Comments on: TV pediatrician on CNN says something stupid about transgender girls http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 22 May 2013 01:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Frank Lee Scarlett http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1669586 Frank Lee Scarlett Sat, 02 Mar 2013 22:27:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1669586 XX woman here. And I'm perfectly comfortable with this potential topic of concern of yours. I'd also like to thank you for introducing this potential topic of concern in the interest of XX women to whom mightn't have occurred. As they say around here, "Good lookin' out!" XX woman here. And I’m perfectly comfortable with this potential topic of concern of yours.

I’d also like to thank you for introducing this potential topic of concern in the interest of XX women to whom mightn’t have occurred. As they say around here, “Good lookin’ out!”

]]> By: allenels http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1669541 allenels Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:07:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1669541 Jails for men and for women is already, as you say, "Rape camp." It's sad that as an educated society we accept easily that these conditions exist and yet we do nothing, because, well you know, "they're criminals, so they must deserve it." Somehow being s criminal (whether you do the time or not) in America, translates into "less human". Jails for men and for women is already, as you say, “Rape camp.” It’s sad that as an educated society we accept easily that these conditions exist and yet we do nothing, because, well you know, “they’re criminals, so they must deserve it.” Somehow being s criminal (whether you do the time or not) in America, translates into “less human”.

]]> By: Cola Johnson http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1669454 Cola Johnson Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:24:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1669454 I recommend you actually interrogate the science before postulating wildly about whether sex and gender are purely imaginary. http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/11/11/skeptically-speaking-189-gay-straight-and-the-reason-why/ I recommend you actually interrogate the science before postulating wildly about whether sex and gender are purely imaginary. http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/11/11/skeptically-speaking-189-gay-straight-and-the-reason-why/

]]> By: ocker3 http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1669332 ocker3 Sat, 02 Mar 2013 14:41:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1669332  Hubbard's motivations for insisting on his God have some pretty serious questions raised about them, and Smith's as well.  Hubbard’s motivations for insisting on his God have some pretty serious questions raised about them, and Smith’s as well.

]]> By: Antinous / Moderator http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668981 Antinous / Moderator Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:08:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668981 Grammar school didn't have organized phys ed, just a playground. Grammar school didn’t have organized phys ed, just a playground.

]]> By: Brainspore http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668874 Brainspore Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:04:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668874 Actually in our case the first and only Barbie doll in the house was bought as an accessory for my last Halloween costume (I was King Kong and needed a Fay Wray prop). Afterwards our girl was clearly more interested in playing with it than our boy so I let her keep it, though she still called it "Daddy's dolly" for a while. Actually in our case the first and only Barbie doll in the house was bought as an accessory for my last Halloween costume (I was King Kong and needed a Fay Wray prop). Afterwards our girl was clearly more interested in playing with it than our boy so I let her keep it, though she still called it “Daddy’s dolly” for a while.

]]> By: glaborous_immolate http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668854 glaborous_immolate Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:41:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668854 On social construction of gender, see the World Health Organization "Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/index.html ISTM when a girl child says "I want to be a boy" he is saying "I want to participate in the roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for a boy"  And since those things are all influenced by society, even a society that is oppressive to girls, how can it be something in the child's 'nature'. or do we see they have a 'boy' soul now? On social construction of gender, see the World Health Organization
“Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/index.html

ISTM when a girl child says “I want to be a boy” he is saying “I want to participate in the roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for a boy” 

And since those things are all influenced by society, even a society that is oppressive to girls, how can it be something in the child’s ‘nature’. or do we see they have a ‘boy’ soul now?

]]> By: Christopher Hawthorne Moss http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668819 Christopher Hawthorne Moss Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:14:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668819 Let me ask everyone something... If for some weird science fiction reason you had to choose whether to keep your mind or your bobdy, which would you choose? Most people will say mind, because that's where YOU exist,    Your perceptiions, your personality, your senses.  You are not your body.  That's just what others identify you as. OK, there are two times gender hormones are applied in  utero.  Once is at the time of conception when the ova's receoptors attach to the sperm's.  That makes your body male or female.. or maybe not, because you would not believe how many different combinations there are.  The second time is when the fetus's brain is developing.  If you are a biological female and the hormone flood is testerosterone, your brain will be male.  That's my situation. Now go back to that choice.. if you choose mind, then you choose the gender the mind developed into, in my case male. The reason I think I get this so thoroughly is that I did not come out as trans until I was SIXTY.   Imagine going your whole life feeling like you are in drag.  Aleays seeing things in a different way than the others who have the same nauyghty bits as you do.  Identifyiung with guys.  No wonder I thought I was a lesbian... but then I figured out I wasn't... and for forty years I just said I flunked "Girl". It came to a head last year.  The gender dysphorea kicked in and I was as miserable anad confused as I have ever been.  Now back to the trans girl in the school bathroom... if you think the other girls will be traumatized by a penis.. imagine how this trans girl will geel going into the boys roomand getting the crap beaten out of her ? I use the men's room now.. and I  get told I am in the wrong one occasionally.. but I knwo if I went into the women's room someone would call security. Yes, you are right.. it is not about sex.  That is a separate issue.  It's about who you ALWAYS have been.  Believe me, no one goes through this much crap for fun. Chrisopher Moss  Let me ask everyone something… If for some weird science fiction reason you had to choose whether to keep your mind or your bobdy, which would you choose? Most people will say mind, because that’s where YOU exist,    Your perceptiions, your personality, your senses.  You are not your body.  That’s just what others identify you as.

OK, there are two times gender hormones are applied in  utero.  Once is at the time of conception when the ova’s receoptors attach to the sperm’s.  That makes your body male or female.. or maybe not, because you would not believe how many different combinations there are.  The second time is when the fetus’s brain is developing.  If you are a biological female and the hormone flood is testerosterone, your brain will be male.  That’s my situation.

Now go back to that choice.. if you choose mind, then you choose the gender the mind developed into, in my case male.

The reason I think I get this so thoroughly is that I did not come out as trans until I was SIXTY.   Imagine going your whole life feeling like you are in drag.  Aleays seeing things in a different way than the others who have the same nauyghty bits as you do.  Identifyiung with guys.  No wonder I thought I was a lesbian… but then I figured out I wasn’t… and for forty years I just said I flunked “Girl”.

It came to a head last year.  The gender dysphorea kicked in and I was as miserable anad confused as I have ever been. 

Now back to the trans girl in the school bathroom… if you think the other girls will be traumatized by a penis.. imagine how this trans girl will geel going into the boys roomand getting the crap beaten out of her ?

I use the men’s room now.. and I  get told I am in the wrong one occasionally.. but I knwo if I went into the women’s room someone would call security.

Yes, you are right.. it is not about sex.  That is a separate issue.  It’s about who you ALWAYS have been.  Believe me, no one goes through this much crap for fun.

Chrisopher Moss 

]]> By: ravenlunatick http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668802 ravenlunatick Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:01:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668802  I dunno, my 6 year old lamented not being a boy almost daily, because 'boys get all the cool stuff'. Doesn't seem to matter that I've always let her wear khakis and gaming t-shirts (or bridesmaids dresses and tiaras) whenever she wants to. Or that I've never discouraged any stereotypical 'boy' activities. Since I told her it was possible to have surgery to become a boy when she is an adult, if she still feels that way, she seems to have stopped worrying about it. Will she still feel that way as an adult? I have no idea. Does she have any idea what a sex change entails? Nope. In fact she doesn;t have a really good idea what makes one a girl rather than a boy. But the bare knowledge that it is possible to change from one to the other seems to have calmed her fears.  I dunno, my 6 year old lamented not being a boy almost daily, because ‘boys get all the cool stuff’. Doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve always let her wear khakis and gaming t-shirts (or bridesmaids dresses and tiaras) whenever she wants to. Or that I’ve never discouraged any stereotypical ‘boy’ activities.
Since I told her it was possible to have surgery to become a boy when she is an adult, if she still feels that way, she seems to have stopped worrying about it.
Will she still feel that way as an adult? I have no idea. Does she have any idea what a sex change entails? Nope. In fact she doesn;t have a really good idea what makes one a girl rather than a boy. But the bare knowledge that it is possible to change from one to the other seems to have calmed her fears.

]]> By: Jake Rennie http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668800 Jake Rennie Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:59:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668800 I'm sorry, I should have made it clearer that I was being tongue in cheek. I’m sorry, I should have made it clearer that I was being tongue in cheek.

]]> By: Joan Opyr http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668790 Joan Opyr Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:48:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668790 Bingo! Though I did, in fact, grow up to be lesbian, long before I went to school, I knew *with absolute certainty* that I did not belong in girls' clothes. That has never changed. Even when I was dating men, and even when I was married to a man, I did not wear women's clothing if I could avoid it. When I was pressured into a dress and a pair of heels, I felt like Milton Berle. Miserable. In drag. Not authentic. Not me. Biology is not destiny. If this kid says she's a girl, then she's a girl. And if someone should see her penis, so what? It's a body part. Let's quit making a fetish out of it. Bingo! Though I did, in fact, grow up to be lesbian, long before I went to school, I knew *with absolute certainty* that I did not belong in girls’ clothes. That has never changed. Even when I was dating men, and even when I was married to a man, I did not wear women’s clothing if I could avoid it. When I was pressured into a dress and a pair of heels, I felt like Milton Berle. Miserable. In drag. Not authentic. Not me. Biology is not destiny. If this kid says she’s a girl, then she’s a girl. And if someone should see her penis, so what? It’s a body part. Let’s quit making a fetish out of it.

]]> By: orangedesperado http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668779 orangedesperado Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668779 Yes Jorpho, I understand that. However, it was Dr. John Money's theories on gender that affected many individuals that were born intersexed, who were surgically given the default identity as female on the basis of their "inadequate" or ambiguous male genitals. It's not like a baby can speak up to express their gender. Many people (including David Reimer's parents) wanted to believe what the medical professionals told them about the psychological impact of their imposition of gender on a child (ie no penis = female). Yes Jorpho, I understand that. However, it was Dr. John Money’s theories on gender that affected many individuals that were born intersexed, who were surgically given the default identity as female on the basis of their “inadequate” or ambiguous male genitals. It’s not like a baby can speak up to express their gender. Many people (including David Reimer’s parents) wanted to believe what the medical professionals told them about the psychological impact of their imposition of gender on a child (ie no penis = female).

]]> By: orangedesperado http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668778 orangedesperado Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:32:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668778 Robotanna: I think that for many people, the concept of transgenderism = sex change surgery. I don't think that surgery is the most important thing. It is a big thing, a complicated painful expensive thing. My reply was referencing David Craig's post (above) about the suspicion that parents of some transgendered children are somehow pushing them to this identity by being accepting and open about this, while others state that their child went through a dysphoric phase that reversed itself on its own or worked out differently than they anticipated. In Canada, people who are gender dysphoric, who take the legal process to change their gender on their ID, etc. must go through a progression including therapy, living a social identity as the "new" gender for a specific period of time, hormone treatments before they can get gender reassignment surgery (ie bottom surgery). However, this does not prevent anyone to live as the gender they feel they are without doing  any of these steps.  I just wanted to speak up, in case anyone was thinking that parents of possibly gender dysphoric children were having gender reassignment surgery performed on young children, some of whom may have a more fluid expression of their identity that may change/modify/evolve over time.  Robotanna: I think that for many people, the concept of transgenderism = sex change surgery. I don’t think that surgery is the most important thing. It is a big thing, a complicated painful expensive thing. My reply was referencing David Craig’s post (above) about the suspicion that parents of some transgendered children are somehow pushing them to this identity by being accepting and open about this, while others state that their child went through a dysphoric phase that reversed itself on its own or worked out differently than they anticipated.

In Canada, people who are gender dysphoric, who take the legal process to change their gender on their ID, etc. must go through a progression including therapy, living a social identity as the “new” gender for a specific period of time, hormone treatments before they can get gender reassignment surgery (ie bottom surgery). However, this does not prevent anyone to live as the gender they feel they are without doing  any of these steps. 

I just wanted to speak up, in case anyone was thinking that parents of possibly gender dysphoric children were having gender reassignment surgery performed on young children, some of whom may have a more fluid expression of their identity that may change/modify/evolve over time. 

]]> By: Jorpho http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668768 Jorpho Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:28:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668768 There was a seemingly thoughtful essay on HuffPo the other day about how lately boys may be negatively portrayed (or at least not as positively portrayed) in the media they consume. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dresden-shumaker/raising-a-son-within-princess-culture_b_2727874.html Not that I'm particularly qualified to judge its relevance, being rather uninterested in child-rearing presently. There was a seemingly thoughtful essay on HuffPo the other day about how lately boys may be negatively portrayed (or at least not as positively portrayed) in the media they consume.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dresden-shumaker/raising-a-son-within-princess-culture_b_2727874.html

Not that I’m particularly qualified to judge its relevance, being rather uninterested in child-rearing presently.

]]> By: Jorpho http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668759 Jorpho Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:23:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668759 But David Reimer (already mentioned in previous comments) was not born intersexed and was raised counter to his biological gender. But David Reimer (already mentioned in previous comments) was not born intersexed and was raised counter to his biological gender.

]]> By: robotanna http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668690 robotanna Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:41:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668690 "no one performs sex reassignment surgery on children" why is this the first thing you bring up, as to imply it's the most important thing?  “no one performs sex reassignment surgery on children”

why is this the first thing you bring up, as to imply it’s the most important thing? 

]]> By: robotanna http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668684 robotanna Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668684 "Since gender is socially constructed" [citation needed], also the implication that because something is a social construct it doesn't matter is really fucking dumb “Since gender is socially constructed” [citation needed], also the implication that because something is a social construct it doesn’t matter is really fucking dumb

]]> By: sabotabby http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668644 sabotabby Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:03:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668644 Another cisgendered woman here who has no problem with it. Another cisgendered woman here who has no problem with it.

]]> By: wysinwyg http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668600 wysinwyg Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:20:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668600  Camus might argue that as meaning-seeking beings in an utterly meaningless physical existence most of us have no choice but to engage in mythology -- or another way to say it, to engage in meaning-making.  I think there's other reasons to believe that the physical universe is too information-rich and varied for us to be able to make sense of it on its own terms, necessitating that we come up with a sort of short-hand -- representing patterns in time, space, and our social realities with symbols -- which are another sort of pattern.  Another term might be "archetypes."  Another might be "myths". Another thing to ponder: if we absolutely need a mythology to help us understand the world is it possible that every time we think we are leaving a myth behind we're in reality replacing it with another myth?  Or even simply transmuting an existing myth into another form? Just a thought.  Carry on.  Camus might argue that as meaning-seeking beings in an utterly meaningless physical existence most of us have no choice but to engage in mythology — or another way to say it, to engage in meaning-making.  I think there’s other reasons to believe that the physical universe is too information-rich and varied for us to be able to make sense of it on its own terms, necessitating that we come up with a sort of short-hand — representing patterns in time, space, and our social realities with symbols — which are another sort of pattern.  Another term might be “archetypes.”  Another might be “myths”.

Another thing to ponder: if we absolutely need a mythology to help us understand the world is it possible that every time we think we are leaving a myth behind we’re in reality replacing it with another myth?  Or even simply transmuting an existing myth into another form?

Just a thought.  Carry on.

]]> By: CH http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668587 CH Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:06:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668587 Totally fine with me. I don't have a problem sharing a restroom with men, either. Well... why would it be a problem? I can see it being a bit more problematic in mens' restrooms where there are urinals, but then I never have understood why one would want to stand shoulder to shoulder peeing with strangers. Anyway, I love unisex restrooms, it just makes things simpler. Unfortunately I have run into just one public one, so far. Totally fine with me. I don’t have a problem sharing a restroom with men, either. Well… why would it be a problem? I can see it being a bit more problematic in mens’ restrooms where there are urinals, but then I never have understood why one would want to stand shoulder to shoulder peeing with strangers. Anyway, I love unisex restrooms, it just makes things simpler. Unfortunately I have run into just one public one, so far.

]]> By: CH http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668572 CH Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:52:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668572 "Early childhood penis exposure can radically affect one's bathroom habits and perception of bathroom culture." Um... in what way? I have a seriously hard time figuring out your comment. Or do you mean seeing a penis of a non-family-member? (I assume from your comment that you are from the US, where nudity seems to be extremely taboo, to the point that children don't ever see their parents naked... if I have understood it correctly.) But still... I would assume most kids in my country have seen in addition to their parents also others of at least their own gender naked. So... what kind of radically affected bathroom habits do we suffer from? “Early childhood penis exposure can radically affect one’s bathroom habits and perception of bathroom culture.”
Um… in what way? I have a seriously hard time figuring out your comment. Or do you mean seeing a penis of a non-family-member? (I assume from your comment that you are from the US, where nudity seems to be extremely taboo, to the point that children don’t ever see their parents naked… if I have understood it correctly.) But still… I would assume most kids in my country have seen in addition to their parents also others of at least their own gender naked. So… what kind of radically affected bathroom habits do we suffer from?

]]> By: CH http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668559 CH Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:41:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668559 Urgh, indeed! He might have been an esteemed PhD in his profession... but I would still go with "shady DIY quack". And it sounds like he might have been a bit... too much interested in small children, and after reading his Wikipedia page where there is a quote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money#Pedophilia_tolerance where he is defending "concensual" pedophilia... urgh... yeah. Urgh, indeed!

He might have been an esteemed PhD in his profession… but I would still go with “shady DIY quack”. And it sounds like he might have been a bit… too much interested in small children, and after reading his Wikipedia page where there is a quote http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money#Pedophilia_tolerance where he is defending “concensual” pedophilia… urgh… yeah.

]]> By: charliekrustovnovitchgeschalt http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668549 charliekrustovnovitchgeschalt Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:34:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668549 Bingo. Sex is anything I or anyone else enjoy doing together, or alone. Gender is the isle I shop for clothes in. Bingo. Sex is anything I or anyone else enjoy doing together, or alone. Gender is the isle I shop for clothes in.

]]> By: CH http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668543 CH Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668543 Psychiatric wards are full of gods? Psychiatric wards are full of gods?

]]> By: blueelm http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668538 blueelm Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668538 This woman doesn't care about sharing restrooms with XX, XY or XXY or really if your chromosomes are even mostly human. If there's a hole somewhere and I can pee in it then we're cool. This woman doesn’t care about sharing restrooms with XX, XY or XXY or really if your chromosomes are even mostly human. If there’s a hole somewhere and I can pee in it then we’re cool.

]]> By: blueelm http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668537 blueelm Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:09:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668537 I have to admit I've totally peed in the men's room when there is an hour line for the women's. (why does that happen? It takes like 30 seconds to pee and just a few more to wash hands.) I have managed not to be arrested or raped for it. It's not my first choice, but hey...  Personally I don't mind the unisex toilets some places have these days. Most people in the toilet are just really focused on their mission. I have to admit I’ve totally peed in the men’s room when there is an hour line for the women’s. (why does that happen? It takes like 30 seconds to pee and just a few more to wash hands.)

I have managed not to be arrested or raped for it. It’s not my first choice, but hey… 

Personally I don’t mind the unisex toilets some places have these days. Most people in the toilet are just really focused on their mission.

]]> By: Jake Rennie http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668529 Jake Rennie Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:57:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668529 Early childhood penis exposure can radically affect one's bathroom habits and perception of bathroom culture. As a young man in a pre-school lavatory, I was the subject of a demonstration of the special procedure another boy had to do in order to use the urinal. Since then, I have been a Stallman. Perhaps the doctor in question had a similar experience, except involved all of the other little boys. Early childhood penis exposure can radically affect one’s bathroom habits and perception of bathroom culture. As a young man in a pre-school lavatory, I was the subject of a demonstration of the special procedure another boy had to do in order to use the urinal. Since then, I have been a Stallman. Perhaps the doctor in question had a similar experience, except involved all of the other little boys.

]]> By: IronEdithKidd http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668489 IronEdithKidd Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:18:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668489 Did you read Danimagoo's comment just a little higher up-thread than yours?  I'd rather she feel safe than have to comply with some ignorant law.  XX, I am. Did you read Danimagoo’s comment just a little higher up-thread than yours?  I’d rather she feel safe than have to comply with some ignorant law.  XX, I am.

]]> By: dculberson http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668484 dculberson Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:13:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668484  That is so totally awesome.  That is so totally awesome.

]]> By: dculberson http://boingboing.net/2013/02/28/pediatrician-on-cnn-says-somet.html#comment-1668483 dculberson Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:10:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=216062#comment-1668483 Pretty sure both those people lived in a society that believed in a god. Pretty sure both those people lived in a society that believed in a god.

]]>