Gender Norms

      This article was a very interesting read on how very young people view and explore gender norms. I love that we are living in a day and age where this is becoming more acceptable and there is conversation around the trans and gender fluid community and how to best serve them, especially in educational settings. I would like to think that as educators, we can all be as open and caring as the parent is in this articles, but I know that is not the truth and there will always be people who push back on the idea of gender fluidity. 

     The mother in the article genuinely enjoyed the transformation she was watching her daughter go through and was very supportive. Children are so pure and, the child in this article was no exception. She had a style in mind and went for it, and her mother encouraged her. This is the ideal relationship children should have with adults in their life. Encouraging them to live their best and happiest life. 

     This is hard though when we do live in a world where from even before a child is born, we obsess over gender.  With baby showers, gender reveals, pink nurseries for girls, blue for boys, etc... I feel like we are placing so many expectations on very young children and when they feel different from hose expectations it can be very difficult.  

      The Human Rights Campaign has an alarming statistic that states nearly half of  transgender male teens have attempted suicide and 29.9 percent of transgender female teens have attempted suicide. This makes me so angry to read that children are being made to feel that their gender matters so much to others that they can’t live any more. No child should ever have to feel like suicide is a better option than living their truth. I truly hope we can all be like the mom in this article and learn to accept all ideas of gender. 

Here is a link to a trailer for a documentary that I really loved on this subject. If you have a spare hour and a half, it is incredible and worth a watch!