Gossip or Indication of Acceptance?
By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini
Q: Dear April Masini,
My youngest son identifies with women and has asked that we identify him as a girl. He is 12, and we are trying to figure out how to handle this. Ever since this started a few years ago, I have noticed a lot of attention to transgendered people on the television, in newspapers and even on TV.
I am trying to figure out what this means for my child. Are people going to be more accepting of him than they would have been a few years ago, or is this just thinly veiled gossip?
Sincerely,
Transitioning Mom
A:
Dear Transitioning Mom,
I think it was Emerson who said that an unanalyzed life is not worth living. If he only knew .... there is so much looking inward that even our inner child has a litany of inner children looking inward. Some of us who look inward find a person with a gender different than what God gave us. Okay, so we live in a world of change. Whether it's a facelift or a ...well, you know... a sex change and the transition that goes with that.
Then there's technology that's increased the number of entertainment venues from what used to be a handful to a millions (YouTube, cable, internet, etc.) and that increased the need for entertainment product. Reality shows were a cheap way to produce content, and when
The Real World dramas began to repeat themselves,
producers went into the doctor's offices to make surgery the new entertainment, and what's more interesting or more provocative surgery than surgery that has to do with sex organs?
Hence the media interest in transgender, transsexual life, and the audience created for it. And the acceptance of what's around us, which brings out the interest in many people. We imitate what we see. If what we see is our mother and we like her, then we imitate her. If what we see is Pamela Anderson, and we like her, then we imitate her. If what we see is the newest Arquette "sister" then we imitate her.
It's actually human nature.
Does the increase in attention to transgender and transsexual people mean there is more acceptance?
Yes. The increase in attention has been multiplied by the technology explosion that created an outlet in every car and every home and every room in every home. And the more we see this, the more it becomes just another day.
April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas,
and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.
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