A new puberty guide from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) aimed at 9-12 year old’s instructs youth about girls getting erections while normalizing “transgender” and “non-binary” characters in order to promote inclusivity.
In an interview with NPR on Saturday, Dr. Kathryn Lowe, one of three co-authors of a new puberty guide for pre-teens said they wrote the book because of the “need for all kids to understand about periods and erections, so we all understand each other’s bodies” as well as fill the needs of children “who don’t fit into a gender binary.”
“With this book, we’re trying to change that language to be more inclusive,” Lowe said. “With traditional puberty education, whether it’s in schools or in books, we talk about how girls get their periods and boys get erections. But some girls — for example, transgender girls — might not get their periods. They need to understand about erections and those changes in their bodies.”
“So we wanted to fill this void in puberty education so that kids, regardless of their gender, can see themselves in a book and learn about their bodies,” she added.
The new 150-page guide, titled “You-ology: A Puberty Guide for Everybody,” was published last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). It aims to assure kids that “there’s a wide range to what is normal,” help them navigate feelings, and understand their anatomies as well as the changes of puberty.
It is filled with fun facts, colorful diagrams, and stories “from a diverse cast of fictional characters navigating puberty.”
According to the guide, an erection is defined as “when the penis becomes firm or hard and sticks up.”
Lowe, who is described as a pediatrician who “helps steer the AAP on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender health and wellness,” also explained how language in the book was used to be more “inclusive of the gender spectrum and the trans experience.”
“The style we settled on is to use terms like ‘for most girls, this happens; for most boys, this happens,’” she said.
To be “even more purposeful in including transgender, non-binary, gender diverse kids,” the authors designed characters throughout the book, with many being “cisgender” and others “transgender” and “non-binary,” according to Lowe.
“So we would say ‘most boys and kids like this character’ as a way to really intentionally include gender diverse kids as well,” she said.
The book also introduces the young readers to the feelings of transgender individuals.
“If a baby is born with a penis, their sex assigned at birth is male. If a baby is born with a vulva, their sex assigned at birth is female,” it states.
“Most babies who are born with a penis grow up feeling like a boy on the inside too. That’s called being cisgender (cis- means ‘same’),” the guide continues. “But there are some babies born with a penis who grow up feeling like a girl on the inside. That’s called being transgender (trans- means ‘cross’ or ‘opposite’).”
Similarly, the book adds, “if a baby born with a vulva grows up feeling like a girl, she is a cisgender girl. If that baby grows up knowing he is a boy, then he is a transgender boy.”
Dr. Trish Hutchison, another co-author of the guide, said she wanted the book “to be in every school in the country so that any kid could pick it up and see themselves and their peers.”
In response, many took to social media to blast such “propaganda” targeting children.
“This is clown world stuff,” wrote political commentator Ian Miles Cheong.
“American Academy of Pediatrics is now teaching your children that girls can get erections,” the American Principles Project tweeted.
“Only a few years ago, you would have been laughed out of the room for saying this,” the conservative and pro-family advocacy organization added. “Now, our media are promoting doctors teaching this to children.”
“I could never have imagined that we would have people go to Medical school so they could become lunatic – activist ‘Doctors,’” wrote Shukri Abdirahman, who is running as a Republican to unseat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
“This is insanity!” she added.
“Boys don’t have periods. Girls don’t get erections. Pretending otherwise is cruel,” wrote another.
“This is sick propaganda,” another user wrote.
Earlier this month, Breitbart News reported that top Hollywood studios, from NBCUniversal to ViacomCBS to Disney, will be airing a “Public Service Announcement” (PSA) about transgender children from the far-left activist organization Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
According to GLAAD, the ad has been secured for donated airtime on platforms associated with Comcast NBCUniversal, Paramount, WarnerMedia, and The Walt Disney Company.
“The PSA directs viewers to the new site equality-now.org, which features information on LGBTQ youth and calls on visitors to show public support for them,” said GLAAD. “The site is owned and managed by GLAAD, with support from partners at the Equality Federation Institute, the Freedom for All Americans Education Fund, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.”
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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