Whoa. First off, I don’t follow you around online, so I have no idea what you’ve repeatedly said. I only know the ONE comment I responded to. Second, I was not arguing with you so I don’t know why you keep repeating that. I was saying that the article THAT WE ARE DISCUSSING took a mutually exclusive stance- not you.…

I’ve only read and responded to one of your posts, and I’m sorry if you thought I was contradicting what you were saying. I wasn’t. I was agreeing with your statement, but referencing the fact that the Stranger article doesn’t do that.

I’m in far more agreement with you than most people here. When I said “if it’s true” I just mean that I haven’t dashed off to google your story- I’m just taking your word for it though I will look it up later.

Hmm. Sorry I went all big picture. If I can say what I’m confused about in short (knowing that it might be unskillful) here it is. I have no doubt that transgender people exist, that it’s not a choice (though I don’t think the matter of choice should have any bearing on your rights in the first place) and that people…

I do think there must obviously be a difference between a person who transitions quite young and then has all the socialization associated with that gender than someone like Jenner who transitioned well after decades of socialization as a man. This is an obvious point and sorry to beat a dead horse, but where my…

Right.

Again, white supremacy exists outside the intentions and motivations of an individual. Otherwise, I agree with you here.

Yes I think the concept of transracial is actually very interesting and worthy of discussion. Part of my sympathy comes from being bicultural in a bicultural family yet being of a different race. I would not call myself transracial in any way, but certainly I’m more multicultural than I look. As the world becomes more…

Yes but it does make her more sympathetic. A good article or book, even about a horrible person, can make you sympathetic to them on a human level even while you are rightly and unequivocally condemning their actions.

If that backstory is true, I think the point is that we can sympathize with her on a human level- using some sort of delusion to protect her from a very harmful reality. I think we can even argue that she’s relied on those fantasies to empower her protect her brother and other people she cared about rather than…

BTW if you are scrolling, I wrote this at the same time Miss Mercedes wrote her thoughtful response above which touches on most of the points I brought up but does it better.

Let aside Rachel, thanks for answering the question and providing links. I think one of the problems that I have with understanding the gender issue is the claim that transwomen are women and transmen are men which I understand as a social construct (of course) but not in the current form of “transwomen are women…

Here is a smart article on the topic, btw, which doesn’t answer the gender question exactly but does bring them up in a thoughtful way. I wish we could talk about this more openly since it really is confusing to a lot of people, including me. For example, if gender is a social construct (and I’m down with that) then…

I think the white persecution angle of your discussion here is hysterical, but I do agree that this is a potentially interesting conversation that does not get answered. In US culture, it might be hard for people to understand. Dark skinned south Indians are another example of people who are not black in the African…

Also not an answer. I’m not sympathetic to Rachel Dolezal, but I do think the larger discussion is interesting and I agree that people don’t give real answers to those questions.

These sorts of petty arguments- which added together, each contribute to a massive problem- are exactly why I don’t want kids. I don’t want the arguments with my spouse. I don’t want them with the child. I don’t want to run a household. I don’t want to think about everyone else’s laundry and vacation plans and middle…

There is a cultural difference in our case, and I think she assumed that since I’m an American (and we all know American women hate family) then I was the one who was coming in with my weirdo cultural beliefs. When actually, no, people in her culture choose not to have children also- including her nephew. She’s a…

Yes, exactly. Our society offers no support, then we glorify the person who “can do it all” instead of realizing that this is an outlier and people weren’t meant to raise children in a void. I’m glad you found a support network! Community is key!

Meh. I think it’s polite (among acquaintances) and required to show support (among friends) to take an interest in the major events, joys and sorrows in the lives of the people around us. We are all in this shit together.

I’ve had this conversation with many parents. Like I said, many of my closest friends and family members are parents- their kids are in my life. I’m not anti-child or anti-family, I can see the appeal of that lifestyle. It’s not for me, but I think I’m a supportive auntie/friend/sitter, etc. Part of the reason I think…