Interesting Links for 30-08-2023

[andrewducker]

1. If an Iowa student named Michael wants to be called Mike then they need permission from their parents

(tags:names usa OhForFucksSake bigotry lgbt transgender )

2. These musicians were so preoccupied with whether they could cover "They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard", they didn't stop to think if they should.

(tags:music video lotr meme funny )

Comments

[bens_dad]

1. This assumes that the child gets to choose their nickname. Many of my year had variations on one of their names, or some characteristic, foist upon them. Nicknames were also inherited from older siblings. One lad was known as "Sieve" because his brother was alleged to have had a poor memory ...

The part I found weird was that the deputy head was good at picking up on these name and using them to your face.

[naath]

our teachers asked on first eading the register, and would take Sam or CJ ora middle name but probably not Sieve...

[ninetydegrees]

In this case they do because this is a transphobic law forbidding students from changing their pronouns/names/nicknames or choosing nicknames which are traditionally seen as both feminine and masculine.

[calimac]

I've known cis women called Mike. Let's not even talk about names like Leslie.

[ninetydegrees]

Sure. I'm not sure how this is relevant to the law mentioned in the article, which specifically targets transgender kids. Am I missing something?

[calimac]

Yes. It's targeting transgender kids, but it's hitting everybody.

[ninetydegrees]

If your parents call you Mike or Leslie or Sam, it's fine because your nickname doesn't change so the law doesn't affect you. However, transgender kids who could pick a new nickname in order to express their gender identity at school and therefore escape the scrutiny and transphobic attitude of their parents no longer can. Or are you talking about a different situation?

[calimac]

Don't you have to have the nickname registered the first time?

Also, you don't have to be trans to prefer a nickname your parents don't like.

[ninetydegrees]

I'll be honest here: I find your insistence on finding cases where this could apply to non-trans kids as well as your statement that this will 'hit everybody' disturbing. It's like when feminists talk about sexism in STEM and someone mentions Marie Curie as if one exception to the rule means everything's fine. Yes, the schools which chose to extend the meaning of the law to nicknames will call all legal guardians. For most students, this will be a non-issue. Something forgotten as soon as the call is over. Maybe something to laugh about at dinner or talk about at school meetings. No, the impact of this decision won't be the same for non-trans kids that it will be for trans-kids because we know transphobia depresses and kills and that life for non-trans kids is generally several times easier even if they have a nickname they don't like or haven't chosen. As I'm sure you know.

[calimac]

It's not like the Marie Curie case at all. I find your drawing of that inept parallel disturbing. I'm saying that this new rule is bad for everybody. How would this restriction hitting other people as well as trans people make "everything fine"??? No, it makes everything bad. Did you think I was defending the restriction?

That it's less bad for other people than for trans in hiding from their parents, is true, but that doesn't make it not bad for them. For many, yes, it's just another bureaucratic hoop they have to jump through, but why should they have to jump through a bureaucratic hoop generated by transphobia? That's a studied insult. For others, and not just trans, it could be a real nuisance. For trans whose parents are fully supportive, it's just a bureaucratic hoop. It runs all over the map.

Also, I'm not "insisting" on "finding cases." I made one casual offhand remark, which I would have been perfectly willing to let lie and be ignored, but now I'm defending it against a vehement attack.

[wildeabandon]

1. I can't work out whether the schools are doing this because they think the law might genuinely be intended that way, because they're covering their arses, or as a form of malicious compliance to get parents who don't want to have to deal with paperwork every time their kid change a nickname to oppose the law. I hope it's the latter.

[channelpenguin]

I was also hoping the latter