebel. They will change their hair and find an identity. Why not support them during this period in life instead of trying to force them into the particular mold you picked out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of these things are temporary – most people change a lot and mature as they age, so let the kids experience their life without meddling. I knew a kid who wanted to be called “Snake” and would argue with his parents to do so – they’d roll their eyes and appease him, knowing he’d grow out of it… and he did. One side is saying that all the answers lay within medical science, and the other wants to force the kid to be “normal.” Well, normal is in the eye of the beholder – all kids go through this rebellious stage in some manner – and making permanent physical changes to a kid before their brains have developed enough to grasp the consequences is tantamount to abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bottom line, let kids be kids without meddling. Stop pushing an agenda and let them grow up and develop into their own individual. If they want to use a different name, let them – there are bigger things to worry about in the long run. If they want to take hormones, tell them they can choose to do so when they are an adult. The adults pushing transition should focus on gathering donations to help once the child is an adult instead of trying to subvert the parental influence and insisting the government (read: the taxpayers) should pay for these treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let the adults life their lives how they want – as long as they aren’t harming another. There should be a line drawn however – if you have a penis, you are legally a man, if you have a vagina, you are legally a woman. I know there are a few outlier cases, but it is better to cater to the rule than the exception. I think this simple rule would solve a lot of problems – and would quickly prevent those who are solely doing this to appease their fetish from being further problems. And if a dude cuts off his junk to compete in the women’s divisions in sports, well at least we know they’re committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Proof that Patrick Stewart exists in the Star Trek universe<\/a> – “one could reasonably conclude that not only does Patrick Stewart canonically exist in the Star Trek<\/em> universe, but Jean-Luc Picard is aware of him”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media overuse tied to belief in fake news<\/a> – Less interested in the “fake news” angle of this article than the look at social media addiction. “Although the American Psychiatric Association doesn\u2019t recognize problematic social media use as a clinical disorder, Meshi points out that it shares similarities with substance use and other behavioral addictive disorders.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who Gets Your ‘Digital Remains’ When You Die?<\/a> “We tend to think about inheritance in physical terms: money, property, personal belongings. But the vast volume of digital stuff we accumulate in life and leave behind in death is now just as important \u2013 and this ‘digital legacy’ is probably more meaningful.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nInteresting Tidbits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n