GrandThingsThanks for the actual response. I think its important to have real conversations about this stuff and honestly, I totally get where you're coming from. I'm obviously extremely liberal but the 'pronoun' stuff has been hard for me to swallow for example.
I guess where we majorly disagree is that you seem to think the "liberal-media agenda" is a causation of this where in my opinion it is more of a correlation. We live in a time where it is simply more acceptable to be your true self and I think media has played an important role in breaking down gender-stereotypes. Some guys like dudes, some girls want to dress like men, some men want to chop their dicks off and grow boobs. To each their own. I dont think that "the media" caused this, but rather just shed more light on the fact that people are different and we should treat EVERYONE with respect no matter what they're into.
Chances are, that kid you saw in the mall has no desire to learn how to make a campfire or shoot guns. He wouldnt think it was fun or change up his lifestyle matter how much you did it. This is just YOUR opinion on what men should be into. If putting on makeup and dressing like a girl will make this person happier/more fulfilled in I think thats fucking great and we should support them regardless.
Sparknotes: Having a gay character in a TV show or releasing gender neutral dolls isnt "pushing an agenda" - its just fucking life.
I agree wholeheartedly on having a conversation on this. That is one of the biggest problems we face in the US political landscape where both sides refuse to just talk to one another and sit in their own respective echo chambers reinforcing their beliefs to the point where the other side is demonized.
I see where you are coming from and I think that is the fundamental difference in our beliefs here. I wont even go so far as to call it the "Liberal Media" as that is more associated with a political party but rather the influence of Hollywood and their hand in creating the culture of our country. For me, I see a very clear agenda with this trans movement and based on how it was rolled out from our consolidated media sources, I very much believe it was planned and not an organic cultural movement. As I mentioned earlier with Bruce Jenner, Miley Cyrus, Will Smith's kid being made to wear dresses, that TransAmerica show, the new "Rub & Tug" movie they are coming out with, there is a top down driven push to normalize and promote the breakdown of gender in our society. Thats not to mention Buzzfeed and other youtube influences pushing the same agenda. Gender Dysphoria has been treated as a mental illness for decades in every DSM Manual and only represents less than 1% of the population but is now being shoved in our face on a large scale.
The other issue here is the scary consolidation of media outlets that allow this type of agenda to push forward while silencing any dissent. Even YouTube has aggressively been pushing to demonetize and push out any independent content creators in favor of staged "Personalities". This creates a dangerous setting where kids are not able to be themselves or find other independent people to associate with. All they have are carefully curated personas that follow a specific template that their corporate owners want to portray.
The campfire was a hyperbolic example and the point was that kids need some kind of reality to have beyond this artificial world that has been created for them be that skiing, camping, hiking drawing or anything. That is actually why skiing is so important to me because it was my foundation away from the "Lets act like we are on OC" bullshit my Highschool was on. In that sense, I saw this kid and saw someone caught up in that same trap. Sure, if that is how he really wants to be then I 100% respect and support that but if he is just trying to fit a mold that has been specifically crafted and presented to him every time he turns on his tablet then we have a serious problem. For that matter, that is why I got so heated over the Sierra Quitiquit fiasco because its that same issue of a crafted image being pushed into the skiing culture.
I consider myself a Conservative and I do agree that the typical "Christian Conservative" Fox news variety has a fairly narrow mindset toward social issues to say the least. However, the foundation of true Conservatism in my mind is that we are to all be treated as equal individuals nomatter our race, creed, sexual orientation etc. At the end of the day, you are simply yourself and you should be valued as such. However, the current Liberal ideology has adopted this practice of desperately trying to shoehorn people into a group identity. This is why the LBGTCQ+ etc movement has so much infighting and crazy issues such as the recent Democratic town hall fiasco where the candidates were literally shouted down by the people in the crowd. Its because this ideology is forcing people into different buckets of identity and those sometimes conflict with each other. So instead of being an individual who is a girl but more into guy stuff etc, you have to be part of a "Non-Binary" or whatever letter corresponds most to who you are and your rights are based on that group and not you as an individual. As such, you are still conforming yourself to a group that may not represent who you are as simply an individual.
Anyway, that is my .02 on the situation.
