Thank you fro the very interesting analysis of American Parenting ( anno 2000).
Sadly some of this philosophy has crossed the North Atlantic to wash up on our shores. ( An influence which Hubby and I tried to ignore.) Now I finally (&truly) understand why we were always at odds with the parents who implemented Modern Parenting Ethos and the schools with the Latest Pedagogic theories. I look forward to reading part 3.
This is a great companion to the Coddling of the American Mind with a specific focus on how vulnerable this generation of parents and kids were to gender ideology.
You make the point that, in contrast to earlier generations, parents in the 2000s outsourced their parenting philosophy to experts. I think this is wrong, or at least incomplete. Dr Spock was published all the way back in 1946. Dare to Discipline was from the 1970s. What to Expect and Parent Power are both from the 80s. The whole lineup of "Baby Einstein" began in the 90s.
Parents seeking expert opinions in no way started in the 2000s, and I don't think the claim that it became more prevalent at that time holds up either.
Dare to Discipline advised the opposite of what Maia has described parents did starting in the 2000s because the advice parents received started in the 2000s was very different. So what we are seeing is how powerful the "parenting advice" du jour is! "Baby Einstein" immediately preceded the ambient parenting advice of the 2000s.
When someone presents a narrative that sounds too neat, too perfect, and too conveniently aligned with their political goals, it's worth taking a step back and asking: "What parts of this story are being carefully selected, and what's being left on the cutting room floor?" That's the situation we find ourselves in with Maia Poet's recent two-part essay on transgender youth care and Jazz Jennings.
Jazz’s parents put all their kids on reality TV. though. That’s a step above and beyond listening to the “experts” and letting kids express their preferences, like a lot of their peers did. They foreclosed the present and future privacy of everyone in their family, especially Jazz, but not only Jazz, in the exchange for wealth and fame. I’m comfortable calling them bad parents on that score alone.
I'm a parent, and I'll say this - no parent just reads a parenting book and obeys it, or listens to experts. Most parents are highly connected to their children and have an existing dynamic, and whatever they do, that dynamic continues to be dominant. Like even if an expert says candy is good, 99% of parents aren't going to let kids eat candy everyday because they'll see the effects on children, and have their own strong instincts. Also most parents remember what it means to be a child and default to how they were cared for. It's really hard to undo this default programming.
A lot of parents, i understand, were convinced to go along with some procedures because they were told about the rates of suicide. That I understand. They get to a situation where they are beyond their depth and then listen to the experts.
But at 3yo to go along with a child's saying random stuff sounds like even if the parents didn't have ill-intent, they had zero instinct for parenting and zero ability to understand their own child. This is not common. Most parents have a living breathing relationship with their kids which they use to inform and course-correct themselves. If a parent isn't using this well enough, something is very very wrong with them.
Phenomenal. The only thing I do need to point out is— while ADHD is wildly over diagnosed in Gen Z, it is very real and can be seen on brain imaging. I myself was diagnosed with brain imaging and stimulants are something I have gone on and off of for over two decades. They are necessary for me. True ADHD impacts every second of your life, it is a brain deformation that causes neural pathway blackouts and stimulants turn those pathways back on. And for people with true ADHD stimulants are necessary and life changing. The problem is that brain imaging isn't required for diagnosis in the US bc it makes pharmaceutical companies way more money to throw every hyperactive kid and every 20 year old who can't get their laundry done on adderall. And in the process you are harming those people who do not need stimulants and you are harming people with actual ADHD who do bc you are muddying the reality of the condition, you are muddying the research, and you are muddying the public understanding of ADHD by pathologizing personality traits.
I think there is a lot that is correct here. But I think your stance on the people who came to criticize the Jennings, and the trans movement later than earlier perhaps underestimates the power the effectiveness of the Trans rights activists, the nascent nature of the trend, and the fact the public and later harsh critics trusted that the medicalization pathways were much better researched than they were.
The research was hindered by the hesitation to publish negative results a lot of researchers feel.
I also think an error in the piece about the Jennings merely following the “good parenting model.” I think one reason why Jennette specifically doesn’t come under secular fire earlier, is because of the factors I cited earlier, but her own character traits and bad parenting don’t really reveal themselves until later seasons (to be clear, I’m not a viewer of show, and a lot of my impression here is based on Exulansic’s and other’s coverage of the show).
Jennette and her husband had, from a very early stage, a financial interest in Jazz completing the trans “journey” as they created a trans advocacy charity.
I think you make a lot of great and valid observations, but maybe, over the course of the three part series come down too hard on latter critics.
And while I think I disagree with some of your hypotheses, I thought this series was quite well done, and crisply argued. Looking forward to your next piece!
Do you not find it disgusting that the family (it seems particularly the mother) monetize Jazz? He was a source of income and attention. I find the entire story abusive. Jazz never had a chance to have a normal body.
What is really disgusting is that Jazz is now resigned to the monetizing of his life. He is still letting reality TV videos being made of him and has clearly learned how to "act" in accordance with the directions of his parents and producers. He lets videographers go with him when he socializes with his friends and even when he goes out on dates! He is not used to having privacy and does not demand it, except apparently the one time he gave his handlers the slip and stayed out all night with a "date". I think it is pretty obvious that the puberty blockers he took impaired maturation of his brain. He relates to his parents more like a young adolescent would, not at all like an adult in mid-twenties would. Jazz is probably going to be like this for the rest of his life. Incapable of forming a pair-bonded relationship because he experiences no actual sexual/romantic feelings. He wants to find someone to pair-bond with, but he does not have the ability to do so due to the puberty blockers he was given. Incredibly tragic.
Thank you fro the very interesting analysis of American Parenting ( anno 2000).
Sadly some of this philosophy has crossed the North Atlantic to wash up on our shores. ( An influence which Hubby and I tried to ignore.) Now I finally (&truly) understand why we were always at odds with the parents who implemented Modern Parenting Ethos and the schools with the Latest Pedagogic theories. I look forward to reading part 3.
Your exploration of this topic shows wisdom and compassion.
I appreciate that. I mean, I am 25 after all. Isn't that the age?
This is a great companion to the Coddling of the American Mind with a specific focus on how vulnerable this generation of parents and kids were to gender ideology.
Very vulnerable and very manipulated.
You make the point that, in contrast to earlier generations, parents in the 2000s outsourced their parenting philosophy to experts. I think this is wrong, or at least incomplete. Dr Spock was published all the way back in 1946. Dare to Discipline was from the 1970s. What to Expect and Parent Power are both from the 80s. The whole lineup of "Baby Einstein" began in the 90s.
Parents seeking expert opinions in no way started in the 2000s, and I don't think the claim that it became more prevalent at that time holds up either.
Dare to Discipline advised the opposite of what Maia has described parents did starting in the 2000s because the advice parents received started in the 2000s was very different. So what we are seeing is how powerful the "parenting advice" du jour is! "Baby Einstein" immediately preceded the ambient parenting advice of the 2000s.
My point is not regarding the advice received, but rather that parents were turning to experts.
When someone presents a narrative that sounds too neat, too perfect, and too conveniently aligned with their political goals, it's worth taking a step back and asking: "What parts of this story are being carefully selected, and what's being left on the cutting room floor?" That's the situation we find ourselves in with Maia Poet's recent two-part essay on transgender youth care and Jazz Jennings.
https://open.substack.com/pub/pittpeople/p/the-dutch-protocol-jazz-jennings?r=3khofc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Jazz’s parents put all their kids on reality TV. though. That’s a step above and beyond listening to the “experts” and letting kids express their preferences, like a lot of their peers did. They foreclosed the present and future privacy of everyone in their family, especially Jazz, but not only Jazz, in the exchange for wealth and fame. I’m comfortable calling them bad parents on that score alone.
I'm a parent, and I'll say this - no parent just reads a parenting book and obeys it, or listens to experts. Most parents are highly connected to their children and have an existing dynamic, and whatever they do, that dynamic continues to be dominant. Like even if an expert says candy is good, 99% of parents aren't going to let kids eat candy everyday because they'll see the effects on children, and have their own strong instincts. Also most parents remember what it means to be a child and default to how they were cared for. It's really hard to undo this default programming.
A lot of parents, i understand, were convinced to go along with some procedures because they were told about the rates of suicide. That I understand. They get to a situation where they are beyond their depth and then listen to the experts.
But at 3yo to go along with a child's saying random stuff sounds like even if the parents didn't have ill-intent, they had zero instinct for parenting and zero ability to understand their own child. This is not common. Most parents have a living breathing relationship with their kids which they use to inform and course-correct themselves. If a parent isn't using this well enough, something is very very wrong with them.
Phenomenal. The only thing I do need to point out is— while ADHD is wildly over diagnosed in Gen Z, it is very real and can be seen on brain imaging. I myself was diagnosed with brain imaging and stimulants are something I have gone on and off of for over two decades. They are necessary for me. True ADHD impacts every second of your life, it is a brain deformation that causes neural pathway blackouts and stimulants turn those pathways back on. And for people with true ADHD stimulants are necessary and life changing. The problem is that brain imaging isn't required for diagnosis in the US bc it makes pharmaceutical companies way more money to throw every hyperactive kid and every 20 year old who can't get their laundry done on adderall. And in the process you are harming those people who do not need stimulants and you are harming people with actual ADHD who do bc you are muddying the reality of the condition, you are muddying the research, and you are muddying the public understanding of ADHD by pathologizing personality traits.
I think there is a lot that is correct here. But I think your stance on the people who came to criticize the Jennings, and the trans movement later than earlier perhaps underestimates the power the effectiveness of the Trans rights activists, the nascent nature of the trend, and the fact the public and later harsh critics trusted that the medicalization pathways were much better researched than they were.
The research was hindered by the hesitation to publish negative results a lot of researchers feel.
I also think an error in the piece about the Jennings merely following the “good parenting model.” I think one reason why Jennette specifically doesn’t come under secular fire earlier, is because of the factors I cited earlier, but her own character traits and bad parenting don’t really reveal themselves until later seasons (to be clear, I’m not a viewer of show, and a lot of my impression here is based on Exulansic’s and other’s coverage of the show).
Jennette and her husband had, from a very early stage, a financial interest in Jazz completing the trans “journey” as they created a trans advocacy charity.
I think you make a lot of great and valid observations, but maybe, over the course of the three part series come down too hard on latter critics.
And while I think I disagree with some of your hypotheses, I thought this series was quite well done, and crisply argued. Looking forward to your next piece!
Do you not find it disgusting that the family (it seems particularly the mother) monetize Jazz? He was a source of income and attention. I find the entire story abusive. Jazz never had a chance to have a normal body.
What is really disgusting is that Jazz is now resigned to the monetizing of his life. He is still letting reality TV videos being made of him and has clearly learned how to "act" in accordance with the directions of his parents and producers. He lets videographers go with him when he socializes with his friends and even when he goes out on dates! He is not used to having privacy and does not demand it, except apparently the one time he gave his handlers the slip and stayed out all night with a "date". I think it is pretty obvious that the puberty blockers he took impaired maturation of his brain. He relates to his parents more like a young adolescent would, not at all like an adult in mid-twenties would. Jazz is probably going to be like this for the rest of his life. Incapable of forming a pair-bonded relationship because he experiences no actual sexual/romantic feelings. He wants to find someone to pair-bond with, but he does not have the ability to do so due to the puberty blockers he was given. Incredibly tragic.