• Authority
    +1

    I found that line in the first paragraph a little odd.

    to acknowledge six to eight students who don’t fit traditional gender norms — kids who range from tomboys to transgender

    Tomboys are just as much girls as all the other girls. They just act differently. I support the transgender movement insofar as it helps people suffering from body dysphoria, but I often see people treating gender as an equivalent to personality, which is absolutely a step in the wrong direction. Tomboys aren't going against "traditional gender norms"; it's perfectly normal for girls to be rough and energetic.

    And besides, no one knows they're trans in elementary school.

    • AdelleChattre
      +3

      Tomboys are just as much girls as all the other girls.

      For your personal definition of tomboy, which may not cover every usage of the term in the real world.

      Tomboys aren't going against "traditional gender norms"; it's perfectly normal for girls to be rough and energetic.

      Again, your personal definition, modulo what any given individual tomboy might have to say about whether they’re like “all the other girls.”

      And besides, no one knows they're trans in elementary school.

      Plenty at that age can sense they’re ‘defective girls’ or work out that they’re different in ways they may experience as fear or alienation. Maybe that will change as we, as a society, become more understanding. Kids in this near future we live in may have it easier finding out for themselves who they are than kids of yesteryear.

      • Authority
        +1

        For your personal definition of tomboy, which may not cover every usage of the term in the real world

        I've only ever heard it used to refer to girls who play/act/talk like boys typically do at that age. Is there another definition? I googled it and could only find what I already know about the word.

        Again, your personal definition, modulo what any given individual tomboy might have to say about whether they’re like “all the other girls.”

        Yes, my definition. It's the only one I've ever heard. And of course they're not like all the other girls, but that doesn't mean they're any less of a girl. If you want to define "not fitting traditional gender norms", as the article does, as acting a little different, then you can. It just seems to me to be an over-extension of the term considering how commonplace tomboys are.

        Plenty at that age can sense they’re ‘defective girls’ or work out that they’re different in ways they may experience as fear or alienation. Maybe that will change as we, as a society, become more understanding. Kids in this near future we live in may have it easier finding out for themselves who they are than kids of yesteryear

        I think plenty of young kids have issues with their bodies at that age but very very few of them end up actually having body dysphoria. While those who do end up having it may experience it at an early age, there's no way to tell until much later in life, as many, perhaps most, children haven't figured themselves out yet.