Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Fear and loathing of penises in the girls' locker room

Some 150 students walked out of Hillsboro High School in Missouri on Monday in a protest over a transgender classmate’s use of the girls’ locker room and bathrooms at the school. Lila Perry, 17, was born with a penis and still has it. She previously came out as a gay male, but she has identified as a female since she was 13. Now she wants to be treated like a girl.

One student told a reporter: “I find it offensive because Lila has not went through any procedure to become female, putting on a dress and putting on a wig is not transgender to me.” A parent paraded around with a sign that said: “Girls Rights Matter.” Another parent said:“The girls have rights, and they shouldn’t have to share a bathroom with a boy." Another parent said: “They [the other girls made uncomfortable by Lila] should have the ability to do whatever they need to do in the privacy of the bathroom without having a male in there,”

But Amanda Jette Knox wrote: "Defining a girl by her body parts is the most misogynistic thing we can do."

Yes, Amanda, it's misogyny, but it also underscores something more basic--a fear and loathing of penises, and their owners, that is sadly predictable.

The girls who are so upset about Lila's presence in their bathroom apparently had no concerns about boys' privacy when Lila Perry identified as a gay male and used the boys' bathroom and locker room. It is no stretch to assume that Lila was/is sexually attracted to males and--in case my sisters need to have it spelled out--in both the boys' bathroom and locker room, penises are exposed. If the students were concerned about privacy and modesty and all, that's when they should have been concerned.

If you are wondering how students would react if the genders were reversed, you don't have to look very far. When a transgender high school student in Virginia who was born as female but identifies as male used the men's room, it was a far different reaction: the other students never complained (although some parents did).  A similar case in New Jersey actually led to a petition signed by 2,000 people in favor of allowing the student to use the boys' bathroom.

I guess boys don't have the same fear and loathing of vaginas as girls have of penises.

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