My observations from where I work (a school) and I believe the national trends, it is girls fleeing femaleness by a very large margin over boys going female. Is the Patriarchy having the last word? That it is truly better to be a man than a woman? An unconscious misogyny?
My observations from where I work (a school) and I believe the national trends, it is girls fleeing femaleness by a very large margin over boys going female. Is the Patriarchy having the last word? That it is truly better to be a man than a woman? An unconscious misogyny?
At risk of being accused of misogynism, I think part of it is simply that teenage girls are highly susceptible to social contagion and it is a social contagion. (Teenage boys are highly susceptible to social contagion as well, IMO, but still perhaps less.) That's what some trans desisters have interpreted their experience as, comparing it directly to anorexia as well.
But there is an underlying misogyny contributing by casting *traditionally* female roles, interests, and characteristics as inherently boring, unimportant, or even problematic. How many movies portray a bored dumb housewife becoming a bad ass lawyer or superhero or something and it's like "Carol, I though you were just a worthless mom and housewife but now you're beating the boys at man stuff!"?
My wife takes care of our children at home while I have a white collar PMC job of the type that she-Hulk would want. But reality is I envy my wife at home working on things that *actually* matter.
My observations from where I work (a school) and I believe the national trends, it is girls fleeing femaleness by a very large margin over boys going female. Is the Patriarchy having the last word? That it is truly better to be a man than a woman? An unconscious misogyny?
At risk of being accused of misogynism, I think part of it is simply that teenage girls are highly susceptible to social contagion and it is a social contagion. (Teenage boys are highly susceptible to social contagion as well, IMO, but still perhaps less.) That's what some trans desisters have interpreted their experience as, comparing it directly to anorexia as well.
I agree, mostly social contagion.
But there is an underlying misogyny contributing by casting *traditionally* female roles, interests, and characteristics as inherently boring, unimportant, or even problematic. How many movies portray a bored dumb housewife becoming a bad ass lawyer or superhero or something and it's like "Carol, I though you were just a worthless mom and housewife but now you're beating the boys at man stuff!"?
My wife takes care of our children at home while I have a white collar PMC job of the type that she-Hulk would want. But reality is I envy my wife at home working on things that *actually* matter.