Mom Says Youngster Has Male Brain

[wdlove]

Parents of a 9 year old 4th grader are allowing her to dress as a boy. This occured after her February vacation. The parents have changed her name and are requiring the school to treat her as a boy. She is still biologically a girl.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/family...37/detail.html

[dotdotdot]

Uh - what the hell does that mean, the brain of a boy?

Somethings going to be figured out when he/she becomes a teenager and begins puberty...

[wdlove]

I think that the whole family needs counseling. At 9 years old, that's a little young to really know her body. The boy's brain comment is why the mother needs counseling. Another example why some people just aren't' meant to be parents.

[JeDiBoYTJ]

what exactly constitutes a 'male brain'? does this 'girl' sit in front of the TV drinking a beer, while scratching her belly?

I also think it could be quite interesting if he/she formed the body of a girl, but with a male brain.... but then ended up being gay

[PixelFactory]

How can this be healthy for this girl? She is still a girl. Changing her name and dressing her in boy's attire will not change that. I can't make a turtle into a cat by putting it in a fur coat and calling it fluffy.

[PixelFactory]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I think that the whole family needs counseling.

The article says they came to this after consulting with "medical professionals"

[Blue Velvet]

Originally Posted by PixelFactory

How can this be healthy for this girl? She is still a girl. Changing her name and dressing her in boy's attire will not change that. I can't make a turtle into a cat by putting it in a fur coat and calling it fluffy.

This can be perfectly healthy.

If it's a 'phase' then acknowledging and exploring her gender-dysphoria at that age is far more healthy than suppressing it.

If it's not a phase and puberty brings about increased confusion and self-loathing, then further steps can be taken to correct what is seen and experienced as an unlivable situation.

Your analogy is not at all relevant. Transexualism is not comparable to a species masquerading as another...

[killuminati]

And this is news how?

In grade 3 there was a girl in my school who acted like a boy and wanted to be one. She dressed as a boy and changed her name to David. A couple years later she went back to being a girl.
I also have a cousin who went through that when she was very young.

I don't think its that strange and the girl will probably grow out of phase in a couple years.

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally Posted by killuminati

I don't think its that strange and the girl will probably grow out of phase in a couple years.

That seems a little more reasonable than the parents going ahead and making it happen. So she/he is going to use the boys room? At that age the other kids are not going to let it go easily and she/he will be subject of some unwanted attention, I imagine.

D

[wdlove]

I do feel sorry for her/him. Using a bathroom would certainly be a major problem. Children can be very cruel toward another child. The peer pressure could be a problem, the smart thing would be for the parents to transfer her/him to another school. I wish her/him well, like others hopefully will find the real self.

Yes, the family did seek advice from "medical professionals." It doesn't mean that they received any counseling, something that seems very appropriate.

[dotdotdot]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I do feel sorry for her/him. Using a bathroom would certainly be a major problem. Children can be very cruel toward another child. The peer pressure could be a problem, the smart thing would be for the parents to transfer her/him to another school. I wish her/him well, like others hopefully will find the real self.

Yes, the family did seek advice from "medical professionals." It doesn't mean that they received any counseling, something that seems very appropriate.

Using the bathroom is one thing, what about if that school has showers after P.E.?

[comictimes]

This kind of disturbs me, mainly because the article doesn't ONCE say what the child thinks of all of this. I mean, one would assume that he (formerly she) decided that he was in fact a boy, informed his parents of this, and they apparently were perfectly okay with this.

However, since the article never mentions his feelings, it kind of makes me worried- what if it were something like, the parents had always wanted a boy, and somehow got the slightest opportunity to make the kid think this is what he wanted too. So, without giving the kid time to consult on his true feelings, they went and told everyone she was now a he, while the kid is standing back there, utterly confused and simply following along.


Sorry, I'm really tired, and when I'm tired, I get paranoid.

[SuperChuck]

I just took a test over on the BBC site to determine what "sex" my brain was. Although I'm a male, the BBC says I have a female brain. I don't plan on any sex changes, but it was a very interesting test.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/


As far as this story goes, the kid is WAY too young for this kind of stuff. I think it is healthy for people to assume whatever sexual identity they feel most comfortable with, but a 9 year old is hardly mature enough to make such a decision.

[MongoTheGeek]

I think that they are over thinking this.

If the girl wants to wear pants, let her wear pants. If she wants to be called Chris, fine. If she wants to play football and beat people up fine. Its sounds like they are trying to assign characteristics to sex that aren't characteristics of sex.

There are tribes in Africa were the men put on makeup (not war paint or the like makeup) and try to be beautiful for women.

Saying they have to treat her as a boy is delusional, bordering on psychosis. Writing a note saying she wants to be called Kevin is fine. Let her be called Kevin, let her brother be called Sue

[acedickson]

Originally Posted by JeDiBoYTJ

I also think it could be quite interesting if he/she formed the body of a girl, but with a male brain.... but then ended up being gay

Not that uncommon. A psychologist would be able to help determine if what they think is true. It happens more than you think. Usually the parents don't allow it to happen.

I think this is getting more publicity because the parents are actually open minded enough to accept it.

[Dr. Dastardly]

WTF?! The girls a tom boy whats the big deal? I knew a ton of girls that wore boy type clothes and do boy type things when they were 9. Its the parents fault for taking it to such an extreme. Why do they really need to go so far into changing the childs name and telling teachers to treat the child like a boy.

[Makosuke]

[Post re-written, because after reading a little bit apparently my opinion was completely wrong]

My instinct would be to be a little worried about the parents and it's a really badly written article--it doesn't tell us anything useful--but while my initial reaction was to wonder if there's a difference between pre-pubescent children experimenting with their gender identities and an actual transgendered person (somebody who, as poorly described in that article, has the 'wrong brain for their body'), I was apparently wrong.

A brief skim of a few medical texts that Google coughed up would seem to indicate that gender dysphoria develops well before puberty, in which case perhaps this apparently weird action really does make sense--instead of being traumatized at an early age by "not fitting in", she (he, I guess) could have the opportunity to grow up in a way that feels more natural. And, I suppose, if it really is just a phase (one hopes that they really did get a good medical diagnosis), then she can always go back.

I'm still a little torn, but it doesn't seem to be quite as crazy as it seems at first. And you've certainly got to question the wisdom of the parents sending the kid back to the same school--people with gender issues have enogh trouble as it is, but switching over winter break is practically guaranteed to result in problems unless that is an unbelievably tolerant school.

One also has to wonder how this story even made the news--did the parents go bragging about it, or did the parent of another kid there get so riled up that they went to the media with an oddball story? It'd also be nice if the media outlet that repoprted it had provided even a cursory background on gender dysphoria so it's more than just a curiosity piece.

[vniow]

The amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering.

[wdlove]

Originally Posted by vniow

The amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering.

Please help us to correct the disinformation vinow.

Yes, I had a cousin that was very much a Tom Boy, in dress and actions. Today she is a loving mother.

[stubeeef]

Originally Posted by wdlove

I think that the whole family needs counseling.

Pretty much sums it up.

Don't take offense wdlove, but before I read the article my first guess was Mass. then Oregon, then Southern California. It obviously could have been my nieghborhood, but that was my first best guess.

[ravenvii]

Originally Posted by wdlove

Please help us to correct the disinformation vinow.

Yes, I had a cousin that was very much a Tom Boy, in dress and actions. Today she is a loving mother.

OT - hey, her username is vniow, not vinow.

OT (yeah I meant ON topic) - That's a weird thing to do... But I'm sure it'll fix itself once she turns 13ish, hmm?

[Mechcozmo]

Yes, some people believe they are meant to be the other gender that they are. But I've never heard of anyone (well, 'till now) that had those thoughts at this age. Usually they start after the kid can do some deep, deep, deep thinking about them self. At that age, the kids actions shouldn't be repressed but not encouraged-- let her wear pants and stuff, but don't encourage the behavior until you really know what's going on. But on the other hand, you don't want to suppress it because that can lead to dissent.

I think the parents are being a bit too abusing of their parental powers. Far easier to just let things to and see what happens then to start plotting out the rest of this kids life as "the girl who had her parents change her to a boy... by accident" or something like that. Well, now that I think/type about it, the parents will either be applauded for their actions or brutally flamed for their actions. In 10 years I bet we see another article on this when the kid can sue the parents if it goes wrong .

[virividox]

okay thats messed up...lets just hope that this doesnt screw her up for the rest of her life

[Sun Baked]

Originally Posted by vniow

The amount of misinformation in this thread is staggering.

Sorry, I only got the part where parents with non-functioning brains were trying to force their child into one role or another and really were trusting the doctors.

Still don't trust head doctors anyways, they get under my skin.

Plus I don't know if these are the doctors that decide everybody needs drugs, or were willing to help the kid through the problems by talking to him/her.

Not enough info.

---

But one things for sure, you can't always change how the rest of the kids will treat the odd little ones.

[Blue Velvet]

Originally Posted by Sun Baked

Not enough info.

Here's an update on this story with a more detailed account of what is actually happening.

It saddens me that people in this thread can be so condemning and judgemental without knowing anything about the issue at all.