Two Czech psychiatrists (Dr Trapková and Dr Chvála) have written a very interesting text about young people who somehow came to believe that they are the opposite sex than they are. It is a powerful text, among other things, because it does not simplify or resort to moralising. Moralizing makes us feel better about ourselves, but it doesn’t make it easier to understand, let alone solve.
The article notes that similar disorders come and go in waves. Remember anorexia nervosa? And then bulimia? The thing about most of these girls who feel like boys is that if they’d lived a generation earlier, they’d be bulimic. It’s probably no coincidence that self-harm is so common among them.
Trapková and Chvála remind us that the critical moment is when the adolescent body begins to change significantly, breasts grow, etc., and sexuality emerges in a more adult sense than the childish groping of one’s own body. Nowadays, this period is complicated by the fact that many children are exposed to pornography in their pre-pubescent years and find it disgusting, which then complicates their own sexual development. A further complication is that many girls are led to believe that they are not actually future women, they do not identify with their mothers and there is no natural expectation that the body will change into a female one. For example, the term “boys and girls” has disappeared from many nurseries, the article recalls.
In this complex situation, a psychological problem can very easily arise, it goes unaddressed for a long time, the teenagers are exposed to intense transgender propaganda, and the misery is done. Trapkova and praise suggest paying more attention to the psychological state of children and addressing problems early.
Which in fact leads to another dilemma, probably unsolvable in principle. On the one hand, we don’t want to pay attention to every bout of emotional instability or even just a bad mood, because such excessive attention is not healthy. We don’t want to make every child a case for the therapist. We want children to naturally learn to overcome discomfort (even psychological discomfort). But we run the risk that if we leave them in an uncomfortable situation for a while, the transgender contagion will attack. Let’s not forget that gender confusion is as contagious as some viral diseases. All it takes is contact with an infected person, a compromised immunity, and the teen will also become infected.
There is no good solution. Well, there is – the good solution is to push all trans propaganda out of the public sphere. But then we would have to live in a completely different political establishment.