(M)an: Dude! The
federal government would be best advised to bypass the Republican Governors
Association membership and the Republican Majority State Legislatures entirely
in order to provide accountable funding to school districts and statewide
initiatives that are not being implemented by the Republicans in local and
state government. Case in point, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan
Patrick continuing to underfund our public schools and placing transgender
students and their families under so much unnecessary stress and unsafe conditions
by insisting transgender individuals use public restrooms and shower facilities
according to the gender identified on their birth certificate, not the gender identity
they have chosen after so much emotional and physical agony involved in the realization
that one is a transgender male (genetically
a female, or XX) or transgender female (genetically a male, or XY).
(D)ude: Man! In
that case, I would caution the Republican Party leaders to withhold from making
this fuss about gender identity and take a human physiology and genetics course
outlining the development of the sex of the fetus. Having taken this course,
they would promptly realize that there are transgender individuals who are born
XXY too alongside a myriad of other combinations of the two standard genders
our global society chooses to accept as the general norm. Where are the medical
professionals right now? Isn’t this controversy, being blown out of proportion by
the Republican Party, deserve being addressed by medical schools and public
health professionals? Where are the school counselors and school psychologists
hiding? Whatever became of the social workers?
M: Dude! Well, I
have been reading the 50th anniversary edition of the book Dr. Spock’s Baby and Childcare and medical
doctors Benjamin Spock and Michael B. Rothenberg address the inhibitions of
Republicans like Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in their academic discussions of “The
Facts of Life” and specifically masturbation patterns across infancy and
childhood. On page 502, Drs. Spock and Rothenberg delineate the history of such
inhibitions by folks like Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who claim that this
transgender issue is parallel in nature to the debate about prayer in public
schools,
“618. Different views about masturbation. Before
the twentieth century, there was a great deal of shame and guilt in Christian
countries about sex in general and about masturbation in particular. Children
were told that masturbation would injure their genitals—even shrivel the penis
or make it fall off—and cause insanity.
“Physicians,
especially psychiatrists, and psychologists who have studied these fears about masturbation
in our time have concluded that they are unfounded, that a large majority of children
and adults have masturbated, more at certain stages, despite the guilt, and
that there is no physical or psychological harm aside from excessive guilt in
some sensitive individuals. These professionals believe that masturbation is
normal, that it’s a positive way for children to learn about their own bodies
and gender differences, and that it relieves tension and provides comfort when
children and adults try to manage all kinds of fears and worries.
“Infants
discover their genitals and the pleasure that touching them gives, just as they
discover other parts of their bodies. At 3, 4, and 5 years there is a period of
increased sexual interest, most professionals believe, which is less intense
than that of adolescence and which gets a majority of children involved in sex
play with each other, in forming strong romantic attachments to the parent of
the opposite sex, in curiosity about the origins of babies and in a wish to
make one, and usually in an increase in masturbation. These sexual interests
become partially inhibited in the 6- to 11-year-old period (and sublimated into
more socially acceptable interests such as nature, science, school subjects)
because children become anxious about competing romantically with the parent of
the same sex, about their misunderstandings about why girls aren’t made like
boys, about parents’ disapproval of masturbation and other sexual activities.
Then the hormonal changes of puberty and adolescence push sexual feelings into
the foreground again, and much more strongly than ever.
“These
conclusions of the professionals about the normality and acceptability of
childhood sexuality and masturbation leave problems for parents who have
contrary religious and moral beliefs. For these parents, I suggest certain
compromises. I would avoid threats of hellfire or insanity or that the child
may cause himself physical harm, because these may scare sensitive children severely
and may cause permanent emotional and sexual difficulties. Instead, I suggest
that such parents use mild types of inhibition of masturbation such as, “I wish
you wouldn’t do that” or “It is against our beliefs to touch yourself like that.””
D: Man! What do
Drs. Spock and Rothenberg recommend is the appropriate time for sex education?
M: Dude! They
state clearly on page 507, that…
“626. Sex education starts early whether you
plan it or not. It is common to think that sex education means a lecture at
school or a solemn talk by a parent at home. This is taking too narrow a view
of the subject. A child is learning about “the facts of life” all through
childhood, if not in a good way then in an unwholesome way. Sex is a lot
broader than just how babies are made. It includes the whole matter of how men
and women get along with each other, and what their respective places are in
the world. Let me give you a couple of bad examples.
“Suppose
a boy has a father who is disagreeable and abusive to the mother. You can’t
educate the boy with a lecture at school telling him that marriage is a relationship
of mutual love and respect. His experience tells him differently. When he
learns about the physical side of sex, whether it’s from a teacher or from
other children, he will fit it into the picture he has of a man being
disagreeable to a woman.
“Or
take the example of a girl who grows up feeling unwanted because she thinks her
parents prefer her younger brother. She is going to resent men, because she believes
they get all the breaks—that women are always the victims—and that this situation
cannot be changed. It won’t matter how many books or talks you give her about
sex and marriage. Whatever she hears or experiences she will fit into the
pattern she has fixed in her mind: it’s the man taking advantage of the woman
who is helpless to alter the pattern. Even if she marries, she won’t adjust to
it.
“So
children begin their sex education as soon as they sense how their mother and
father get along with each other in general, how they feel about their sons and
daughters, and as soon as they become aware of differences between their bodies
and their parents’ bodies and those of opposite-sexed brothers, sisters,
playmates.”
D: Man! That book
is from 1992!
M: Dude! And,
like the Clintons, it is outdated! Drs. Spock and Rothenberg state a case for
conversion therapy that is upsetting to read. Here, on page 52, they state,
“54. Worries about homosexuality. When
parents think that their little boy is effeminate or their little girl is too masculine,
they may worry that the child will grow up to be a homosexual or lesbian. In
fact, a majority of such children will grow up to be heterosexual.
“If
a boy exclusively wanted dresses and dolls and preferred to only play with
girls, I would assume that something had gotten mixed up in his identification,
as a result of misunderstandings or anxieties, and that this should be looked
into by a child guidance clinic or a child psychiatrist. If a girl wanted to
play a lot with boys and occasionally wished she were a boy, but also enjoyed
playing with girls, I wouldn’t be concerned. If she would play only with boys
and was always unhappy about being a
girl, I’d want a consultation.
“55. What is homosexuality? In our
society, approximately 10 percent of adult males are homosexual and about 5
percent of adult females are lesbian.
“There
is a controversy among psychiatrists and psychologists about whether some
individuals are born predisposed to homosexual or lesbian tendencies, or
whether certain kinds of anxieties, misunderstandings, and misidentifications
in early childhood lead to these orientations. In some cases, psychotherapy can
undo early anxieties and misidentifications, and lead to a heterosexual orientation.
“Scientific
studies have shown homosexual and lesbian couples can raise children of either
sex who will become well-adjusted heterosexual adults. These studies have also
shown that homosexuals and lesbians aren’t any more likely to be involved in sexual
or any other abuse of children than are heterosexuals. So there is no
justification for being suspicious of a child’s relationship with anyone of homosexual
or lesbian orientation.
“Since
the mid-1980s, because of all the media attention to the AIDS epidemic,
children have heard about homosexuality as soon as they’ve started watching TV.
But most people in our society have an unreasonable fear of homosexuals, so
most parents have a hard time talking to their children about homosexuality. I
think that when a child asks, or when you’re talking about sex in general with
a child 6 or older, you can casually explain that some men and women live with
and make love with people of the same sex.”
D: Man! Sounds
like Drs. Spock and Rothenberg are stuck in that societal quagmire that manifested
in the presidency of William Jefferson Clinton, the consummate Republican male.
M: Dude! Don’t ask, don’t tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA?
D: Man! Hillary
Rodham Clinton will be revisiting the days of her husband’s presidency upon
becoming the Democratic nominee for the American presidency.
M: Dude! Yeah,
Hillary Clinton claims that 2008 was such smooth sailing compared with how Bernie
Sanders is campaigning as her competitor for the Democratic nomination
nowadays. Such hogwash! The transition in 2008 was not at all rosy, Hillary
Clinton actually brought up Robert Kennedy in such a disturbingly cruel, disrespectful
manner, by saying the following while in South Dakota, “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was
assassinated in June in California.”
D: Man! According
to a New York Times article by Katharine Q. Seelye dating back to May 24, 2008,
“Still, the comments touched on one of the most sensitive
aspects of the current presidential campaign — concern for Mr. Obama’s safety.
And they come as Democrats have been talking increasingly of an Obama/Clinton
ticket, with friends of the Clintons saying that Bill Clinton is musing about
the possibility that the vice presidency might be his wife’s best path to the
presidency if she loses the nomination.
“It was in the context of discussions about her political future
that Mrs. Clinton made the remarks on Friday to the editorial board of The
Sioux Falls Argus Leader. She had said that some people whom she did not name
were trying to push her out of the race, but she noted that historically many
races had gone on longer than hers.
“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won
the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right?” she said. “We
all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.””
M: Dude! Hillary
Clinton has yet to engage in debate or a town hall with Bernie Sanders over the
negative legislation being passed by the Republican Majority and the Teabag
Democrats like herself in both houses of Congress, such as the veterans omnibus
bill that cuts into the Post 9/11 GI Bill which the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
members passed unanimously, and the House Armed Services Committee bill
requiring females to register for the military draft as well as men. The
Republicans and the Teabags Democrats like Hillary Clinton are arguing that the
military draft registration for women is theoretical, but I believe we’re on
the precipice of WWIII with either the Republican dummy Donald Trump or the
Teabag Democrat intervention-enthusiast Hillary Clinton.
D: Man! Feel the
Bern or be burnt by WWIII! Bernie Sanders is the candidate for presidency that embodies
the spirit of the time we’re living in today! He has proven to be a zeitgeist
in his career as mayor, a representative, and a senator, always on the sounder
side of history. Hillary Clinton is too backwoods to even be considered a
plausible candidate for the presidency, just like the Republican Party right
now, she is obsolete.
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