I feel there might be a less confusing way to phrase this sentence about a transgender teen: "Ayden grew up a tomboy and in sixth grade thought he was a lesbian."
Maybe this would be a good opportunity to write a sentence without pronouns, newspaper people. Because you can be correct and still ridiculous.
Also, I really really, really dislike the word tomboy. It implies that sports, hammers, trousers, and playing in the mud are at best non-normative and at worst transgressive for little girls. What the actual fuck, society?
(Just to be clear, I am suggesting they write "Ayden always gravitated towards sports and construction equipment, and eventually became aware of an attraction to girls." OR WHATEVER. But 'he was a lesbian' is always going to sound ridiculous, which distracts from the story. Much like reading 'she always wanted to wear dresses' about a transgender teen who previously identified as or was assigned male, it makes the reader confused rather than thoughtful.)
Re: "Tomboy." Yes, THANK YOU! One would think it would be getting better, but from what I can tell, one would be wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo annoying. I played with trucks and hammers but.... wore dresses to school? I don't remember being called a tomboy but maybe I was just oblivious from a young age. But, you know, girls wear pants now! It's 2015!
DeleteIt's interesting how terms like "sissy" or "Nancy-boy" are considered verboten (at least in progressive Cold City), but "tomboy" does not have the same stigma despite carrying essentially the same connotations.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the sentence about the transgender teen is confusing, your version is much better. I've wondered whether intelligent people no longer choose journalism as a profession, and if that has contributed to the overall decline in media.
But it's not insulting to call a girl a tomboy, right? It's a compliment! She likes interesting non-girly things! HEADDESK.
DeleteJournalism is a tough row to how and I know they have deadlines but ... still please don't write 'he was a lesbian.'
P.S. the story is from Cold City!
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