Discussion Starters
My mom has a subscription to People Magazine, and when she's done reading an issue, she usually sends it my way. We've got a stack of them set aside for "bathroom reading" (which used to freak out one of my co-workers from Stanford), and the other day, a recent issue started an interesting discussion in our house.
Vika went into the bathroom, and a minute later she yelled from behind the closed door, "Mama! Ask me anything about the Obamas. Like how many kids they have...what they wear.... anything!" After a moment of wondering what could have prompted this Obama trivia session, I replied that I would be happy to discuss the First Family with her when she was done "doing her business." She answered that she was already done, so I opened the bathroom door to see her sitting down, reading a People with the Obamas on the cover. Ahhh... So that's what started the whole thing. Only now, she didn't want to discuss the Obamas. She had turned the page to find a picture of the "pregnant man."
Which, as an aside, kind of bugs me. I mean, he wasn't born a man! He's a woman becoming a man. Furthermore, if you felt so strongly that you were meant to be a man, and were going through a sex change to make this happen, wouldn't the whole maternal, I-want-to-be-pregnant thing go along with your former status as a female? I just don't get it. It seems like some way for this person to get an awful lot of publicity, and I hope he has plans to step down from the spotlight and give his child a chance to grow up without people treating her like she's part of some freak show.
But I digress. Vika was looking at pictures of the pregnant man and becoming very confused. How could a man have a baby in his tummy, she asked. I told her that he had been a woman who felt that she was born the wrong way and was having doctors help her become a man. At this point, Vika emphatically stated, "Well I know I was born the right way!" But then she got quiet and her little brow furrowed. "I hope Tyson was born the right way," she said after a moment. I went on to explain that people being born the "wrong way" was very rare. Most people who are born girls are supposed to be girls, and most people who are born boys are supposed to be boys. With a nod, she put the People away, smiled and exclaimed, "I sure can learn some stuff from magazines!"
Oh, brother.
Vika went into the bathroom, and a minute later she yelled from behind the closed door, "Mama! Ask me anything about the Obamas. Like how many kids they have...what they wear.... anything!" After a moment of wondering what could have prompted this Obama trivia session, I replied that I would be happy to discuss the First Family with her when she was done "doing her business." She answered that she was already done, so I opened the bathroom door to see her sitting down, reading a People with the Obamas on the cover. Ahhh... So that's what started the whole thing. Only now, she didn't want to discuss the Obamas. She had turned the page to find a picture of the "pregnant man."
Which, as an aside, kind of bugs me. I mean, he wasn't born a man! He's a woman becoming a man. Furthermore, if you felt so strongly that you were meant to be a man, and were going through a sex change to make this happen, wouldn't the whole maternal, I-want-to-be-pregnant thing go along with your former status as a female? I just don't get it. It seems like some way for this person to get an awful lot of publicity, and I hope he has plans to step down from the spotlight and give his child a chance to grow up without people treating her like she's part of some freak show.
But I digress. Vika was looking at pictures of the pregnant man and becoming very confused. How could a man have a baby in his tummy, she asked. I told her that he had been a woman who felt that she was born the wrong way and was having doctors help her become a man. At this point, Vika emphatically stated, "Well I know I was born the right way!" But then she got quiet and her little brow furrowed. "I hope Tyson was born the right way," she said after a moment. I went on to explain that people being born the "wrong way" was very rare. Most people who are born girls are supposed to be girls, and most people who are born boys are supposed to be boys. With a nod, she put the People away, smiled and exclaimed, "I sure can learn some stuff from magazines!"
Oh, brother.
That's hysterical! Maybe that's why Jeff always sighs and rolls his eyes when I present you with another edition of People!
That cracked me right up!
Yikes! No more People.
Well, you handled that quite well, I'd say! I've stammered through some "why is that boy kissing another boy?" conversations respectably, but thankful the pregnant "man" never came up! (His publicity bugs me too. "He" has a uterus for goodness sake!)