Should public school be banned?

Author: TheUnderdog

Posts

Total: 129
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
It absolutely is an absurd and baseless objection. If anal sex were being taught to kindergartners it shouldn't be too difficult produce the offending curriculum or offending teachers. I doubt there is any curriculum or anyone who can still call themselves a teacher doing what you suggest...Well, first, a story about an email isn't  substantiation. Secondly, discussing LGBTQ does not require discussing anal sex. This is nothing but an attempt to poison the well either by you or by whoever you got the story from.
I found this within 30 seconds of searching: https://nypost.com/2022/04/08/nj-kids-to-learn-about-gender-identity-under-sex-ed-curriculum/ and like I said I’ve seen dozens if not hundreds of similar anecdotes by now. I’m many things but I’m not a liar. And I know that it’s difficult to ascertain how common this is but…is it that hard to just be opposed to it when it does happen? Gender identity is not an appropriate conversation for six year olds. You can roll your eyes at right wingers morally panicking again (which we are known to do) while also looking at what’s proposed with a clear mind. For example Florida banned talking about sex for K-3 and people got extremely angry about it. Do you disagree with banning sex talk for kindergartners? If not….we agree

Whenever sex ed is taught it should include all aspects of human sexuality. I don't know when sex ed is age-appropriate exactly, but it should occur before the students have first-hand experience. This is an important issue because sexual ignorance leads to societal problems.
The thing is we know that sexuality is at least somewhat impacted by environmental circumstances. For example, we know that around half of gay men were molested as children compared with five percent of straight men. This means that childhood sexual trauma can impact your sexuality and people have all kinds of weird fetishes from the first sexual thing their mind fixates on.

People have intuitively understood this for a very long time which is why sex education has always been a hot button issue and why “PROTECT THE CHILDREN!” has always been a big thing. Believing that  evangelical “abstinence only” position is as naive as believing that you can’t damage kids.  Is it really so implausible to you that in the current zeitgeist of identity politics some teachers are more likely now than in the past to try and have inappropriate conversations with their students, or think that getting them to question their gender (something I, and many other parents, would strongly oppose for our kids) is a moral imperative? 

There are fairly major historical events which have been left out of the history text books (eg. Tulsa race massacre) and the events that are covered can be heavily ethnocentric (eg. Thanksgiving) or leading to generally false impressions (eg. steady progress for the equality of African Americans since Reconstruction). The criticism is not about preventing current material from being banned, but of the current material being inadequate.
This is not related to the discussion of sexual and gender identity but okay. You can’t teach everything, in fact the average student is so dumb that I’m not convinced you can even teach history at all (as opposed to just propaganda). But we probably have a different view of what the school system should be for. I think trying to give everyone a liberal arts education is folly 

Also how is that a false impression? The country definitely hasn’t gotten more racist since the civil war. Unless youre saying there was a nadir of race relations after reconstruction and into the 1920s in which case you’d be right 
RationalMadman
RationalMadman's avatar
Debates: 574
Posts: 19,931
10
11
11
RationalMadman's avatar
RationalMadman
10
11
11
-->
@thett3
Molestation is possibly far more common in private, religious schools than public ones. However, it stays 'hush hush'.

thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@RationalMadman
Molestation is possibly far more common in private, religious schools than public ones. However, it stays 'hush hush'.
It’s possible that smart predators sniff out gaps in the law like the ones mentioned in your article and take advantage yeah. Parents need to thoroughly vet schools before sending their kids there 
Polytheist-Witch
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Debates: 1
Posts: 4,188
3
3
6
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Polytheist-Witch
3
3
6
Predators hide themselves very well till they get caught.  In any place kids are. There are teachers, cops, priest, coaches, even daycares I'm sure. Without being able to predict who's going to commit a crime there's not much you can do about that. The fact is the point to school is for children to interact with a diverse group of people to learn to be courteous human beings to work as a group to make society better. Teachers are trained to teach kids. While I have made every effort to learn what my special needs child needs I am not a master's level special education teacher. My child has access to at least two of them plus bachelors level special education teachers plus special ed certified aides including the gym coach. You have every right not to send your child to public school and homeschool them you do not have a right to tell me my child should not have access to train teachers because you don't like some of the agenda in schools.
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3
I found this within 30 seconds
What you found doesn't support the objection/fear 'kindergartners are being taught about anal sex'. Kindergartners are not being taught anal sex.
 
Gender identity is not an appropriate conversation for six year olds.
These conversations already happen all the time. Every time we describe a child as "boy" or "girl" and what traits a boy or girl are 'supposed' to have.

For example Florida banned talking about sex for K-3 and people got extremely angry about it. Do you disagree with banning sex talk for kindergartners?
Describing gender identity/sexual orientation as "sex talk" is silly. Both stand apart from sexual intercourse. If you mean to say discussions of anatomy are 'sex talk' then potty training will inevitably involve 'sex talk'...and so will diaper rash. What is this world coming to?! ;-)

This means that childhood sexual trauma can impact your sexuality and people have all kinds of weird fetishes from the first sexual thing their mind fixates on.
Do you find discussions of human gender and orientation traumatic? 

Is it really so implausible to you that in the current zeitgeist of identity politics some teachers are more likely now than in the past to try and have inappropriate conversations with their students, or think that getting them to question their gender (something I, and many other parents, would strongly oppose for our kids) is a moral imperative? 
I don't think malicious people are more likely to be malicious now than at any time in the past, and they wouldn't need this subject to cause harm. Your fear of this subject (with all due respect) doesn't make other people more or less dangerous.

But we probably have a different view of what the school system should be for.
Yes, we most certainly do. 

Also how is that a false impression? The country definitely hasn’t gotten more racist since the civil war. Unless youre saying there was a nadir of race relations after reconstruction and into the 1920s in which case you’d be right 
You nailed it. African Americans had more rights after being freed than they had in the 20's. The progression has been anything but smooth. 

thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
What you found doesn't support the objection/fear 'kindergartners are being taught about anal sex'. Kindergartners are not being taught anal sex.
Here is something else I found about California's sex ed framework:

"The framework tells teachers that students in kindergarten can identify as transgender and offers tips for how to talk about that, adding “the goal is not to cause confusion about the gender of the child but to develop an awareness that other expressions exist. It gives tips for discussing masturbation with middle-schoolers, including telling them it is not physically harmful, and for discussing puberty with transgender teens that creates “an environment that is inclusive and challenges binary concepts about gender.”


Maybe we can recenter this discussion...what do you think is age appropriate for grade schoolers? Keep in mind how dumb as shit little kids are. In my view, talking about stuff like gender identity or how you can "transition" with a young child is a problem because kids can easily be led astray, and being led astray on your gender identity is a huge problem given what the "treatment" can be. I don't want my son told that he can become a girl, or that some people we call boys might not actually be boys, because I don't think it's possible for a boy to become a girl or vice versa. You may disagree and we can talk about it. But I believe that gender is binary (TheMorningStar makes an excellent argument for the view I share starting here: https://www.debateart.com/forum/topics/7450-put-your-unpopular-opinions-here-and-someone-who-disagrees-will-debate-you?page=8&post_number=195) What right have you to decide for me what my children are taught on this subject, and how can you expect there not to be a response that potentially threatens the public school system? Just leave the kids alone and we wouldn't have this problem. Is talking about transgenderism to elementary schoolers so important? why? Cant we just focus on reading and writing...


You nailed it. African Americans had more rights after being freed than they had in the 20's. The progression has been anything but smooth. 
Have you ever read the slave narratives from the 1930s? The federal government had a new deal program where they went and interviewed ex slaves in their 80s and 90s who were still alive in the '30s. It was sad because a lot of them had a relatively positive view of slavery and thought that the "freedom" experienced in the majority of their life was worse because of how terrible society was at that time. Being born a slave, having to be an adult through the nadir of race relations, then suffering the great depression in your old age had to suck.

My pet theory on why this happened (other than the obvious of people taking out their humiliation of being so thoroughly defeated on a less powerful victim) is a forgotten demographic change. It seems crazy to us because society has become so secularized but the KKK really really hated Catholics too. Because of mass immigration from Europe starting in the 1840s or so by ~1880 or so Anglo whites had lost their demographic majority to more recent immigrants who had much higher birthrates. I think the transformation of America from basically a slaveholding ethnostate of British Isles descended peoples to a hodegpodge of Europeans caused a lot of people to absolutely lose their shit. It's happening again with immigrants outside of Europe and their descendants but people aren't flipping out as much, likely because it already happened before even if nobody really remembers this. The cultural framework is already there
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3
I take it you're accepting kindergartners being taught anal sex is not something based in fact? If so, good. I just want to make it clear this isn't something that happens as it seemed you suggested earlier.

Keep in mind how dumb as shit little kids are.
I'm going to take this out of order before I respond to your question. Little kids have processing power. What they severely lack is knowledge. I personally believe the potential of  children is limited mostly by underestimation. 

what do you think is age appropriate for grade schoolers?
I am fine with the framework as you quoted above. I think where everyone freaks out is that they view these discussions as some type of invitation or proselytizing (Do you accept transgenderism into your heart as your lord and savior?), but that is not how I understand this conversation. It is simply making children aware gender and orientation is fluid. This is information that is good for them in that it gives insights into other people and maybe themselves too. 


What right have you to decide for me what my children are taught on this subject, and how can you expect there not to be a response that potentially threatens the public school system?
I didn't decide reality. It is how it is, and that is what we teach. Another appeal to consequences.... I don't think education should stop including the world as it is just because some don't understand and/or don't want to understand it. 

Just leave the kids alone and we wouldn't have this problem. Is talking about transgenderism to elementary schoolers so important? why? Cant we just focus on reading and writing...

So you know where I am coming from: My sister's family is conservative. Her husband is military and comes from a military family. My and my sister's parents are conservative. My brother in law's family is conservative. They live in a military town in Oklahoma...a conservative town in a conservative state. My nephew is trans. There was no indoctrination into transgenderism. It is simply who he is. The point being, 'Leaving kids alone' doesn't prevent transgenderism, but it does hobble insight and support for transgender kids. Education is supposed to be for the benefit of society, and Trans folks are part of that. 


Greyparrot
Greyparrot's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 25,993
3
4
10
Greyparrot's avatar
Greyparrot
3
4
10
-->
@thett3
as if it goes away or if school choice is passed I’ll no longer have to pay $500 a month to support a school system I don’t expect to ever use

You would still pay near that amount if school choice was passed..
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne


I am fine with the framework as you quoted above. I think where everyone freaks out is that they view these discussions as some type of invitation or proselytizing (Do you accept transgenderism into your heart as your lord and savior?), but that is not how I understand this conversation. It is simply making children aware gender and orientation is fluid. This is information that is good for them in that it gives insights into other people and maybe themselves too. 
But a lot of people, myself included, don't think that gender is fluid. And we control more states than you do, and after November we will be in an even stronger position as more state legislatures and governorships flip. Why is forcing this issue so important to you? Do you not see how this scorched Earth approach could result in some seriously negative consequences?

I didn't decide reality. It is how it is, and that is what we teach. Another appeal to consequences.... I don't think education should stop including the world as it is just because some don't understand and/or don't want to understand it. 
Pretty arrogant to insist that this is "reality" without even addressing the opposing argument. Did you even read the post linked and the ensuing discussion? I think that reality is that a trans woman will never be a woman, and a trans man will never be a man. At most they can brute force their bodies into a pale imitation, with incredibly devastating side effects. Also appealing to consequences is appealing to reality, which forces people to make tough decisions. 

So you know where I am coming from: My sister's family is conservative. Her husband is military and comes from a military family. My and my sister's parents are conservative. My brother in law's family is conservative. They live in a military town in Oklahoma...a conservative town in a conservative state. My nephew is trans. There was no indoctrination into transgenderism. It is simply who he is. The point being, 'Leaving kids alone' doesn't prevent transgenderism, but it does hobble insight and support for transgender kids. Education is supposed to be for the benefit of society, and Trans folks are part of that. 
How do you know that? 2.1% of Gen Z adults identify as trans, double that of millennials, quadruple that of Gen X and twenty times that of previous generations. We also know from studying the issue that trans identification clusters within friend groups, especially among young girls who in the past may have dealt with their body image issues through becoming anorexic or a similar disorder. Clearly *something* happened/is happening. I've seen a lot of school districts have the policy of "transitioning" children without their parents consent, and once the child has been "socially" transitioned they are recommended to counselors who give them drugs. Not everyone subscribes to your world view. If you want to teach kids about sex/gender identity at an early age, make your own, otherwise don't be surprised when there's severe pushback

thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@Greyparrot
You would still pay near that amount if school choice was passed..

Yeah but I would be able to use it to pay for a school of my choice instead of just where I happen to live


SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3
But a lot of people, myself included, don't think that gender is fluid.
This is where our reasoning diverges. Your (or my) opinion is not equivalent to that of experts informed by evidence. I'll trust their conclusions.

And we control more states than you do,
..still don't care. I am a slave to the evidence. Political clout is not part of that.

Pretty arrogant to insist that this is "reality" without even addressing the opposing argument.
I intend to look at his post later. I see no reason to address what was linked. Would you accept a link in response? (I should hope not.)

How do you know that?

I can't with absolute certainty, but the odds are strongly against indoctrination. Is this where you tell me my nephew has been indoctrinated because I won't claim 100% certainty against it? ;-)

2.1% of Gen Z adults identify as trans, double that of millennials, quadruple that of Gen X and twenty times that of previous generations.
And? Diagnosis of autism increased after we realized it was a thing too. It is hardly a surprising observation.


make your own
Are you suggesting I should make my own kids? We've done that, although, they can't really be considered kids anymore!
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
This is where our reasoning diverges. Your (or my) opinion is not equivalent to that of experts informed by evidence. I'll trust their conclusions.
You should be able to justify your positions on their own merits instead of simply claiming that the "experts" are on your side. My position in short is that gender dysphoria is a body image disorder, in which individuals are uncomfortable in their own bodies and believe that if they were born the opposite gender they would be comfortable in their bodies. People can not be born in the "wrong" bodies because for all intents and purposes, your body is you, a boy or a girl born in your place would not be you but instead would be someone else. You can make changes to your body, but the changes made in an attempt to change sex are not positive ones but ones that limit a persons potential or actively harm them (sterilize them, block puberty in prime growing years, mutilate their genitals/sex organs into organs that do not function and make them ill.) There is literally no other body image disorder in which we accept that the persons viewpoint is valid and try to change their body to match. There are people who for some reason want a healthy limb removed, imagine if physicians agreed to remove them. Imagine if an anorexic or bulimic 14 year old girl was given liposuction or put on a weight loss diet. This is the same as removing a young girls breasts to try to make her a "man" or giving a teenaged boy estrogen.

The liberal position is that the above makes me a monster because unlike those other disorders trans people are ACTUALLY born into the wrong sex, and their sex doesn't match their gender identity. I believe that sex and gender are inherently linked (if indeed there even is a difference) and brute forcing your body into a pale and sad imitation of the opposite sex never works.  The liberal position, in my view, is fundamentally incoherent because it simultaneously argues that gender identity is unrelated to sex in that an individual can choose/"discover" their gender identity but at the same time it is imperative that we allow children to transition as young as possible so that they can look as close as possible to...the opposite *sex*, as in the secondary sex characteristics derived from biology. The entire thing presupposes valid and consistent definitions of "man and woman" in the first place, otherwise no one could be born in the "wrong" body, but this takes us back to the gender binary. The ideal situation for a person suffering from gender dysphoria is that they come to terms with the body as it is and foster a positive self identity on that basis instead of chasing the impossible. TheMorningStar, being smarter than me on philosophy and actually having experienced this stuff first hand put it much better. But since you won't accept a link to a discussion on this website, that's my position.

For a number of complicated reasons, including but not limited to an ongoing societal fixation on identity and the elevation of "oppressed" identities, identifying as trans is a growing trend among the young.

And? Diagnosis of autism increased after we realized it was a thing too. It is hardly a surprising observation.
There is a slight comparison to be made between the two in that "autism" in the past would have referred to profoundly autistic children who couldn't even speak whereas now it's an entire spectrum that encompasses that all the way to kids who are just a little socially awkward. However there is good reason to believe that even when accounting for this, autism/aspersers has increased in prevalence. But autism is diagnosed through a doctor, it's not a self identification so certainly the number of trans people exploding by 20 times is at least somewhat a cultural or social thing. I'm completely open to the idea that gender dysphoria has actually increased in prevalence due to some environmental (not cultural) factor. But that doesn't mean it isn't a disorder and that mutilating the body is the right way to fight it. What's your explanation for how it clusters in peer groups? 

Point me to another sexually dimorphic species where 1 in 50 individuals are born in the "wrong" bodies. What does that even mean? Also on a semi related note, at what age do you think the following should be permitted: 

Voting
Driving
Drinking
Joining the Military
Buying a gun
Working full time
Dropping out of school

Are you suggesting I should make my own kids? We've done that, although, they can't really be considered kids anymore!
Then try to imagine how you'd feel if the public schools had a system whereby they could be confirmed in the Catholic Church, take communion, and change their names to a Saints name without your knowledge. 
TheMorningsStar
TheMorningsStar's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 398
2
3
7
TheMorningsStar's avatar
TheMorningsStar
2
3
7
-->
@thett3
But a lot of people, myself included, don't think that gender is fluid.
I think that something important to consider is that what people point to in children to determine if they are trans relies a bit on sexism. I am sure that most people in their mid 20s and older remember growing up with tomboys being a thing. These were girls that did not fall within the stereotype of what it meant to be a girl, instead doing things that were "what boys do". I have actually seen numerous people that would have been called a tomboy when I was growing up being called trans by those around them now.

There is this movement that if a boy wants to do something stereotypical of girls (or girls doing something stereotypical of boys) that their parents, teachers, etc. will identify them as trans, but this is not the case.

There is not just one way to be a boy or be a girl. Boys can wear pink, have long hair, etc. Girls can want to roughhouse, have short hair, etc. That does not make them not a boy or not a girl, yet this is being used as an indicator in many circumstances today. It once was that the left wanted to break down gender roles, show that women don't have to act in the way society defined them to act. Now, it is breaking these gender roles and expectations that causes people to go "you must be trans, non-binary, etc."

It is also undeniable that gender and sex are tied together, and so we must ask how it is that gender can be a spectrum or fluid when sex isn't. What, precisely, makes it so? I would argue that there isn't an actual way to show that gender is fluid without either presupposing it is or using sexist thinking about gender roles.

I also think it is important to note that the scientific field (sociology) that has made this move towards further separating sex and gender, pushing that gender is fluid, etc. is also the field that has the worst standards when it comes to vetting scientific papers, that has some of the most political bias within the field, etc. It is not as clear cut within academia as people would normally expect from a scientific field because the field is, itself, flawed at this point. It has become more and more a pseudoscience, where a paper was accepted in a journal that was literally a chapter from Main Kampf with the buzzwords changed.

We don't have a neutral field reaching this conclusion, we have a field that has become so politically infected that the works coming out of it are all suspect creating waves, and from that we have different academics forced to adhere to those ideals or be found to be some kind of 'phobic' and lose their position. One cannot simply point to an academic field without also understanding the state of said field, and when you do that when it comes to gender studies and sociology you will find that it is all highly suspect.
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@TheMorningsStar
I think that something important to consider is that what people point to in children to determine if they are trans relies a bit on sexism. I am sure that most people in their mid 20s and older remember growing up with tomboys being a thing. These were girls that did not fall within the stereotype of what it meant to be a girl, instead doing things that were "what boys do". I have actually seen numerous people that would have been called a tomboy when I was growing up being called trans by those around them now.
Yes exactly! People attempting to transition are trying to transition into stereotypes of cisgendered people. So if they are transitioning to become a man they will want a deeper voice, little breast tissue, wearing "boy" clothes and doing "boy" things. Things have gone full circle and now instead of abandoning gender roles we are codifying gender roles to the point that you must change your body if you don't fit them--ie, the problem if you don't fit into a stereotype is YOU! Like you noted in the other thread this also leads to ridiculous questions like if a woman with a deeper voice is less of a woman or if a short man is less of a man. Or perhaps I am less of a man because I like butterflies and they are for "girls." Can't believe "just let people be who they are" is the right wing position but here we are

It is also undeniable that gender and sex are tied together, and so we must ask how it is that gender can be a spectrum or fluid when sex isn't. What, precisely, makes it so? I would argue that there isn't an actual way to show that gender is fluid without either presupposing it is or using sexist thinking about gender roles.
An excellent question, hopefully someone on the other side of this issues tries to answer it. I hadn't thought to put it this way before, but you're right--even the advocates of this stuff acknowledge that gender and sex are linked, but what makes one fluid and one fixed? 

We don't have a neutral field reaching this conclusion, we have a field that has become so politically infected that the works coming out of it are all suspect creating waves, and from that we have different academics forced to adhere to those ideals or be found to be some kind of 'phobic' and lose their position. One cannot simply point to an academic field without also understanding the state of said field, and when you do that when it comes to gender studies and sociology you will find that it is all highly suspect.
I'm pretty suspicious of academia as a whole at this point, sadly. I don't know what the solution is
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3
You should be able to justify your positions on their own merits instead of simply claiming that the "experts" are on your side.
I have no burden to uphold the status quo. It is the status quo because that burden has already been met. If you want to challenge it, you have your burden in front of you and your audience should be the scientific community.

That is why saying, "Well I don't believe that. I shouldn't have it forced upon me" is such a ridiculous position.  

Then try to imagine how you'd feel if the public schools had a system whereby they could be confirmed in the Catholic Church, take communion, and change their names to a Saints name without your knowledge. 
Not the same at all. If the positions of the Catholic Church could be substantiated,  then your scenario would be analogous.
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
I have no burden to uphold the status quo. It is the status quo because that burden has already been met. If you want to challenge it, you have your burden in front of you and your audience should be the scientific community....Not the same at all. If the positions of the Catholic Church could be substantiated,  then your scenario would be analogous.
I gave a well reasoned, two paragraph explanation for why I think the "gender affirming" position can't be substantiated and you completely ignored it. This conversation isn't a competition, maybe 5 or 6 people are even reading it. It's not going to move the needle in either direction, there's no "winning" or "losing." The only goal between the two of us should be to have a productive conversation, and going "well I don't have the burden of proof so there!" as if this is a formal debate is not productive. If you don't think conversing with me further on this subject is beneficial to you, just say so.

People have deeply held beliefs. Many of those peoples deeply held beliefs are different than yours, but we all have to live together. Forcing your deeply held beliefs on peoples children is playing with fire, particularly when the consequences of those deeply held beliefs if applied to other peoples children = those children are sterilized or mutilated. 
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
I have no burden to uphold the status quo. It is the status quo because that burden has already been met. 
Not to be too much of a dick but this is probably the most anti intellectual sentiment I’ve ever seen. Believe in and don’t question whatever the existing orthodoxy happens to be
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3

If you don't think conversing with me further on this subject is beneficial to you, just say so.

People have deeply held beliefs. Many of those peoples deeply held beliefs are different than yours, but we all have to live together. Forcing your deeply held beliefs on peoples children is playing with fire, particularly when the consequences of those deeply held beliefs if applied to other peoples children = those children are sterilized or mutilated. 
Yea, I don't think continuing this conversation would be beneficial to either of us. You want your position to be as justified as gender fluidity but it isn't, and I dont have to treat it as such. 

This conversation isn't a competition, maybe 5 or 6 people are even reading it. It's not going to move the needle in either direction, there's no "winning" or "losing."
I agree, it isn't a competition and I have no problem with conversation (we gone on for quite a while here). Unfortunately for our conversation, I've reached my limit of absurdity. Equating discussions of gender fluidity to 'teaching anal sex' or 'sterilized or mutilated children'  has sabotaged a sincere conversation between us.
thett3
thett3's avatar
Debates: 2
Posts: 2,064
3
2
7
thett3's avatar
thett3
3
2
7
-->
@SkepticalOne
Yea, I don't think continuing this conversation would be beneficial to either of us. You want your position to be as justified as gender fluidity but it isn't, and I dont have to treat it as such. 
If you ever want to have a serious engagement with the other side, feel free to respond to my post whenever. I don't think "my position is justified and yours isn't, and no I won't say why or justify my position because I assert that mine is the status quo and the status quo is always right!" is a serious response, particularly not from a self described skeptic. To give you one last chance, I've copy/pasted my post below:

"You should be able to justify your positions on their own merits instead of simply claiming that the "experts" are on your side. My position in short is that gender dysphoria is a body image disorder, in which individuals are uncomfortable in their own bodies and believe that if they were born the opposite gender they would be comfortable in their bodies. People can not be born in the "wrong" bodies because for all intents and purposes, your body is you, a boy or a girl born in your place would not be you but instead would be someone else. You can make changes to your body, but the changes made in an attempt to change sex are not positive ones but ones that limit a persons potential or actively harm them (sterilize them, block puberty in prime growing years, mutilate their genitals/sex organs into organs that do not function and make them ill.) There is literally no other body image disorder in which we accept that the persons viewpoint is valid and try to change their body to match. There are people who for some reason want a healthy limb removed, imagine if physicians agreed to remove them. Imagine if an anorexic or bulimic 14 year old girl was given liposuction or put on a weight loss diet. This is the same as removing a young girls breasts to try to make her a "man" or giving a teenaged boy estrogen.

The liberal position is that the above makes me a monster because unlike those other disorders trans people are ACTUALLY born into the wrong sex, and their sex doesn't match their gender identity. I believe that sex and gender are inherently linked (if indeed there even is a difference) and brute forcing your body into a pale and sad imitation of the opposite sex never works.  The liberal position, in my view, is fundamentally incoherent because it simultaneously argues that gender identity is unrelated to sex in that an individual can choose/"discover" their gender identity but at the same time it is imperative that we allow children to transition as young as possible so that they can look as close as possible to...the opposite *sex*, as in the secondary sex characteristics derived from biology. The entire thing presupposes valid and consistent definitions of "man and woman" in the first place, otherwise no one could be born in the "wrong" body, but this takes us back to the gender binary. The ideal situation for a person suffering from gender dysphoria is that they come to terms with the body as it is and foster a positive self identity on that basis instead of chasing the impossible. TheMorningStar, being smarter than me on philosophy and actually having experienced this stuff first hand put it much better. But since you won't accept a link to a discussion on this website, that's my position.

For a number of complicated reasons, including but not limited to an ongoing societal fixation on identity and the elevation of "oppressed" identities, identifying as trans is a growing trend among the young."

Unfortunately for our conversation, I've reached my limit of absurdity. Equating discussions of gender fluidity to 'teaching anal sex' or 'sterilized or mutilated children'  has sabotaged a sincere conversation between us.
This is the sort of thing I'm talking about:

"I started transitioning when I was 16. A child. I had undiagnosed BPD, but no one bothered to screen me. If they did they would have seen that I viewed transition as a way to throw myself away and try again. That I was traumatized by my childhood. That I self harmed. But they didn’t. They said “congrats” and handed me a referral. By the time I realized I was more depressed than ever before, I had already had a mastectomy and two years on testosterone. I was thrust into adulthood broken.

I went through the detransition process, quit T for over 5 years, and here at 27 I sleep 14 hours a day, my hair falls out, and I can’t stop gaining weight. I decided I had had enough and got a full medical work up done.

My lab work revealed I have almost no female hormones. I will never have children. I have PCOS. I have high cholesterol. I have cysts all over my ovaries. My PCP had to submit my results to a specialist because they were so unusually terrible, even for PCOS.

I will be on weekly injections, diabetes medication, and who knows what else for the rest of my life. And at this point I have no idea if I will ever get back to feeling energetic, out of pain, and a little bit normal.

When I signed those papers I was not informed, of any of this. I was a child, allowed to destroy my body permanently, under the assurance that I can always change my mind, and that it’s a beautiful, harmless process. The informed consent model is a lie, because we are just guinea pigs to a medical experiment, my life is permanently afflicted, and I was not informed.

I only wish my experience could mean anything, but all it will ever be is internet harassment and an empty feeling. The medical community can’t listen, and the trans community won’t.


Greyparrot
Greyparrot's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 25,993
3
4
10
Greyparrot's avatar
Greyparrot
3
4
10
-->
@thett3
There is literally no other body image disorder in which we accept that the persons viewpoint is valid and try to change their body to match. 
I disagree. There is a huge movement supporting fat people so that they can be comfortable in their own bodies. Society is forced to redefine a fat person as a healthy person regardless of the science.

ADreamOfLiberty
ADreamOfLiberty's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 4,171
3
2
2
ADreamOfLiberty's avatar
ADreamOfLiberty
3
2
2
-->
@thett3
@SkepticalOne
[SkepticalOne] I have no burden to uphold the status quo. It is the status quo because that burden has already been met. If you want to challenge it, you have your burden in front of you and your audience should be the scientific community.
This is false. The status quo is merely the coincidence of an arbitrary cultural state arrived at by highly chaotic dynamics.

The only coherent BoP is the one implied by rational epistemology, namely: If an object or a relationship is claimed to exist, that claim requires proof. If there is no proof (or support) it should be treated as false even if there is no proof it is false.

[thett3] I don't think "my position is justified and yours isn't, and no I won't say why or justify my position because I assert that mine is the status quo and the status quo is always right!" is a serious response, particularly not from a self described skeptic.
Indeed
Greyparrot
Greyparrot's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 25,993
3
4
10
Greyparrot's avatar
Greyparrot
3
4
10
-->
@thett3
 I won't say why or justify my position because I assert that mine is the status quo and the status quo is always right!" is a serious response, particularly not from a self described skeptic.

Lol. False advertising.
Greyparrot
Greyparrot's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 25,993
3
4
10
Greyparrot's avatar
Greyparrot
3
4
10
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
-Hitchens

This includes the justifications of the status quo.
Polytheist-Witch
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Debates: 1
Posts: 4,188
3
3
6
Polytheist-Witch's avatar
Polytheist-Witch
3
3
6
-->
@Greyparrot

I disagree. There is a huge movement supporting fat people so that they can be comfortable in their own bodies. Society is forced to redefine a fat person as a healthy person regardless of the science.
Not true.
Greyparrot
Greyparrot's avatar
Debates: 4
Posts: 25,993
3
4
10
Greyparrot's avatar
Greyparrot
3
4
10
-->
@Polytheist-Witch
Not true.
TheMorningsStar
TheMorningsStar's avatar
Debates: 0
Posts: 398
2
3
7
TheMorningsStar's avatar
TheMorningsStar
2
3
7
-->
@Greyparrot
I disagree. There is a huge movement supporting fat people so that they can be comfortable in their own bodies. Society is forced to redefine a fat person as a healthy person regardless of the science.
I think this is very important to keep in mind. There is a movement by people within the same ideological sphere as those pushing gender-affirming therapies and treatments to switch how we categorize obesity despite the years of scientific evidence on the subject. There are now entire academic journals dedicated to this that are treated as proper and respected journals within sociology.

Sure, it isn't to the point where if you go to the doctor with an obesity problem that you will be told that there is nothing unhealthy about it, but there is growing advocacy for just that.

The fact that any rational person can point this out as absurd is a good thing, but then the same people that point out the absurdity of this movement don't go "maybe there is a problem with this academic field, maybe we need to be more skeptical of their claims".

We look at one scenario that has had decades (more like centuries if not millennia) of unbiased research on the topic and can easy point out that it is absurd what is coming out of academia, that these new papers are clearly awful, etc. and don't go, "Well, what about this other subject that has only had research done very recently, about the same time that academia started shifting to create the absurdity around BMI?"
Dr.Franklin
Dr.Franklin's avatar
Debates: 32
Posts: 10,673
4
7
11
Dr.Franklin's avatar
Dr.Franklin
4
7
11
-->
@zedvictor4
your just wrong. The fact remains-practicing Catholics have the best sex lives
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@thett3
If you ever want to have a serious engagement with the other side, feel free to respond to my post whenever. I don't think "my position is justified and yours isn't, and no I won't say why or justify my position because I assert that mine is the status quo and the status quo is always right!" is a serious response, particularly not from a self described skeptic
We have had serious engagement about why schools should not be banned. Your main objection seems to be a failure of public schools is that they teach facts (you dont agree with). A functionally equivalent position would be 'a failure of schools is that they teach about the big bang/heliocentrism/evolution'. Reasons why fact X shouldn’t be a fact is a completely different argument that needs to be resolved before it carries any weight for the original argument.  Basically, your argument relies on the results of another argument that cannot be resolved by the two of us. 

As for the attempted barb - I am a skeptic, not a cynic. ;-) 

SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@Greyparrot
"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
-Hitchens

This includes the justifications of the status quo.
The scientific status quo is not asserted without evidence. ;-)
SkepticalOne
SkepticalOne's avatar
Debates: 9
Posts: 1,720
3
3
7
SkepticalOne's avatar
SkepticalOne
3
3
7
-->
@ADreamOfLiberty
[SkepticalOne] I have no burden to uphold the status quo. It is the status quo because that burden has already been met. If you want to challenge it, you have your burden in front of you and your audience should be the scientific community.
This is false
No. The present accepted understanding of gender has not occurred without substantiation. Ie. The burden has been met.

If there is no proof (or support) it should be treated as false even if there is no proof it is false.

If there is no proof for a position, it's truth is dubious - not false. A claim of "False" comes with its own burden. ;-)