Topic : 10/29 Gender Confused Children

" Fortunately, my mother managed to prove that I was only undergoing a phase."  

So I guess it worked out for you.

      "It can be very disasterious to attack the person presenting the point rather than the point. In a dscussion like this, the best case scenario the attack will only hurt the attacker, but the worst case scenario is that it hinders the message that the attacker backs. As an example, I'll use McCain's outright attack on Obama by calling Obama a Socialist, and there is a correlation in support to either or due to a simple attack but an attack nontheless."

Pffffftttt.   Oh sorry.  That was my answer.

 right here:   

"a child denied the ability to explore will equally be distressed as a child who is denied by Biological means rather than just Environmental Influence"   

Unless I totally misunderstood what you were trying to say, in the context of children in an environmentally influenced  "phase" of exploration being distinctly different from children who are biologically predisposed to cross gender behavior (something no one is disputing), you seem to be saying that denying both the ability to express cross gender behavior  will cause both to  "equally be distressed" by it...your words, not mine.   

It is a FACT that children and adults who have the unrelenting innate desire to express a cross-gender identity that comes with GID and are sytematically thwarted in doing so routinely take their own lives as a result.   

For someone else to be equally distressed would require that they do the same, or it wouldn't be an equal level of distress, would it?   

Bottom line is that both types of individuals have disticnctly different, not equal, responses to attempts by parents and society in general to coerce them  into living up to stereotypical behaviors of their birth sex , and that difference is the very thing that is used by clinicians to determine whether the person is truly transsexual or not.   

Phases go away, innate gender identities do not.  

As for this:  

"present theory encompasses both people who truly see themselves as another gender and those who are undergoing a phase due to environmental influence"  

if by "encompasses" you mean "makes no distinction between" (which you  certainly seem to be implying),  that is a completely false statement that can be easily discredited just by looking at the diagnostic criteria and standards of care for people presenting with gender dysphoria, which are ALL about determining first and foremost if their gender identity incongruence is simply a phase of exploration, the result of some real mental illness like multiple personality disorder, the result of a congenital  intersex condition, or what is known as GID/transgender.
  

      Yes, I am a parent to a three year old.

     No, I would not punish my child for experimenting with opposing gender associated materials.

     No, I would not influence the child with either Positive nor Negative Reinforcement methods, and I definitely wouldn't use Postive or Negative Punishments for doing so.

     Yes, I would seek a professional opinion if my child was seriously viewing his or herself as the opposite gender. However, my child is in the phase where I can break a cookie into twenty pieces, and my child's perception would indicate twenty cookies.

       I absolutely see no reason why a child should not be able to experiment his or her perception of his or her self. I would rather allow my child to feel comfortable doing so in front of me rather than behind my back where I'll miss indications; I would be well-advised to seek professional aid.

       There is a world of difference between a child who knows the educational terms and a child who understands those terms. I should be 100% sure that my child understands before I move to the next step. Factor in affordability and 18 is approximately where I'd be able to cover it. By then, the child would be old enough to legally make the decision his or her self.

       Look at my position objectively. We agree that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a child exploring their self, and we agree that surgerical gender change should be socially acceptable.

       We differ between in where a child is making an adult decision and the parents following through and if the child understands the decision.

      Would you not question my decision making if I appeared to be making a decision primarily based on avoiding suicidal depression? Or, would this not cause enough to question the person?

       If I hadn't gotten this kind of cause for concern, I wouldn't have questioned you. Other than sharing my position and why as well as attempting to counter those religious comments, I haven't had cause to question.

      Ok, let me ask you this.

      If a child repeated tells a parent, he or she was meant to have been the opposite gender from 5-16. Who is distressed because the mental and physical image do not match despite multiple attempts to try appearing so in the mirror. Who was forced to wear the opposite gender's clothes dominantly when the parents were out, who later was taken to professionals for a diagnoisis.

       Would you diagnois this child? If so, would you reccommend hormonal therapy and surgery to correct the problem? Or more to the point, how would you handle this situation?

       Everyone handles stress differently. Everyone has varying breaking points. Suicide is considered an indication of passing the breaking point in simple terms.

      I said equal distress not equal results of that distress.

      Since you're saying, I overlooked evidence of a proven factual diagnoistic; it shouldn't be difficult to pass me a link to it.

       Unless I am misinterpreting Zookeeper's point, Zookeeper is saying; a surgery is a choice. Am I accurately interpreting your point, Zookeeper?

      If you mean, it worked out for me, for the issue being proved false. Yes. If not, you're likely being sarcastic?

(1) repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that he or she is, the other sex 
(2) in boys, preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire;in girls, insistence on wearing only stereotypical masculine clothing 
(3) strong and persistent preferences for cross-sex roles in make-believe play or persistent fantasies of being the other sex 
(4) intense desire to participate in the stereotypical games and pastimes of the other sex 
(5) strong preference for playmates of the other sex.In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptomssuch as a stated desire to be the other sex, frequent passing as theother sex, desire to live or be treated as the other sex, or theconviction that he or she has the typical feelings and reactions of theother sex.    

B. Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense ofinappropriateness in the gender role of that sex.In children, the disturbance is manifested by any of the following: inboys, assertion that his penis or testes are disgusting or willdisappear or assertion that it would be better not to have a penis, oraversion toward rough-and-tumble play and rejection of malestereotypical toys, games, and activities; in girls, rejection ofurinating in a sitting position, assertion that she has or will grow apenis, or assertion that she does not want to grow breasts ormenstruate, or marked aversion toward normative feminine clothing.In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptomssuch as preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sexcharacteristics (e.g., request for hormones, surgery, or otherprocedures to physically alter sexual characteristics to simulate theother sex) or belief that he or she was born the wrong sex.    

C. The disturbance is not concurrent with a physical intersex condition.    

D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairmentin social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.