Story Time, Teachers!

Today, let’s learn about cause and effect...

If you give a girl some genderbread, she’ll probably want something natural and familiar, like milk, to rinse away the odd flavor.

When you instead give her Kool-Aid, her trust in you will make her gulp it down.

Once she’s done, she’ll feel different and ask for a mirror to see if the Kool-Aid gave her a mustache. After all, she likes sports, being a leader, and the color blue.

When she sees her reflection, she’s bound to spot that her hair is longer than that of the boys she plays with.

So, her next move is to reach for the clippers.

When she’s cut off her locks, she’ll grab a vacuum to erase the proof that she once liked long hair.

She’ll set about cleaning.

She may get so caught up in it that she'll scrub away her whole past.

Including throwing out her loved ones.

When nothing is left, chances are she’ll feel kind of lost.

You’ll take her to a therapist, who has lots of rainbows but no questions.

She’ll try to get comfortable there, or as comfortable as she can in her binder.

Then she’ll likely demand that you affirm that the story she’s made up about herself is true.

​So, you’ll assure her she knows best even though she’s a kid and - high on that power - she’ll ask what more you can do for her.

When you tell her she can completely reinvent herself as someone new and better, she’ll get so anxious she’ll want to do it right away.

She’ll request referrals and prescriptions.

She’ll make appointments.

When she fills out the forms, she’ll scribble a stranger’s name on the dotted line and insist her old self with the other name is dead.

Then she’ll want to replace all the childhood photos of herself on the wall, which means you’ll have to help her reach, since puberty blockers have stunted her growth.

She’ll put up a new picture and take a moment to scrutinize it.

Seeing her budding mustache in the photo will conjure a time when she was thirsty for something natural and familiar, like milk.

So, she’ll ask for some, but since no one serves it anymore, she’ll accept more Kool-Aid instead.

And the odds are, if she drinks more Kool-Aid, she’ll soon be yet another adult feeding genderbread to little girls.