(Keith Ablow is the same guy who also is quite disapproving about homosexuality, from a strictly medical / psychological perspective of course, no moralizing here... right... I wonder what he'd think about gays who've had 5 partners?! http://mediamatters.org/research/201112190003 for more details on that)
Hmm...let's see...
It would be wrong to think that gender dysphoria cannot be kindled by celebrating those who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery. Human beings do model one another--in terms of emotion, thought and behavior.
He's not exactly wrong on this point. There was a pretty good article sent out a while back about psychological conditions being exported. How people experiencing western-like psychological symptoms didn't exist in Asia 20 years ago, but do exist today. People will slot themselves under categorizations if you give them categorizations to read about.
Now, certainly there's some history that predates modern psychological definitions--there are Jazz musicians from the 20s that nobody realized had a vagina until after they were dead. But a celebrity like Chaz Bono openly declaring his maleness after he was already well-known is something I do not think would have happened in the 1920s. Most likely he would have been a sense of something wrong, but his frustrations would have been channeled a different way, or at least more privately.
We wouldn't invite people with anorexia to go on fashion shows and talk about how wonderful they feel now that they're thinner and how they want more liposuction. This is an exact parallel.
Well, except anorexics would come on, we'd see them looking freakishly bony, and we'd ask "how do you feel", and they'd say "I'm so fat *cries*". I don't think it would compel most people to do the same. Anorexics generally aren't happy or healthy. Chaz, on the other hand, is happy and healthy.
Ablow: J. Crew Ad Promotes "Psychological Sterilization." In an April 11 FoxNews.com column, Ablow criticized a J. Crew advertisement for depicting J. Crew president Jenna Lyons painting her son's toenails pink, writing:
Ok, I'm not going to quote Albow here, but actually look up more info on this:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/crew-ad-boy-painting-toenails-pink-stirs-transgender/story?id=13358903#.TxrmEG87WAhThe caption reads
"Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favourite colour is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."
And a quote from abc news:
"If the roles had been reversed, and that picture had been a little girl playing in the mud with trucks, nobody would have batted an eye."
And...yeah, that quote pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. IT'S A ****ING COLOUR. There is nothing inherently female about pink other than the recent societal association. In fact, less than 100 years ago the colours were reversed:
http://askville.amazon.com/Blue-boy-babies-pink-girls/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=10177156With boys wearing pink, and girls wearing blue. Seriously, pink literally doesn't mean anything. If, a decade from now, the boy has a penchant for trying on bras, then ok, it might be time to take notice, but pink is literally just a meaningless colour.
And...if Albow's goal is to have fewer people wanting gender surgery...doesn't it make more sense to allow a little more liberty? "You're a boy, therefore you're not allowed to like that." ---> "I don't want to be a boy anymore, this sucks." Seriously, "reverse psychology" is something most kids I knew understood by the time they were 12 or so. It's something you learn very quickly if you have ever interacted with a 5-year-old (telling them no makes them want it more). Albow is supposed to be a psychologist. (Although now I'm thinking he's just trolling).
If this woman wants to paint her son's toenails pink, I guess we should have no objection to someone who's male modeling a sundress in their catalogue.
Umm...yes? No more than you should object if a woman models cargo pants.
Ablow: Lesbian Mom Trying To Project "Her Own Discomfort With Masculinity" Onto Her Son. In an October 26 column for FoxNews.com, Ablow responded to the news that J. Crew's Lyons had begun dating a woman by writing:
Wait, he's blaming the pink toenail thing on lesbianism?
Oh yes: because if there's one thing that lesbians LOOOOOVE, it's pink.
Can't get enough of that colour. We all show up to lesbian events wearing pink princess-peach dresses while we play pool, arm wrestle, and ride motorcycles.
(Seriously, though, is Albow not even familiar with lesbian stereotypes?)
