I get a fair number of requests to be interviewed by academics and talk-show hosts. I say no to anyone who wants to feature an image of my child, but I tend to say yes to everyone else. Why? Because I believe that the more we talk about our gender-nonconforming kids, the more we build acceptance in the world for them. And I always say yes to solid academic researchers, who are collectively building a body of evidence documenting that accepting our kids leads to healthier, happier human beings.
Last year I was interviewed by Elizabeth Rahilly, a sociology graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is conducting doctoral research on the experiences, viewpoints, and feelings of parents of gender-nonconforming children. She wants to understand our experiences with our children, and in turn to bring a deeper understanding of the social and cultural dimensions of gender to the field. Her data come from in-depth interviews with parents like me–and maybe like you.
If you are a parent of a child aged 4-14, please consider contacting Elizabeth for an interview. Think of it as an act of progressive activism, an act of conscience, a gift to your child.
Elizabeth Rahilly
erahilly@umail.ucsb.edu
(347) 968-1891
Cool. I’ll post this too.
I came out of our shell and talked to a young lady locally that was doing a Doctoral Thesis on gender nonconformity in children. I found I learned as much about myself and Chris talking to her as she did about us. To anyone considering it I think it is worthwhile. I did agree to one image of him. I never had before. Only from the back really just showing a pink frilly shirt and long ponytails. And I had to approve it first. I dont think I would do that again though.