In what can be characterized as the most insensitive and transphobic online article in recent months, Fox News is advising their viewers not to let their children watch the new season of 'Dancing With the Stars'. Why? Solely due to the presence of Chaz Bono.
In a post titled, "Don't Let Your Kids Watch Chaz Bono On 'Dancing With The Stars'", psychiatrist, and frequent commentator Dr. Keith Ablow warns of the dangers that Bono's transsexual influence will have on your children.
Throughout much of the article, Ablow refers to Bono as a "woman" and uses the pronoun "she". Saying that 'Dancing With the Stars' is nothing more than part of Bono's transsexual "victory tour", is the last thing impressionable growing young people need to see:
Ablow then goes on to assert that Bono "should not be applauded for asserting she is a man (and goes about trying to look like one) any more than a woman who believes she will be happier without arms, has them removed and then continues to assert that she was right all along—her self-concept was that of a double amputee". He then asks that if your child came to you and said that they would only feel complete if their legs were cut off, would you make a beeline for the plastic surgeon, or get your child the psychological help they desperately need.
What Ablow isn't telling his readers is the process that transgendered people must go through before undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. At this point, Chaz Bono has not undergone surgery. He has not stated whether or not he will do so. Within the United States, before a plastic surgeon will agree to complete the procedure, they require a written recommendation from the patient's psychiatrist (and, often times, therapist). To receive a recommendation, the patient is required to be under the care of the psychiatrist for a minimum of two years and to have lived as their new gender for that time, prior to surgery. This isn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Ablow knows this, so why is he acting like your 16 year old kid can make an appointment to get a sex change next Tuesday?
I don't buy it. Even Fox's own correspondents don't buy it. Still, Ablow insists Bono "is not a man!"
In a post titled, "Don't Let Your Kids Watch Chaz Bono On 'Dancing With The Stars'", psychiatrist, and frequent commentator Dr. Keith Ablow warns of the dangers that Bono's transsexual influence will have on your children.
Throughout much of the article, Ablow refers to Bono as a "woman" and uses the pronoun "she". Saying that 'Dancing With the Stars' is nothing more than part of Bono's transsexual "victory tour", is the last thing impressionable growing young people need to see:
"The last thing vulnerable children and adolescents need, as they wrestle with the normal process of establishing their identities, is to watch a captive crowd in a studio audience applaud on cue for someone whose search for an identity culminated with the removal of her breasts, the injection of steroids and, perhaps one day soon, the fashioning of a make-shift phallus to replace her vagina.
It is a toxic and unnecessary byproduct of the tragic celebration of transgender surgery that millions of young people who do watch "Dancing with the Stars" will have to ponder this question: Maybe my problems really stem from the fact that I’m a girl inside a boy’s body (or a boy inside a girls body). Maybe I’m not a tomboy; I’m just a boy! Maybe I’m not just being bullied because I’m a sensitive, reflective young man interested in flowers, not football. Maybe I’m not just uncertain about my sexuality. Maybe I’m a girl! Maybe all this angst and suffering I’m feeling as I emerge into puberty and pass through it isn’t just because I’m changing, but because I should change completely—and have my breasts removed or my penis amputated!"As a psychiatrist, Dr. Ablow should be aware of gender identity disorder, which is the primary reason that someone becomes transgendered later in life. It is generally a life long condition, presenting itself early on in life. It's not like a teenage girl would watch someone on television and say, "Hey, I like working on cars. Maybe I need a penis." Or perhaps a teenage boy is watching TV and says, "I don't like football. Guess I should cut off my junk." When it comes to the "If your friend jumps off of a bridge" analogy, it doesn't work too well when your talking about private parts.
Ablow then goes on to assert that Bono "should not be applauded for asserting she is a man (and goes about trying to look like one) any more than a woman who believes she will be happier without arms, has them removed and then continues to assert that she was right all along—her self-concept was that of a double amputee". He then asks that if your child came to you and said that they would only feel complete if their legs were cut off, would you make a beeline for the plastic surgeon, or get your child the psychological help they desperately need.
What Ablow isn't telling his readers is the process that transgendered people must go through before undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. At this point, Chaz Bono has not undergone surgery. He has not stated whether or not he will do so. Within the United States, before a plastic surgeon will agree to complete the procedure, they require a written recommendation from the patient's psychiatrist (and, often times, therapist). To receive a recommendation, the patient is required to be under the care of the psychiatrist for a minimum of two years and to have lived as their new gender for that time, prior to surgery. This isn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Ablow knows this, so why is he acting like your 16 year old kid can make an appointment to get a sex change next Tuesday?
I don't buy it. Even Fox's own correspondents don't buy it. Still, Ablow insists Bono "is not a man!"
