Not long after writing the article about Obama’s infamous and unconstitutional “Transgender Letter,” I had an exploratory conversation with my ten-year-old daughter about the toxic brouhaha. My first question was simply, “If a boy believes that he’s a girl, what would you think about him using the girls’ bathroom or locker room at school?” Her immediate response was an emotionally charged, “Ewww! Gross!” Being the good *cough* progressive that I am, I pushed back.
“But, if he really believes that he is a girl, why should he be forced to use the boys’ bathroom?”
“Because he’s a boy!” was her dumfounded answer.
“Ok,” I responded, “but why do you care if he uses the girls’ bathroom?”
“It would be weird,” she protested. “And I would feel uncomfortable. I don’t want boys in the bathroom with me.”
I continued my leftist indoctrination, “Are you sure that you’re being fair? I mean, who are you to decide for another person what gender they are?”
With wide eyes and shaking her head incredulously, my frustrated ten-year-old daughter sputtered out, “Daddy, I didn’t decide. He’s a boy because he’s a boy!”
At that point, I could tell that her respect for me was quickly diminishing, so I peeled off my misshapen and comical leftist mask and assured her that she and I were in agreement; I had simply been curious about how she would respond. We talked a little more about whether or not gender identity is fluid. During our talk, she struggled to wrap her brain around the concept of boys being girls and vice versa. For her, it’s simple – boys are boys and girls are girls. (For the record, and for the naysayers, I had not front-loaded her in reference to transgender issues; that was my first conversation with her specifically about transgenderism.)
Later, while reflecting on that conversation, I was struck with how different her response was from when she was first confronted with racism. In her mind, the concept of racism is nonsensical. When she first discovered that some people are mean to other people because of the color of their skin, she was confused, dismayed, and indignant. For her, disliking someone because their skin color is a different hue than yours is as absurd as disliking someone because their eyes are blue instead of green.
My daughter isn’t unusual in this regard; her views of racism comport with that of other kids. (Google “racism is taught” if you doubt my claim.) Similar to the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” children often have the uncanny ability to see through adult nonsense. For most people, racism is something that is learned. The thought that different color skin deserves scorn makes zero sense to most children. Likewise, the notion that boys can be girls and girls can be boys seems patently absurd to children.
On the playground, in their backyards, and in school, children are acutely aware of the differences between boys and girls. Anyone with kids or who works with kids can attest to that. Almost every day I watch gender delineations articulated on the playground. Adults are aware of gender differences, too. The difference is that adults feel constrained by the new intolerance “tolerance” demanded by our brave new world. Even though it’s obvious that boys are boys and girls are girls, adults are burdened with the expectations of not “defining” people for them. Kids, however, are free to speak the truth (for now).
It’s not a coincidence that my daughter is revolted by racism and is equally mortified by the thought of a boy using the same bathroom as her. As a child mostly free from the societal constraints on free thought and the ability to see reality, my daughter simply expresses the truth that the emperor doesn’t have any clothes and that boys are boys and girls are girls. Taking a cue from children’s rejection of racism, adults should humble themselves like children and be willing to call out transgenderism for the absurdity that it is.
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