OPINION: A documentary to watch
I’ve just completed watching Matt Walsh’s documentary “What is a Woman” and I recommend it to anyone seeking to learn more about the recent explosion of persons identifying as “trans.” It is a good introduction to the world of “gender affirmation.” If you pay the slightest attention at all it has become clear that our society and Western society in general is experiencing massive growth in children identifying as the opposite gender. The film is built around asking the simple question, “What is a woman?” of academics, random people on the street, therapists and activists. It seeks to explore the gender affirmation phenomenon and ask where it came from.
It is both a humorous and thought-provoking film and has been viewed on Twitter almost 200 million times. Clearly, it has touched a nerve. Just type the title into any browser and you will find a link to film on Twitter.
“What is a woman?” It is a simple enough question, but people exposed to our educational system seem to have a very hard time coming up with a definition. I came away with sympathetic thoughts and feelings about the poor victims of “gender affirmation” treatments but enraged by the manipulation of innocent children.
Watch it for yourself and see what you think. To be clear, simple human decency demands compassion for children who are struggling with puberty, are vulnerable and feel “different.” To question the ideology is to be labeled “anti-trans” but there are questions that should be raised. This explosion in the number of children identifying as “trans” is coming from somewhere.
The documentary suggests some villains, including big Pharma and childrens hospitals, which both profit immensely from every transitioning child. The activist community has had huge success in enlisting big government and big business, but the common people of America are now waking up. Just ask the people at Budweiser or Target. Hopefully, we will see more lessons administered soon.
The recent madness in Kellogg is instructive. Did the principal and school district really have to make such a public spectacle over an opinion? What made the statement “Guys are guys and girls are girls. There is no in-between” spoken by a high school kid such a priority to refute that the entire senior class was disrupted? It seems like very small potatoes compared to the reaction. If the principal and district couldn’t find a more reasonable way to handle this, no wonder school districts have trouble convincing the larger community that they are good stewards of the children and the taxes raised through the levy process.
The film will lead you to want to learn more about Kinsey and Money, some of the people who created the language set around gender and sex and beliefs that led to our current situation. The intellectual incoherence and the feelings uber alles nature of the movement are revealed in the interviews conducted with modern therapists and doctors. Those professionals who built practices around “gender affirmation” seemingly refuse to acknowledge any possible downside of allowing young children to choose medication and surgery. They claim that puberty blockers are completely reversible, but others claim the opposite. The children are lab rats in this experiment.
Judging by the suicide rates trans-persons experience, the downsides are painfully real, and the compassionate answer is not the path we are currently on. We need to find better ways to care for children who are experiencing problems around puberty and the transition to adulthood.
“Gender Affirming” care is a great example of using words to mean their exact opposite. Is castration affirming? Is “top surgery” affirming? Can a 14-year-old make such life-changing decisions? Can the state remove all parental rights without notice? Are we going to stand for that?
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Patrick Whalen is a founding member of North Idaho Republicans.