The man is a boomer who refers to everyone as “son”
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Wow. I’d forgotten that.
Man. Old forum sucked. Although i worry sometimes this is an echo chamber. I dont know where people actually talk to people who disagree with them any more.
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Back on topic. This thread prompted a discussion with my friends about pronouns.
I’m considering adding my pronouns to my email signature. I can’t tell if this is tokenistic wokeness, or whether it matters.
Literally no one at my company does this and I’m fairly senior. Will probably start a conversation or two.
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Yeah. I change my perspectives all the time. Probably slow evolution more than anything major, but it certainly happens.
I’ve also changed family members minds on things.
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I have also considered this. It does feel a little “look how woke I am!”, but I think this is probably one of the ways those of us with privilege can us it. Anybody who thinks I’m grandstanding can shove it up their ass.
In fact, I’m going to add them right now.
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That is my thinking.
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Same. I thought it was a same-sex partnership where they had a son through adoption.
Also, what stops a doctor from performing an operation on his/her child? I know one doctor who performed an emergency tracheotomy on his daughter when she went into anaphylaxis. Saved her life.
From what I know, the issue is always INTENTIONAL misgendering. There are very few people in the circles I know who ever get upset at somebody for accidental misgendering. They may point it out and ask for correct pronouns going forward, but they arent going to go off on someone.
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That’s really weird. A highly promiscuous person would have to reject quite a few patients to maintain their license.
Anyway, I don’t have any personal experience with the T portion of the LBGT community. I did see the Frontline documentary ‘Growing Up Trans’ which covers trans youth and how their parents are coping with it. Highly recommended if you’re interested in the topic.
My stance on gun control has definitely changed over the years based on discussions I’ve had on 22. I went from being a Warren fan to a Sanders fan based on things I’ve read here. You could argue that this is yet another example of self-sorting driving people into partisan extremes, but honestly one of the things that’s changed my thinking has been reading pro-gun takes and realizing how utterly bankrupt they are.
Regarding trans issues: I live in a very red state and work in a field that’s mostly cis white guys. Much of the discussions around trans issues make me feel old and out of touch because I’ve never been in a spot were I was expected to provide my pronouns and I struggle to understand what it means to see myself as a “they.” Only trans people I ever interact with are a cashier at Starbucks and one at Kroger.
At the same time, intentionally misgendering/misidentifying people is just obviously a dick move. I’m a dumb Midwestern guy but I get that it costs me nothing to call people by their preferred salutations and people who are non-normative deserve respect. Just let people do their own thing if it’s not bothering you.
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My wife works for the state and the agency she used to work for standardized everybody’s email signature with preferred pronouns, and also standardized it on their name tags.
Her current agency (70% staffed by veterans) does not but the director has been supportive of my wife’s effort to change the policy.
My wife wasn’t sure what the director would say when she met her, but it turns out the director is a gay Latina female veteran and was very supportive.
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Yes. Often.
You never know what’s happening beneath the surface that has to happen before you see a visible change manifest. Just be happy with your contribution to the dialogue. The rest is out if your control. Hopefully you get a glimpse here and there of the positive impact you make in the world. Especially the kind you didn’t even realize you were making.
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It’s not necessarily for the person you’re conversing/arguing with. But there are often a lot of silent watchers, lurkers, if you will, who see your example and take it into account. You can never know how many minds you change in that way, but it happens, and it’s important.
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Yesterday I emailed my father and sister to let them know about the testosterone. I knew my sister wouldn’t blink, but I was mildly worried about my dad. He’s awesome, but he’s 84. And since I know it too me some time to wrap my head around this, I wasn’t sure how he would initially react. A portion of his response to my email:
As before, ***** is still *****, my grandchild - please give them my unconditional love. I’ll worry, but I worry about what the future holds for all of us.
So that made me cry. What a wonderful man. So many people seem to get shittier as they get older, he’s just gotten kinder and gentler. I can only hope to be half the human he is.
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That’s great!!! A proudfather and a proudgrandfather 
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This has me bawling. Your dad kicks ass.
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Some Aussie clown being interviewed on Limbaugh right now is saying hormone therapy reduces or interferes with brain development in adolescents
Their purely scientific approach lead them to this impartial conclusion
Though, the dude was distancing himself from the research at every opportunity, repeating the caveat that these were not his findings.
audience after the fact, lapping it up, not at all curious about this qualifier
just living with the understanding that other humans knowingly sacrifice mental health, while welcoming Zica-virus-type malformation in brain development, so long as objective #1 is achieved – ever-present and unencumbered gender fluidity.
just in case we needed a refresher on who we’re up against.