This personal story/essay/reflection is a creative writing post (#27) from my occasional series for paid subscribers, who can also leave comments on most posts. As always, email hollymathnerd at gmail dot com if you would like a paid subscription but can’t afford one.
The case of Jazz Jennings is perhaps more responsible for the normalization of “trans kids” as an idea than anything else. I’ve had a particular conversation at least ten times in the last four or five years, as the transgender acceptance movement has gone off the rails. The participants are a left-leaning but not wacko (LLBNW) friend or acquaintance and me, and it goes like this:
LLBNW (after securing my solemn promise that I will never reveal our conversation to anyone): “It’s just so bizarre. Some ridiculous child with no real problems needs a they/them pronoun badge to work at fucking Hallmark? Really?”
Me: “I know what you mean. It’s narcissism gone amok. Have you had to deal with this (at your job/on your sports team/with regard to who sleeps in your child’s cabin at summer camp)?”
LLBNW: “Yes, and it really bothers me. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I think (name of transwoman) is a wonderful person, and I’ll always call her she, and I think she’s definitely a true trans person. I do not want to cause any problems for her! She’s definitely the real thing, just like Jazz Jennings. But I won’t pretend — at least not with you — that I don’t feel really uncomfortable when…..”
Among the anti-Woke set, Jazz Jenning’s mother is a frequent topic of conversation. A stay-at-home mom whose husband was the sole breadwinner (until their child’s medical mutilation became the topic of a reality show, at which point the family gained a second, major income source), Mrs. Jennings is the one who accompanied Jazz to every medical appointment, activist event, and interview, so it’s perhaps natural that people have assumed she was the driving force behind transing their son.
I have watched every episode of their show, “I Am Jazz,” and I have a take on this show that makes me doubt my own sanity. Why? Because it seems as obvious to me as the color of the sky, and yet nobody ever talks about it!!
Except me.
Today, I’m going to share it with you.
I look forward to the comments….with bated breath.