i run into this story every now again and i just think it's important to point out that the experiment was flawed to begin with, and it neither would have demonstrated what it claimed to demonstrate if it were successful nor does it disprove the point by failing.

the idea is that if you raise a genetic male as a girl, the child will grow up to identify the way it was raised. but, let's think carefully about this. if that were true then, surely, it would follow that if you raise a genetic boy as a boy it will grow up that way. then, transgendered people should not exist. that is, if the experiment were successful in the way it were phrased it would suggest that transgendered people can't exist at all, not that it's a purely social question.

nor does it have anything to say anything about genetics. david was not given a vaginoplasty and did not undergo hormone treatment (during or after puberty). there's not any reason to think he grew up to identify as a male because he didn't have a transgendered gene. there's just too many factors to get to that end point; he did not have female genitalia and did not receive female hormones, both of which are important in determining identity. the only thing that can be concluded is that people do not necessarily identify with the gender identity that is thrust upon them, but that is the condition of gender dysphoria in the first place.

a lot of commentators have looked to the case and suggested it's a good thing that he never received the vaginoplasty or underwent hormone treatment, but i think this is a complicated point that they're over-simplifying. it's impossible to know how the experiment would have turned out had he had a vaginoplasty and received hormones, but it's reasonable to suggest it would have had some effect. as it is, david was never given the opportunity to become secure in any specific identity. he was only given a very confusing contradiction to try and work through.

i think there's plenty of research that suggests that girls with brothers that are close to their age demonstrate more masculine traits, and vice versa. his brother wasn't really a control, as he was one of the most important influences in his upbringing.

the takeaway to the experiment is consequently neither about conditioning nor genetics, but simply that you can't enforce gender identities on people. you have to give them agency in determining it on their own.

my understanding is that the "bad words" issue initially largely had to do with class, some of it ethnic-based. the etymology of the term "vulgar" has to do with the language spoken by the common people, as opposed to the language spoken by the elites. britain has historically had an english-speaking upper class with a specific dialect, with commoners that speak a melting pot of celtic and germanic languages in a wide variety of dialects, many of them coming out of quasi-pidgins: mixes of english, gaelic, welsh and norse. this has of course been twisted around through various filters. but the idea is really simply that the upper classes should not use the language of the lower classes.

when it comes to dick v pussy, i think it's interesting to reflect on penis v vagina. if you were to have this discussion ten-fifteen years ago, the feminist perspective would be to demand that you use biological terms. it's a vulva. it's a clitoris. it's a vagina. let's be scientific about this, alright? but, i don't think this discussion has ever really seriously been had with male genitalia. think about this: when was the last time you heard somebody other than a doctor use the word "penis"? it doesn't happen. take your pick of slang, but it's really ubiquitous.

i think part of this is that men actually desire the association of their bodily parts with dirty and violent concepts. dudes want to think of their genitalia as these blunt instruments, rather than as something physiological. penis is consequently somewhat emasculating. but, i'm not sure the opposite argument holds as well.

if i were to pick, i'd rather hear people use penis in place of dick more regularly than use pussy in place of vagina more regularly. but, if the crux of the argument is that there's a double standard, it's accurate.

i mean, there's a continuum of thought in trying to disarm the pejorative. but i think that arguing for liberalization of the term "pussy" is more likely to enforce the idea that women's bodies are dirty (as the various slang for penis enforces the idea of men's bodies as a violent tool of control) than to somehow take it away as an insult. sure, a lot of this has to do with context. but, once again, i'm not really comfortable with laci's rather unusual brand of feminism. it seems to be patriarchal thinking in disguise....

deathtokoalas
yeah, they give more than a few ships...

.....to totalitarian dictators, who use them to repress their own populations.

the army does that too, though.

Doug Magill
http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png

Penguinpimp95
When did the US Navy ever give a ship to a totalitarian dictator...? Sounds like someone is a little butthurt over something

deathtokoalas
whenever propping up a dictator furthers it's own interests...

egypt is the prime example, but it's not the only one.

for those that are unaware, egypt is the second largest recipient of american military "aid", which essentially means that we give them money to buy equipment from us. it's a legal loophole, basically. the only country that receives more "aid" from us than egypt is israel, and the things are related - in return for this "aid", egypt maintains it's peace treaty with israel.

it's billions of dollars, annually. that's a lot of ships.

yeah, this is no good, and it's frustrating because the agent provocateur is a tactic the state uses (it was something bismarck's secret service first used against socialist revolts in germany) and stuff like this has the effect of discrediting the suggestion when it's actually legit. the balance of probability is that the cops are using similar tactics in the area, but be careful what you post, please....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT0uaZ5Ymeo