Buchananbass, you seem to immediately be assuming that, for this child, it is a gender identification issue and approaching it entirely as such. While I accept thats a possibility, I don't believe for a second that its the most probable thing going on here. I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that a lot of your presumtion about the issue at hand is down to your own personal experiences (which I think you deserve respect for coming through and still seeming very much like a well rounded person).
We can follow the whole PC brigade line of, "if people don't accept the child for what he is, they're in the wrong" as true, of course, but the reality of the matter is that at 5 years old, a child isn't as necessarily capable of dealing with the potential effects of a decision of such magnitude. What if the child just finds dresses more comfortable at the minute, with no gender identity issues? Then the child grows out of it a year or two into school? That child will probably spend the rest of his schooling years dealing with the ramifications of that choice. Do you really think children of five years old should be making choices that could have effects that last their entire life? What if the child wants facial tattoos as a way of expressing himself?
Now I think a much more sensible solution is if the child is allowed to express himself under controlled circumstances. The child has, until he is mature enough to understand the magnitude of his decision, certain limitations placed on where he dressed like a girl (much like any other child will be told they can't wear their superman costume to a funeral). I don't think the parents would be repressing the child in any way, they're providing him with a controlled environment in which the child can really discover who he is without risking the potentially life-changing effects of doing it elsewhere. If the parents provide all their support for a child during this, while keeping the long-term effects to an absolute minimum, I don't see how there could be a problem.
One of my cousins has just had gender reassignment surgery after many years as cross dresser. She (now, born a male), started to feel like she was a girl around the 10-11 years old age. At this age, her (very supportive) parents provided her with a situation like the one I said above. She was given all the time and support to find herself, without taking any of the bullying and flak that goes with exposing how she felt to the general public. She still occasionally has trouble with people, but she is much more emotionally capable of dealing with it now than when she was a child. From speaking with her about it, she most definitely doesn't harbour any resentment for her parents not letting her go to school like that at her very first whim, but rather, she's grateful for the support and how easy they made it for her to find herself.
We can follow the whole PC brigade line of, "if people don't accept the child for what he is, they're in the wrong" as true, of course, but the reality of the matter is that at 5 years old, a child isn't as necessarily capable of dealing with the potential effects of a decision of such magnitude. What if the child just finds dresses more comfortable at the minute, with no gender identity issues? Then the child grows out of it a year or two into school? That child will probably spend the rest of his schooling years dealing with the ramifications of that choice. Do you really think children of five years old should be making choices that could have effects that last their entire life? What if the child wants facial tattoos as a way of expressing himself?
Now I think a much more sensible solution is if the child is allowed to express himself under controlled circumstances. The child has, until he is mature enough to understand the magnitude of his decision, certain limitations placed on where he dressed like a girl (much like any other child will be told they can't wear their superman costume to a funeral). I don't think the parents would be repressing the child in any way, they're providing him with a controlled environment in which the child can really discover who he is without risking the potentially life-changing effects of doing it elsewhere. If the parents provide all their support for a child during this, while keeping the long-term effects to an absolute minimum, I don't see how there could be a problem.
One of my cousins has just had gender reassignment surgery after many years as cross dresser. She (now, born a male), started to feel like she was a girl around the 10-11 years old age. At this age, her (very supportive) parents provided her with a situation like the one I said above. She was given all the time and support to find herself, without taking any of the bullying and flak that goes with exposing how she felt to the general public. She still occasionally has trouble with people, but she is much more emotionally capable of dealing with it now than when she was a child. From speaking with her about it, she most definitely doesn't harbour any resentment for her parents not letting her go to school like that at her very first whim, but rather, she's grateful for the support and how easy they made it for her to find herself.
