Wow...!

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 1 — Until recently, many children who did not conform to gender norms in their clothing or behavior and identified intensely with the opposite sex were steered to psychoanalysis or behavior modification.

But as advocates gain ground for what they call gender-identity rights, evidenced most recently by New York City’s decision to let people alter the sex listed on their birth certificates, a major change is taking place among schools and families. Children as young as 5 who display predispositions to dress like the opposite sex are being supported by a growing number of young parents, educators and mental health professionals.

This is a fascinating article about new approaches taken by parents to nurture transgendered children, rather than force them to conform to the norms of their birth-sex.

My life would have been so very different had I been allowed to grow up as a boy!

Thing is, while a part of me wishes it had happened, mostly I'm glad my life took the path it did.

First, if I had been raised as a boy and therefore not gone into denial in my late teens and tried to live as a woman, I wouldn't have had my daughter--the light of my life! And what a huge, unimaginable loss that would have been. Being pregnant, giving birth, and mothering her are among the best experiences of my life.

And no, that doesn't make me doubt my manliness, but if it challenges yours, so much the better.

Being socialised as a girl against my will civilised me. In short, it forced me to learn to identify and deal with my emotions. When I was a kid and feeling most like a boy, I led a stunted emotional life. The only emotions I could name were happiness and anger. Grief, loss, empathy, fear, desire, sorrow, outrage, pain, and others were a huge, bewildering confusion that prompted me to behave reactively in ways I was totally unable to understand or take responsibility for.

This is allowed for boys (and men) and it was allowed for me when I was very young. The older I grew, however, the more society forced me as a girl to process my emotions, understand what I was feeling and why, and behave accountably. Which, over time, forced me to evolve as a person.

Don't get me wrong: I believe boys and men are just as capable of evolving as women. But society gives them a pass. If I'd been born a boy, not only would I have not been expected to process my feelings, I would have been pressured to cut off from them the older I grew. I likely would have become an angry, violent, macho jerk, as that's definitely the direction I was headed and the sort of community I was raised in.

I probably would have volunteered for the infantry in Vietnam (I wanted to at one point, but couldn't as a girl) which if I'd survived, would have fucked me up even more. I used to look at the many burnt-out vets homeless, addicted, and struggling on the streets of California, and think, "There but for the grace...."

Another thing, the standards my dad held me to as a girl were so much easier to meet than those applied to my brother. Consequently, I could do no wrong in my dad's eyes, whereas my brother was mercilessly criticised and belittled. You know how it is between fathers and sons, especially first-born sons. I avoided all that. My dad now regrets what he did, but my brother, in his 60's, is still affected by it.

Of course, this train of thought is running more toward if I'd been born a boy, not raised as a tranny boy. Presumably, if my parents had been enlightened enough to respect me as transgendered, they would have also ascribed to more humane and nuanced gender roles.

Now we're really drifting into fantasy, though, considering I was born and raised in the 1950's American West!

No, given the cards I was dealt, like I said earlier I'm grateful my life took the path it did. While it has been anything but easy, how many people in our gender-segregated society get to experience life as both a woman and a man?!

On the other hand, I'm also glad modern parents are nurturing their transgendered kids. I hope the trend grows. Any and all improvements in the way we practice gender are appreciated.

And while we're at it, let's advocate that everyone be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness regardless of sex, gender, age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or disability --have I forgotten any?

Complete story here.

And, oh, that's me in that photo above--many decades ago--on the left (naturally!).

Mr (President) Geekazoid....

Don't tell my favourite blogger that, ummmmmmm, [squirm], uuhhhhhh, [shift nervously from foot to foot]...if I had to be honest [gaze away], well.... Ok! Ok! I never really liked Al Gore!!

But after seeing An Inconvenient Truth and reading this GQ interview, my feelings have evolved. Even allowing that in the past six years, a large percentage of his words may have been scripted and his appearances PR-managed, I'd still gladly vote for the guy if he ran in '08.

The GQ interview is worth reading for his assesment of Bush alone:

...But dammit, whatever happened to the concept of accountability for catastrophic failure? This administration has been by far the most incompetent, inept, and with more moral cowardice, and obsequiousness to their wealthy contributors, and obliviousness to the public interest of any administration in modern history, and probably in the entire history of the country!

Sentiments on self-serving delusions....

Dennis Perrin is, without doubt, one of the best bloggers out there.

Excellent writer: original, thought-provoking, gut-wrenchingly honest and always worth a read.

Would that America produced more with his grasp of history and powers of critical thinking.

The following gives a taste of his well placed moral outrage.

I will offer this: the notion that the US held "honorable intentions" as it tore the lid off of Iraq is not only self-serving piety, it's a widespread sociopathic delusion. Yet, US politicos from Chuck Hagel to Russ Feingold utter this line whenever possible, keeping a straight face while another thousand or so Iraqis are blown to bits, and a few dozen more US soldiers and Marines have their heads, arms or legs blown off by IEDs, or are felled by snipers. "Honorable"? Are you fucking kidding me? Criminal would be the first word out of my mouth, but then, I'm not trying to appease the fantasies of the political elite nor those among the greater mass who seriously buy into this insane logic.

The complete post also includes a video clip of Marx/Engels set to classic American cartoons.

Women's situation worsen in Afghanistan....

This article makes my blood boil. Remember Bush allegedly championing women’s rights after the US invaded Afghanistan? Well, like so much of his hypocritical posturing, this stance too has proven to be completely disingenuous.

It’s a fact that Afghani women’s rights were a low priority before the invasion. I’ve been following this issue since the Taliban took over Kabul in September, 1996. If you remember, that was when the mullahs forced women from all workplaces because it was "immoral" for females to be labouring outside the home. This included nurses and caregivers, which left children abandoned in orphanages where, with little or no warning, 10 and 12-year-old children struggled to care for toddlers.

So much for Taliban morality!

And now—surprise! surprise!—according to this Guardian article, the US government is once again making a low priority of woman's rights. While the situation improved a bit for women in Kabul immediately after the American invasion, it is now worsening everywhere across the country. Women and girls are facing such horrors and despair that they’re committing suicide at appalling rates.

.… "Afghan women are killing themselves now," she says, "there is no liberation for them." This is not just rhetoric: the Afghan Human Rights Commission recently began to document the numbers of Afghan women who are burning themselves to death because they cannot escape abuse in their families.

Women's troubles are part and parcel of a bleak picture of poverty, ignorance, prejudice, violence and suffering in Afghanistan that the NATO presence has done little to alleviate.

Everywhere I go, from the offices of big international organisations such as Oxfam, to government ministries, to little Afghan organisations, I hear anger and frustration. Anger at promised money that never arrived, even from blue-chip donors such as the World Bank. Anger at unaccountable donors who set up useful projects, but decided to move on after six months, leaving workers penniless and floundering. Anger at US aid that was tied to using US contractors with little knowledge of the country, so that, say, a vital health clinic in Badakhshan was built in a region where it would only be accessible by helicopter during the winter months. Anger at poor central planning and lack of transparency in the government.

These failures of development mean that people still do not have the clinics, schools, clean water and roads that they need to start rebuilding civil society after decades of war. Even in Kabul most areas are still desperately poor, with no functioning sewage system and just a few hours of electricity a night.

But because Afghani women are often treated no better than chattel, women and girls suffer much more than anyone else amid this horrendous situation.

Go. Read this story. And for more, check out RAWA's website.

(Photo by S'ra DeSantis)

Behind the Israeli contradictions....

...If my analysis is correct, Israel is willing to settle for peace and quiet rather than genuine peace, for management of the conflict rather than closure, for territorial gains that may perpetuate tensions and occasional conflicts in the region, but which do not jeopardize Israel’s essential security. Declaring “the right to be normal” thus becomes a PR move designed to blame the other side and cast Israel as the victim; it is not something that Israeli leaders sincerely expect. Indeed, their very policies are based on the assumption that functional normality—an acceptable level of “quiet,” a strong economy, a fairly normal existence for an insulated Israeli public most of the time—is a preferred quid pro quo to the concessions required for a genuine (and attainable) peace.

Interesting analysis that explains some of the contradictions. It's short. Make it required reading for all of Israel's American supporters. (H/T: Crooks & Liars.)

P.S. And for European supporters of Israel, too!

Only when the international community—led by Europe rather than the U.S., which appears to be hopeless in this regard—decides that the price is too high and adopts a more assertive policy toward the Occupation, will the ability of Israeli governments to manipulate it end. Since governments will not do the right thing without being prodded by the people, what the Israeli public needs for a peaceful resolution to the conflict is not the “support” of its supposed “friends” but the active intervention of international civil society.

Complete story here.

Hope for peace in Gaza...?

Palestinian militants have agreed to stop firing rockets into Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a halt to targetted killings, it emerged last night.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, telephoned Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and told him that all Palestinian factions had agreed to a ceasefire from 6am this morning.

Olmert replied that if there was no rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli forces could stop their operations and begin to withdraw from Gaza. The ceasefire could bring an end to a spate of violence which has seen the death of more than 100 Palestinians in Israeli operations and two Israeli civilians killed by Palestinian rockets within the past month. [emphasis mine]

I see this as a step forward. I remain pessimistic, however, about prospects of long-term peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Even while this agreement was being finalised, Israeli troops killed one "militant" and wounded six Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy shot in the head while standing outside his house.

Moreover, Israel continues to construct its hundreds-mile-long "security wall," essentially walling Palestinians into a huge prison, while the world looks on and does nothing. How would you like to live next to that (pictured above)?! Imagine the loss of an unobstructed view of sky and landscape, in addition to access to hospitals, jobs, relatives, olive groves and freedom of movement in your own community.

That the construction of this wall continues with no real objection on the part of world governments illustrates perfectly how little Palestinian lives matter in the political equation between Israel and Palestine. As long as this remains true, extremists on both sides will have access to a ready pool of volunteers in their desperate, asymmetrical war of suicide bombers vs. the Israeli state.

Complete story here.