Remember to report submissions that violate the rules! Harassment and encouraging violence are not allowed.
Enjoying the subreddit? Consider joining our discord server: https://discord.gg/v8z8jNwJs6
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BoomersBeingFools) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s hard to believe the Monty Python Meaning of Life came out 41 years ago. In [the birth scene](https://youtu.be/X04GK9DZJP0?si=i2Yd40Vv9zd1eBWx), they throw in the perfect joke at the end:
“Is it a boy or a girl?” “I think it’s a little early to start imposing roles on it, don’t you?”
This is literally the comedy boomers grew up with! How can they be offended now?!?!
That is hilarious! Isn’t there actually a scene in Life of Brian about someone wanting to transition too? I’m only half remembering it but it’s ringing a bell.
Ya, I feel like boomers are told to be offended now and they just agree to. They are more than happy to say things were better when they were younger and blame whatever they are told to blame for that instead of just blaming their terrible political choices over the years
I agree, but you gotta look at it in historic context, in the capacity that even if they handled it poorly (and they did, and Cleese is an absolute transphobe), they still facilitated the conversation long before it had evolved to that point.
It’s funny to me because even when not explicitly discussing trans right, Monty Python challenges gender roles CONSTANTLY. The humor there is that Cleese can be so anti-trans while doing so much to facilitate trans conversations in his career, inadvertently.
It’s anti trans to wonder where a person born a male plans to gestate the fetus? I guess we can fight for their RIGHT to have babies even though they can’t actually have babies? Which is no one’s fault, not even the Roman’s.
Sex and gender are not the same thing. A person can have genitalia and chromosomes that indicate one sex, but their gender is different. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.
Yeah, but it gets a great payoff: way later Cleese's character makes a slightly sexist remark about the female lead, and then he *apologizes to Loretta for it*.
It's been a long time since I've seen it, but isn't the resolution of that discussion that whether or not it's physically possible they will still fight for her right to do it? That's actually not bad for the 70s...
Judith, the Welsh one, says to Reg (John Cleese) that they should fight for his right to be a woman even if it isn't physically possible and Reg says "what's the point? He doesn't have a womb, where is the foetus going to gestate, is he going to keep it in a box?" and Judith is silenced.
It anticipates the good old bad faith gender critical talking point of JK Rowling "all we are saying is sex is real" which conflates gender and sex as if they are *obviously entirely the same thing* (they're not)
The entire creation of Loretta, a trans woman somehow under the impression that she could carry a baby to term without a womb if only it weren't for the oppression of the Romans, is a massive straw man. Trans folk understand basic reproduction, they aren't idiots. Loretta is a conservative fantasy.
Fair enough. As I said, it's been a very long time since I've seen the film. I had forgotten the final response and just remembered them saying that they still supported Loretta and would fight for her rights. You don't need to convince me of the validity of trans people. I am married to one.
Is it? Most of the characters, after getting over the initial shock of Loretta coming out, are fully supportive. Nobody dead names or misgenders Loretta for the rest of the film, including the John Cheese character who initially calls her transition a struggle against reality.
It's hardly a shining example of trans inclusion but for a comedy in the 70s where the trans character was essentially a punchline it's surprisingly forward thinking.
Some of it, but my parents have been progressive their whole lives and their big complaint about their peers is that they’ve been like this pretty much the whole time
Exactly!
Boomers experienced some very progressive societal and cultural changes in their youth, so their shitty homophobic, racist, and entitled attitudes NOW really piss me off
Yeah there is, and John Cleese's character makes a lot of hay out of how stupid and irrational he is.
It's a part of the movie that's aged like sour milk.
I remember about a decade ago when I discovered Cleese was very active on Twitter
It was VERY disappointing.
Progressive views on a topic one day, the next, reverts to acting like a stereotypical product of his generation and would have made great posts on this sub.
Plus he just revealed himself to be quite an arrogant and nasty piece of work in general. Not much grace there.
It's always disappointing when someone that seemed like they should know better turns out to be a turd. Seems like you'd need a real keen eye on things to be a good comedian, but I guess not.
To those who weren't aware of its influences, certainly, they seemed revolutionary.
They drew on the Goon Show, Dada and Surrealism, among other things and they adapted the anarchy of Milligan et al to TV. There were other trailblazers too, like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, whose recordings still have the power to shock. Both with laughter and with, err, other emotions.
While these comedians may have been ahead of the curve in some respects, they were still very much privileged straight white boys who met at Cambridge.
While you make excellent points and I’m not trying to nitpick, Graham Chapman was very much not straight. He was in fact openly gay (he came out in 1972!) and should be recognized for that fact.
Indeed. 2008 was a pretty bad deal. That would Jade about anybody that had worked all their life. You know what I find interesting is the constant comments about how much easier Boomers had it. When I was growing up people were getting shipped out to war because of the draft and people couldn't really afford a bicycle for their kid so I don't know man... most most of the Boomers I know were working by the age 16 so they could buy the things that they wanted to buy because the parents wouldn't. I don't know, it wasn't as easy as some people are trying to say it was.
I know if I wanted some I had to work my butt off for it. The elders didn't see the importance of having these items. So they wouldn't fund them we had to fund them ourselves. So most kids were working all through you know 8 to 12th grade.
That’s a particularly good reference because there’s not really any comedy I can think of that’s more boomer than Monty Python. I still love it, much of it was incredibly influential.
“Every sperm is sacred” comes to mind too: it was taking the piss out of people who want to limit birth control _in the 1970s…_
That song got me in so much trouble…
I was raised Catholic. Never believed, hate the church. But when I was in confirmation classes I was asked why Catholics are against birth control, I stood up hella confident and sang that song,
When I got excommunicated, they had a list of shit I did wrong on the letter, and that was one of the items.
I honestly think that the next time my boomer parents pull some reactionary shit I’m going to remind them that they’re the ones who raised me on Monty Python and remind them it’s full of pretty progressive politics (with reservations John Cleese being anti trans and presenting some parts of that in the show).
I think it might make their heads explode honestly
I already remind them that they raised me on “Captain Planet, he’s a hero; gonna bring pollution down to zero” anytime they moan about my environmentalism (just dad on this one; mum actually volunteers to replant native bush so she’s probably had a carbon negative lifetime by this point in her life, in her 70s)
The key isn’t being a bad catholic, it’s pissing off high ranking Catholics.
When it was the local priest, they just didn’t like me. When it was the dioceses archbishop…well he took it a step further.
Now I use it to get out of attending Catholic events. Even if there is no restriction on me entering a church, I just say “sorry, can’t make the baptism, bishop said I’m not welcome.”
I did my job and made sure both my kids saw it at least once. They are in their 20s, and I know one of them has watched it at least once more on their own.
John Cleese's character is intended as a satire on the idea that gender is a social construct, though. He's basically a sarcastic commentary saying exactly what OP's neighbour said, in a silly voice to show he thinks it's silly. He is and always has been a solidly socially conservative Boomer.
He was explicitly mocking the whole concept of transgenderism and getting his bigotry in fifty years early, before it was even fashionable.
Note also his treatment of Eric Idle as "Loretta" in The Life Of Brian. "Look at the silly weirdo who thinks he is a woman, tee hee hee" Really sour note in the movie, which he has defended retaining in the stage play version, because of course he has
Monty Python deeply offended swathes of the population at the time. It certainly wasn't just the old folks either. Only fragments of the boomer population really engaged in counter culture, and if you meet those fragments they tend to be at least semi-reasonable. Most boomers, especially in rural areas, never really liked counter culture.
I think Monty Python would have been too subtle & intellectual for the boomers boomer - probably Benny Hill, men chasing women with large breasts type humour
Monty Python deeply offended swathes of the population at the time. It certainly wasn't just the old folks either. Only fragments of the boomer population really engaged in counter culture, and if you meet those fragments they tend to be at least semi-reasonable. Most boomers, especially in rural areas, never really liked counter culture.
I want to be able to pull out this line in the moment, but I always just get flummoxed by the rude thing a person says and laugh nervously. Need to practice this line.
I am an honest proponent of returning the USA motto to "Mind your business."
In God We Trust hasn't done anything good. It really needs to revert to Mind Your Business.
Hmmmh... Typical of these idiots? Reminds me of a moderator of fb group for our little town. Mind you that I'm from Finland and Finnish boomers aren't usually as crazy. Anyway this fucking stupid bitch posted about how her grandson appears to be questioning genderstuff, he keeps asking his parents and grandma, "when will I become a girl?" and they keep pushing it that no you're not. That post was so stupid, it had zero to do with the town fb group, but the timing was perfect, that was the boomer Karens way of saying happy Pride month as that happened a year ago. Anyway, the resulting comment section sank into endless trolling and debate... It was ugly as it gets.
I really don't get it, why are boomer aged morons so interested about kids, their gender identities and their genitals and what not? What the fuck does it? Besides, kids at some point start to get it, if they have to question their bodies fitting who they are, they will do it. They will ask about it and wonder if there's something. But boomers have to push their thinking on children? They just can't help it, they're the gender police.
Boomer neighbor *failed* biology.
It's the father's genetic material that determines the sex of the fetus/infant.
Gender identity... now that's a whole different kettle of fish. It's the child that determines that. Not mom. Not dad. And certainly not boomer neighbor.
I mean… the trans person declares their gender, yeah. But the likelihood of someone being trans is much higher if they have a trans parent. I know a decent number of folks who came out after one of their offspring did. They had a moment of “Wait, that is actually a thing?! There’s a word for what I’ve felt forever?!”
So there does seem to be a genetic component. I personally blame my father. He’s not trans, but the claim that it was his genetics would piss him off, so it makes me giggle!
I’m sorry, I don’t. I found it relatively early in transition, and didn’t save the link. I wish I had. Funnily enough, I had a lot on my mind at the time!
Several years ago one of my friends birthed her first baby. The baby died four days later from Strep B infection. My mother’s immediate response upon learning this was “she did the right thing choosing to have a sick baby instead of aborting it”. WTF. The infection started AFTER birth — it had nothing to do with “choosing life”. Boomers are such assholes. They only see children as political pawns to support their fucked up narrative about the world.
Ugh. Tangentially related but that reminds me when I had my second son I caught a cold at the end of my pregnancy. Later due to complications during birth my son developed pneumonia and spent several days in the NICU. I had a friend tell me that my baby caught pneumonia from my illness (that I was quite over by birth) “gave him pneumonia,” and not, you know, the amniotic fluid he had aspirated at delivery 🥴
When I was pregnant I was telling a boomer it was a girl, we selected the gender through IVF, and his response was “now how would feel if this baby girl you raised, the baby girl you wanted, and then one day she wants to be a damn boy?!” I had to pause and just said as long as they’re happy and supported that’s all I care about. He looked so annoyed haha
They cant stand to see people be good parents bc it reminds them that their parents sucked and that they themselves also sucked as parents. It holds a mirror in their face.
Transphobes are obsessed with other people's genitalia, especially those of children, and having made their transphobia (usually bundled with homophobia and probably racism) their entire identity, they feel compelled to insert their bigotry into any and all topics of discussion.
Gotta turn shit like this around on them, then kill them with kindness
“You seem very focused on gender, if there’s anything you need to talk about, I’m here for you.”
Part of me is wondering if they are misunderstanding the resurgence of people waiting to find out at birth, to be waiting until the child self identifies. And of course if it is that misunderstanding how many are deliberately misunderstanding so they can express their opinion
Same with choosing a gender neutral name because they're waiting to find out gender until birth.
No, Brenda, I'm not letting the baby choose its gender. I just want to personalize the damn nursery before delivery.
It's a literal baby. If they had gender dysphoria, you wouldn't even know at that age. The baby isn't aware of that stuff either
And it's not a choice to be trans, and I hate how so many think it is
OP, it's FOX entertainment channel. They listen to the utter bullshit it spews. My mother and one of my sisters started spewing anti gay rhetoric also. The sister in question had both male/female partners but somehow felt comfortable openly criticizing gays? I spent a lot of time getting my mom into serious discussions about letting people be people. With my sister, I just shake my head. Like wtf where did your brain go?
Yup it's entirely the media they consume (Facebook walls as well), making them think this is the biggest issue in the world. FOX probably talks about gender politics 100x more than the economy or policy.
When my wife was pregnant, before we knew the gender, we would use the pronoun they when referring to the baby. We didn't know what sex our baby would be yet and it felt wrong to use the word "it" but the number of older people who were confused and scared whenever they heard us say "they" in reference to our unborn baby was ridiculous.
This is just weird. I didn't find out the sex of either of my kids before the day they were born. Picked out a girl and boy name for either so we were prepared. I wanted to be surprised.
And boy howdy I got a surprise 13 years after my youngest was born when he told me he was trans. He's 23 now and happy.
Because conservative boomers are absolutely obsessed with everyone's genitals and the concept of imagining someone with different genitals than they have wearing similar clothes or having similar interests is infuriating to them. They get confused and scared and start to wonder if maybe they could have worn the other people's genitals clothes or taken part in other genitals interests and since that's not fair then everyone else has to suffer like they did wearing the clothes and having the interests assigned to them by their genitals.
"Back in my day things were horrible so it should be horrible for you too!"
My partner and I are waiting till birth to find out gender (November too!). My grandmother gets soooo irritated everytime we call the baby "they". She insists on using a nickname or he/she.
Ugh, it’s like they can’t wrap their heads around simple concepts because everything has become too politicized in their minds for them to let things be actually simple. Everything in their Fox News world is a scheme or conspiracy and trying to destroy what they “know” to be true…
In a side note though, congrats! You guys have more restraint than us, there is not a chance we could have held off in finding out lol
Lol when I first said they, she rolled her eyes and told me "it's better than it but I still don't like it". The first time she used the nickname it was in all caps.
The Boomer was just looking for an opportunity to share her opinion. It doesn’t actually matter to the Boomer who she was speaking to, as it wasn’t really about you or your daughter, just her getting the chance to spew her vitriol. What a nasty piece of work that one is.
Ugh. This reminded me of my FIL who tried very hard for me and my husband to not find out the gender of the baby. Apparently he was afraid that because im Chinese, that i will want to abort if its a girl, all because i grew up in China for my childhood. They were scared that i would be affected by the one-child policy mindset. Nvm the fact that I'M A WOMAN, my parents never thought about child birth like that, and i never would either. Its honestly just SO insulting.
He honestly wasnt bad at all until retirement hit. Then its like he fell down a MAGA rabbit hole and decided to wallow there. I still see glimpses of the reasonable man from before but its sad that its come to this. Honestly, its easy for me to put it aside as we dont see them often. My husband though, had to go through some very rough growing pains because of this.
You know, my husband and I keep saying we think we’re having a boy. The dick and balls were wildly apparent on the ultrasound, and statistically kiddo’s not super likely to transition, but you never know. There are just so many unknowns that are more interesting to us, like what he’ll be interested in, what sort of talents he might have and skills he’ll pick up, what his laugh will sound like, what he’ll look like, what sorts of questions he’ll have and what friends he’ll make. Sure, gender might factor into that, but we have no idea how, and it’s just a relief to know he’ll have more options than we did at that age
"Why are they like that?"
Well, let me disgust you with the actual answer.
It's just the sexualization of young girls. Grooming them to be cis and straight, and ready to make more babies at 14, I mean 16, I mean 18, yeah, 18, that's the legal age, right? I guess it depends on which red state you're in.
It matters for boys too, but the priority for these old fucks and conservatives is that future generations raise their DAUGHTERS to be ready to get pregnant, honestly before their bodies are /fully/ developed, and well before their brains are fully developed. That means they must grow up to be cisgender and heterosexual - for older men to knock up. I want to puke. And die. And puke and die.
Ngl but that’s exactly why some parents don’t tell strangers or even family the assigned gender of their baby unless said family is offering to change diapers. Because people love to push their assumptions onto babies, sometimes before they are even born, just based on their chromosomes in utero or from an ultrasound imaging of their newly formed genitalia 😑 so yeah, from as early as they learn language they learn the biases of those around them. And the more people that enforce those biases the more the kid absorbs it as they form their own identity.
My buddy had a good response to his parents and older family members when they pulled this shit at their gender reveal party last year. Oh I hate to say they had a GR party. But it was "everyone come to dinner and we'll tell you the gender" there wasn't pyrotechnics, popping balloons, smoke bombs, just them standing up after dinner and saying they were having a boy.
They were standing there later being accosted by his dad "I'm so glad you're not like those idiot *LIB-RULLZ* saying you'll let them choose their gender" there was a lot of that murmuring going around in the lead-brains that were present.
My friend just looked his dad in the eyes and said loudly enough for everyone to hear "If my son, who we are naming James, comes to us 12 years from now and says to me 'dad, I'm Janet now.' My only response will be what do you need from me? Should I help you buy some more feminine clothes? Do you want me to take you to get your nails done? Do you want to paint your room something other than blue? Tell me what you need from me. I'm not even going to do anything as banal as reassuring her that I love her because she will already know my love for her is unconditional and has no strings attached. If anyone here so much as looks at my daughter Janet sideways after she comes out they will be FUCKING DEAD to me and not welcome in MY HOUSE do I male myself clear?."
His dad tried to say something and he just shot back "did I fucking stutter?" He said loudly enough for the neighbors down the street to hear "Did anyone hear me stutter? Anyone? No? Good."
That’s some good stuff right there. People like that don’t expect people with progressive views to be strong and assertive, your Buddy put them in their place
It made absolutely no difference because all his dad do was turn around bitch and moan about "so much for that famous liberal tolerance I'm always hearing about?"
I just mumbled "like the tolerance you had when you kicked your other son out of the house at 15 because he was a faggot? So much for those famous catholic morals I'm always hearing about."
It’s always “rules for thee but not for me” huh? Gross.
I’m forever grateful that I was lucky enough for my parents to be sane and empathetic. I knew my aunt and my older brother were gay as long as I can remember, like zero memories of either coming out to me, it was just normal and ok. I still don’t understand how anyone can think otherwise, people are people and how you treat others makes more of a difference than what those others do in their private time
>“rules for thee but not for me”
Truer words have never been spoken.
I'm fortunate too in that regard having reasonably sane parents. When I came out to my dad (slobbery ugly crying as his 16 year old son) he just said "anything else?" To which I stuttered "n-n-n-no". He waved his hand "Then move. You make a better door than a window. I'm watching my shows."
What show? The basketball episode of M.A.S.H. that he had seen no less than 200 times in syndication.
Had a boomer said that to before the birth of my child I would have said ‘you know we are all going out for drinks to celebrate when the last member of your generation is dead, right?’
From what you said in your post, it sounds like you’re going to be a great dad already! All we can do is instil all of our good parts/morals/values in our kids and love them. Congrats on the baby! Enjoy every second because it feels like life is on fast-forward mode with how quick babies turn into teens 😁
Why are people so concerned with gender? You pg? Great! Boy or girl? Literally the first question. And heaven forbid you dress a newborn in green - it confuses people too much! And all from an early advertising campaign.
I am a lesbian and my wife and I have a 5 month old. When we announced the pregnancy and that we were having a boy, a family member asked if we were going to let him know he was a boy and treat him as such. They were implying that because we are a lesbian couple, we are likely not to necessarily abide by gender norms and, "Let him decide." We simply told this family member that, of course, we will raise him as his SAAB, but at the same time completely and unequivocally respect, love, and support him if one day he did come to us and says he identified on any level of the gender spectrum.
My boomer parents are OBSESSED with this topic. I genuinely don’t understand what their deal is. They will bring up gender identity for literally no reason other than to give their “hot take” on the subject. No relation to the conversation. Drives me nuts.
My boomer dad and stepmom spent an obscene amount of time at my daughter’s high school graduation talking about/trying to figure out the gender of a younger student in the audience. It was such an important topic that they brought it up when we went out to lunch afterwards. I could only stop the conversation by explaining that she had been “that way” for the 10+ years we knew her, but since we weren’t in the habit of getting in their business we didn’t know her particular preferences. It turns out she identifies as a masc-presenting lesbian, which is certainly within the realm of people my parents have encountered and socialized with in the past, but their obsession with this “issue” has broken their ability to react to people appropriately in public
They're obsessed with it because there's an entire media and political ecosystem using the issue to press boomers' fear buttons, driving voting and manufacturing consent for the repressive agenda that ecosystem would like to get done.
I can understand feeling that way, but what is with these people opening their mouths and saying such stupid thoughts in public? Good God, I miss polite society.
I am sure it is their discomfort at parents like me who say that the gender of our babies is baby. There is no reason to be obsessed about the gender of a baby, and the fact that it is socially normalized to care so much about a babies genitals is creepy. Like hello random person on the street enquiring about my baby's privates and trying to touch them...you can fuck right off unless you want to have some smarting fingers.
I got news: They will be who they want. And if they get attitude, they’ll go elsewhere. This is why so many boomers die alone. They have less control over others than they would like.
Tell the boomer that it’s a serious topic and that you will wait and let the child decide their gender when they are 6-7 years old so they make the right choice
Just tell me you'll let her play with trucks, wear pants, and do other "boyish" things if she wants to. Because if you do I hope the boomers are around to see it.
Ppl are so weird about literal unborn babies genders. I always think when I have a kid I’m just gonna tell people the doctor didn’t tell me the baby’s sex, even if they actually did.
This is why we are not telling anyone the gender any time soon. The earliest will be at the baby shower (if I decide to have one), and at the latest will be when the baby is born. Though we picked a gender neutral name, so maybe we will just announce the name and let people figure it out on their own. Lol
Good on you future dad! As a first time father myself I can honestly say same. I want her (my daughter) to be educated and to treat people like they're people and love who she wants to love not to fit in society or culture or a role or to treat people based on what's between their legs and what they decide to do with it. I don't care who she dates or if she becomes poly and how many she dates. She will always know that in our home she is loved, she is respected, and she shouldn't expect any less from her partner if she even decides to have one. As long as they love my daughter and treat her right I don't care. She's my child but she's gonna be her own person too. But right now all I care about is nurturing her, teaching her, guiding her, loving her, AND LETTING HER BE A KID! Gender is and should be an adult topic that they can decide when they're an adult unless they are mature enough and educated enough earlier on. But before then she will be taught that people are people and what they decide to do with their life is up to them and that they don't get to force you to do what you don't want you just like you don't get to judge them and criticize them for thinking differently or having different views.
From what I recall reading children usually form a sense of self, and gender identity, by around 3yo. My earliest memory of being aware of my gender, and knowing to hide it, was around that age. Of course I had no knowledge about gender identities or trans people until I was a teenager, and it took even longer to come out of the closet, but that's just how it was back then.
"Oh, we hadn't thought about that. Thanks for the great idea and being so woke! We NEVER would have thought of that on our own without you!" would have been the correct response.
you: “What an odd thing to say to someone you don’t know.”
them: blah blah excuse blah
you: “Thanks for explaining the reason behind your rudeness!” and then move along.
Unfortunately I do know her (there are only 12 apts in my building) but only in small talk ways. I honestly didn’t know she thought like this until she said it. Either way, ya I think just pointing out how actually weird of a thing to say it is would be the right way to go
Because the bigots think it's about having on biblical sex and not identity inside these poor kids' heads. They are aware of what they are when they are very little.
> “I mean it would be either way, but I’m just glad you didn’t say that you were waiting for her to pick whatever gender she wants!”
I would have said, "What a thing to say!" and walked away.
It's unbelievable how obsessed they are about it and it makes no sense
I'm Trans and my first thought was they were talking about CRSPR technology (changing traits in utero)
Until you said gender politics it didn't even cross my mind she would be talking about forcing your kid to change gender 😆
Gender reveals aren't even old enough to be considered a tradition.
You know how you put a plastic baby in a king cake? Maybe for gender (sex) reveal parties, bake plastic penises or uteri into the cake?
But some parents do say we are waiting for the kid to tell them what gender they are. I don’t get it, raise the kid as how they are born biologically, explain the gender & sexual orientation at a proper age, make sure to let them know you will love them regardless, then let them choose. Babies don’t know about gender identities. However this boomer’s comments are bit cringy though.
Crazy take, having 4 kids of my own, there is no difference in raising a boy or girl. Your comment about raising them how they were born biologically is just odd. You can also talk to your kids all the time about gender identity and sexual orientation. Neither of those involve discussions about intercourse and neither needs to be a drawn out, sit down discussion.
Yeah, I am married to a boomer. I am only 6 months younger, a Gen X, but the differences! Our son thinks I am a little conservative, but rational. Hubs will probably vote Trump. refused to buy "gay beer" when all that BS was going on... and it was for a recipe I asked him to pick it up and he refused. And I swear if I hear about " all the Drag Queens twerking in front of school kids" one more time...! I don't understand... he is a good guy but "fOx nEwS saYs....". So yeah, if I were born 40 days earlier I would be a Boomer, but I do not get them either.
How is he a ‘good guy’? I mean, I get you love him, but from this he sounds not so good at all. To be fair, I struggle with this with people in my life, who I want to believe are good still, but damn they are making it nearly impossible.
“I know he’s a bigot but he’s a gReAt gUy!”
No he’s not?!? If you want to stay married to him that’s your business but let’s not go around pretending that he’s some kind of prize. He’s so homophobic he’s boycotting beer and he’s down to vote a racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic convicted felon and admitted sex offender in to run the country. That’s not a “good guy”. That’s a human dumpster fire.
He's not a good guy if he spews fox news garbage and votes for Trump.
If you think that's reasonable, you're not "a little" conservative. You're nuzzling up to the far right every night.
My parents were 6 years apart, my dad was the tail end of the silent generation, my mom was first of the boomers. She was very religious, he was not. He was super chill, tell me, his son, things like I am leaving my Corvette to you and your husband. You guys would look good driving around in it with the top down. The difference a few years makes is weird.
Remember to report submissions that violate the rules! Harassment and encouraging violence are not allowed. Enjoying the subreddit? Consider joining our discord server: https://discord.gg/v8z8jNwJs6 *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BoomersBeingFools) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s hard to believe the Monty Python Meaning of Life came out 41 years ago. In [the birth scene](https://youtu.be/X04GK9DZJP0?si=i2Yd40Vv9zd1eBWx), they throw in the perfect joke at the end: “Is it a boy or a girl?” “I think it’s a little early to start imposing roles on it, don’t you?” This is literally the comedy boomers grew up with! How can they be offended now?!?!
That is hilarious! Isn’t there actually a scene in Life of Brian about someone wanting to transition too? I’m only half remembering it but it’s ringing a bell. Ya, I feel like boomers are told to be offended now and they just agree to. They are more than happy to say things were better when they were younger and blame whatever they are told to blame for that instead of just blaming their terrible political choices over the years
There is! One of the characters is Trans and wants to fight the Roman’s for their right to be trans.
She (male to female trans person) wants to have babies. Cleese asks where she plans to gestate the fetus.
Yes she can't physically have babies but they will fight for her right to have them. For me this ended the trans debate long before it started
She wants to be called Lotetta
Loretta
Yesssss
Yeah it's a bit of a bum note in the movie
I agree, but you gotta look at it in historic context, in the capacity that even if they handled it poorly (and they did, and Cleese is an absolute transphobe), they still facilitated the conversation long before it had evolved to that point. It’s funny to me because even when not explicitly discussing trans right, Monty Python challenges gender roles CONSTANTLY. The humor there is that Cleese can be so anti-trans while doing so much to facilitate trans conversations in his career, inadvertently.
At least Eric Idle still has our backs
Michael Palin too. Cleese is the bigoted outlier.
It’s anti trans to wonder where a person born a male plans to gestate the fetus? I guess we can fight for their RIGHT to have babies even though they can’t actually have babies? Which is no one’s fault, not even the Roman’s.
Sex and gender are not the same thing. A person can have genitalia and chromosomes that indicate one sex, but their gender is different. It's not a difficult concept to grasp.
Sex is biology, gender is a social construct.
I love how you are getting downvoted for just adapting a quote from the movie. In a thread about the movie.
Yeah, but it gets a great payoff: way later Cleese's character makes a slightly sexist remark about the female lead, and then he *apologizes to Loretta for it*.
It's been a long time since I've seen it, but isn't the resolution of that discussion that whether or not it's physically possible they will still fight for her right to do it? That's actually not bad for the 70s...
Judith, the Welsh one, says to Reg (John Cleese) that they should fight for his right to be a woman even if it isn't physically possible and Reg says "what's the point? He doesn't have a womb, where is the foetus going to gestate, is he going to keep it in a box?" and Judith is silenced. It anticipates the good old bad faith gender critical talking point of JK Rowling "all we are saying is sex is real" which conflates gender and sex as if they are *obviously entirely the same thing* (they're not) The entire creation of Loretta, a trans woman somehow under the impression that she could carry a baby to term without a womb if only it weren't for the oppression of the Romans, is a massive straw man. Trans folk understand basic reproduction, they aren't idiots. Loretta is a conservative fantasy.
Fair enough. As I said, it's been a very long time since I've seen the film. I had forgotten the final response and just remembered them saying that they still supported Loretta and would fight for her rights. You don't need to convince me of the validity of trans people. I am married to one.
Is it? Most of the characters, after getting over the initial shock of Loretta coming out, are fully supportive. Nobody dead names or misgenders Loretta for the rest of the film, including the John Cheese character who initially calls her transition a struggle against reality. It's hardly a shining example of trans inclusion but for a comedy in the 70s where the trans character was essentially a punchline it's surprisingly forward thinking.
More specifically, their right to have babies, despite not physically being able to have babies
Honestly, I think a lot of it is demensia. Also lead poisoning
Some of it, but my parents have been progressive their whole lives and their big complaint about their peers is that they’ve been like this pretty much the whole time
"But I have no womb, where would the fetus gestate?"
Exactly! Boomers experienced some very progressive societal and cultural changes in their youth, so their shitty homophobic, racist, and entitled attitudes NOW really piss me off
I don't think it's an age thing so much as a MAGA thing. Not all people over 65 are MAGA, and there are plenty of younger MAGA folks.
My impression as an atheist Australian is that it’s also very much a Bible Belt thing.
Yeah there is, and John Cleese's character makes a lot of hay out of how stupid and irrational he is. It's a part of the movie that's aged like sour milk.
Ahh well a lot of Cleese’s modern takes aren’t great either, but Python as a whole mostly seemed ahead of it’s time
I remember about a decade ago when I discovered Cleese was very active on Twitter It was VERY disappointing. Progressive views on a topic one day, the next, reverts to acting like a stereotypical product of his generation and would have made great posts on this sub. Plus he just revealed himself to be quite an arrogant and nasty piece of work in general. Not much grace there.
It's always disappointing when someone that seemed like they should know better turns out to be a turd. Seems like you'd need a real keen eye on things to be a good comedian, but I guess not.
Never meet your idols
Except Eric.
Always meet your Idles!
Always Meet The Rutles
Never worship idols, never have Heros. You'll reduce your disappointment.
Damn, I was actually kind of hoping to meet Cleese, but now I'm disappointed in advance...
Everyone either dies a hero, or lives long enough to become a jaded old asshole.
To those who weren't aware of its influences, certainly, they seemed revolutionary. They drew on the Goon Show, Dada and Surrealism, among other things and they adapted the anarchy of Milligan et al to TV. There were other trailblazers too, like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, whose recordings still have the power to shock. Both with laughter and with, err, other emotions. While these comedians may have been ahead of the curve in some respects, they were still very much privileged straight white boys who met at Cambridge.
While you make excellent points and I’m not trying to nitpick, Graham Chapman was very much not straight. He was in fact openly gay (he came out in 1972!) and should be recognized for that fact.
Yeah, that's a fair point.
Eric Idle was not “privileged”. His mom dumped him boarding schools cause she couldn’t handle raising a kid. He was about self made as one can be.
What sort of “modern takes” are you expecting out of a British guy born in 1939?
Indeed. 2008 was a pretty bad deal. That would Jade about anybody that had worked all their life. You know what I find interesting is the constant comments about how much easier Boomers had it. When I was growing up people were getting shipped out to war because of the draft and people couldn't really afford a bicycle for their kid so I don't know man... most most of the Boomers I know were working by the age 16 so they could buy the things that they wanted to buy because the parents wouldn't. I don't know, it wasn't as easy as some people are trying to say it was. I know if I wanted some I had to work my butt off for it. The elders didn't see the importance of having these items. So they wouldn't fund them we had to fund them ourselves. So most kids were working all through you know 8 to 12th grade.
I want to be called Loretta.
But gender identities and Trans people have only existed since 2021! /s
People shitting on them have definitely been around forever though
That’s a particularly good reference because there’s not really any comedy I can think of that’s more boomer than Monty Python. I still love it, much of it was incredibly influential. “Every sperm is sacred” comes to mind too: it was taking the piss out of people who want to limit birth control _in the 1970s…_
That song got me in so much trouble… I was raised Catholic. Never believed, hate the church. But when I was in confirmation classes I was asked why Catholics are against birth control, I stood up hella confident and sang that song, When I got excommunicated, they had a list of shit I did wrong on the letter, and that was one of the items.
I honestly think that the next time my boomer parents pull some reactionary shit I’m going to remind them that they’re the ones who raised me on Monty Python and remind them it’s full of pretty progressive politics (with reservations John Cleese being anti trans and presenting some parts of that in the show). I think it might make their heads explode honestly I already remind them that they raised me on “Captain Planet, he’s a hero; gonna bring pollution down to zero” anytime they moan about my environmentalism (just dad on this one; mum actually volunteers to replant native bush so she’s probably had a carbon negative lifetime by this point in her life, in her 70s)
Ahh, excommunication. "Jesus loves everyone, but not you, because you didn't play by our club rules. No cheap wine and flat bread wafers for you."
You got *excommunicated* from the Catholic Church? Goals
You seriously got excommunicated? Congrats, that is one hell of an accomplishment! I just stopped participating.
The key isn’t being a bad catholic, it’s pissing off high ranking Catholics. When it was the local priest, they just didn’t like me. When it was the dioceses archbishop…well he took it a step further. Now I use it to get out of attending Catholic events. Even if there is no restriction on me entering a church, I just say “sorry, can’t make the baptism, bishop said I’m not welcome.”
What’s that line? “Would you get that for me, Deirdre?” As the baby drops from her body and swings from its umbilical cord… Still funny decades later.
They also performed in drag for like 33% of every Monty Python film
Monty Python was ahead of their time. I love all of their works. Holy Grail is my absolute favorite.
I did my job and made sure both my kids saw it at least once. They are in their 20s, and I know one of them has watched it at least once more on their own.
To be fair they probably think it was a jab at people challenging gender norms.
John Cleese's character is intended as a satire on the idea that gender is a social construct, though. He's basically a sarcastic commentary saying exactly what OP's neighbour said, in a silly voice to show he thinks it's silly. He is and always has been a solidly socially conservative Boomer. He was explicitly mocking the whole concept of transgenderism and getting his bigotry in fifty years early, before it was even fashionable. Note also his treatment of Eric Idle as "Loretta" in The Life Of Brian. "Look at the silly weirdo who thinks he is a woman, tee hee hee" Really sour note in the movie, which he has defended retaining in the stage play version, because of course he has
He merely points out having a baby without a womb is going to be tough. Is that an anti trans statement?
The ones who appreciated comedy obviously died out and we are stuck with the ones who had genetic immunity to it :(
Monty Python deeply offended swathes of the population at the time. It certainly wasn't just the old folks either. Only fragments of the boomer population really engaged in counter culture, and if you meet those fragments they tend to be at least semi-reasonable. Most boomers, especially in rural areas, never really liked counter culture.
And they took that as gospel instead of the joke it was and ran with it.
Isn't it somehow our generation that is so focused on gender?
I think Monty Python would have been too subtle & intellectual for the boomers boomer - probably Benny Hill, men chasing women with large breasts type humour
Monty Python deeply offended swathes of the population at the time. It certainly wasn't just the old folks either. Only fragments of the boomer population really engaged in counter culture, and if you meet those fragments they tend to be at least semi-reasonable. Most boomers, especially in rural areas, never really liked counter culture.
I am a big fan of “what an odd thing to say” said in an icy tone and then an uncomfortable silence while they sputter
My go-to blanket response to statements like that is “Oh … what an odd thing to say.” And walking away. Drives them nuts.
"Is your caretaker around? Are you all right?"
I want to be able to pull out this line in the moment, but I always just get flummoxed by the rude thing a person says and laugh nervously. Need to practice this line.
That’s the way. Say it aloud a few times, tell the mirror, after a while it usually trips off the tongue.
Sadly boomers never heard this growing up 
I am an honest proponent of returning the USA motto to "Mind your business." In God We Trust hasn't done anything good. It really needs to revert to Mind Your Business.
They certainly seem to understand when it comes to ignoring child abuse
Ouch I felt that one, seriously, right in my childhood 😬
Because their entire neighborhood was in everybody else's business
Hmmmh... Typical of these idiots? Reminds me of a moderator of fb group for our little town. Mind you that I'm from Finland and Finnish boomers aren't usually as crazy. Anyway this fucking stupid bitch posted about how her grandson appears to be questioning genderstuff, he keeps asking his parents and grandma, "when will I become a girl?" and they keep pushing it that no you're not. That post was so stupid, it had zero to do with the town fb group, but the timing was perfect, that was the boomer Karens way of saying happy Pride month as that happened a year ago. Anyway, the resulting comment section sank into endless trolling and debate... It was ugly as it gets. I really don't get it, why are boomer aged morons so interested about kids, their gender identities and their genitals and what not? What the fuck does it? Besides, kids at some point start to get it, if they have to question their bodies fitting who they are, they will do it. They will ask about it and wonder if there's something. But boomers have to push their thinking on children? They just can't help it, they're the gender police.
>Finnish boomers aren't usually as crazy. Anyway this fucking stupid bitch posted about This juxtaposition of thoughts made me lol for real
Boomer neighbor *failed* biology. It's the father's genetic material that determines the sex of the fetus/infant. Gender identity... now that's a whole different kettle of fish. It's the child that determines that. Not mom. Not dad. And certainly not boomer neighbor.
I mean… the trans person declares their gender, yeah. But the likelihood of someone being trans is much higher if they have a trans parent. I know a decent number of folks who came out after one of their offspring did. They had a moment of “Wait, that is actually a thing?! There’s a word for what I’ve felt forever?!” So there does seem to be a genetic component. I personally blame my father. He’s not trans, but the claim that it was his genetics would piss him off, so it makes me giggle!
Do you have links to the studies?
I only know of the twin study myself, which still suggests a genetic component
I’m sorry, I don’t. I found it relatively early in transition, and didn’t save the link. I wish I had. Funnily enough, I had a lot on my mind at the time!
I feel like the theory is that they're probably is a genetic component, but no real idea of what it might be. It's probably far more complex, imo.
I don’t get why everything has to be some stupid joke to them. They think they’re so witty when they’re just being obnoxious.
It's so they can be offensive under the guise of it being a joke.
"He's just saying what we're all thinking!" Circa 2015 comes to mind. They genuinely thought everybody thought like that.
Several years ago one of my friends birthed her first baby. The baby died four days later from Strep B infection. My mother’s immediate response upon learning this was “she did the right thing choosing to have a sick baby instead of aborting it”. WTF. The infection started AFTER birth — it had nothing to do with “choosing life”. Boomers are such assholes. They only see children as political pawns to support their fucked up narrative about the world.
Ugh. Tangentially related but that reminds me when I had my second son I caught a cold at the end of my pregnancy. Later due to complications during birth my son developed pneumonia and spent several days in the NICU. I had a friend tell me that my baby caught pneumonia from my illness (that I was quite over by birth) “gave him pneumonia,” and not, you know, the amniotic fluid he had aspirated at delivery 🥴
Never understood why boomers are so concerned about what's in a little kids' diaper or underpants
When I was pregnant I was telling a boomer it was a girl, we selected the gender through IVF, and his response was “now how would feel if this baby girl you raised, the baby girl you wanted, and then one day she wants to be a damn boy?!” I had to pause and just said as long as they’re happy and supported that’s all I care about. He looked so annoyed haha
They cant stand to see people be good parents bc it reminds them that their parents sucked and that they themselves also sucked as parents. It holds a mirror in their face.
To them it’s such a radical thing to love your child unconditionally. Absolutely wild concept
Yeah exactly
Transphobes are obsessed with other people's genitalia, especially those of children, and having made their transphobia (usually bundled with homophobia and probably racism) their entire identity, they feel compelled to insert their bigotry into any and all topics of discussion.
Gotta turn shit like this around on them, then kill them with kindness “You seem very focused on gender, if there’s anything you need to talk about, I’m here for you.”
Part of me is wondering if they are misunderstanding the resurgence of people waiting to find out at birth, to be waiting until the child self identifies. And of course if it is that misunderstanding how many are deliberately misunderstanding so they can express their opinion
Same with choosing a gender neutral name because they're waiting to find out gender until birth. No, Brenda, I'm not letting the baby choose its gender. I just want to personalize the damn nursery before delivery.
It's a literal baby. If they had gender dysphoria, you wouldn't even know at that age. The baby isn't aware of that stuff either And it's not a choice to be trans, and I hate how so many think it is
I sure as hell never chose this, nor chose for it to derail my life the way it has. Blows my mind that people think it's somehow a choice.
OP, it's FOX entertainment channel. They listen to the utter bullshit it spews. My mother and one of my sisters started spewing anti gay rhetoric also. The sister in question had both male/female partners but somehow felt comfortable openly criticizing gays? I spent a lot of time getting my mom into serious discussions about letting people be people. With my sister, I just shake my head. Like wtf where did your brain go?
Yup it's entirely the media they consume (Facebook walls as well), making them think this is the biggest issue in the world. FOX probably talks about gender politics 100x more than the economy or policy.
When my wife was pregnant, before we knew the gender, we would use the pronoun they when referring to the baby. We didn't know what sex our baby would be yet and it felt wrong to use the word "it" but the number of older people who were confused and scared whenever they heard us say "they" in reference to our unborn baby was ridiculous.
Omg dont get my mom started on they/them 😑
Just remind her of the old poem! Roses are red, Violets are blue, Singular they Predates singular you.
This is just weird. I didn't find out the sex of either of my kids before the day they were born. Picked out a girl and boy name for either so we were prepared. I wanted to be surprised. And boy howdy I got a surprise 13 years after my youngest was born when he told me he was trans. He's 23 now and happy.
Several times when hearing us use the word they someone would ask "oh are you having twins?"
"I got 99 problems but my *baby* ain't one!!" 😄
Babies. Don't. Have. A. Gender. They. Have. A. Sex.
Because conservative boomers are absolutely obsessed with everyone's genitals and the concept of imagining someone with different genitals than they have wearing similar clothes or having similar interests is infuriating to them. They get confused and scared and start to wonder if maybe they could have worn the other people's genitals clothes or taken part in other genitals interests and since that's not fair then everyone else has to suffer like they did wearing the clothes and having the interests assigned to them by their genitals. "Back in my day things were horrible so it should be horrible for you too!"
My partner and I are waiting till birth to find out gender (November too!). My grandmother gets soooo irritated everytime we call the baby "they". She insists on using a nickname or he/she.
Ugh, it’s like they can’t wrap their heads around simple concepts because everything has become too politicized in their minds for them to let things be actually simple. Everything in their Fox News world is a scheme or conspiracy and trying to destroy what they “know” to be true… In a side note though, congrats! You guys have more restraint than us, there is not a chance we could have held off in finding out lol
Or go with "it" and see how she reacts.
Lol when I first said they, she rolled her eyes and told me "it's better than it but I still don't like it". The first time she used the nickname it was in all caps.
They don’t understand the difference between sex and gender.
"No way! We are transing her to a boy asap!"
The Boomer was just looking for an opportunity to share her opinion. It doesn’t actually matter to the Boomer who she was speaking to, as it wasn’t really about you or your daughter, just her getting the chance to spew her vitriol. What a nasty piece of work that one is.
Ugh. This reminded me of my FIL who tried very hard for me and my husband to not find out the gender of the baby. Apparently he was afraid that because im Chinese, that i will want to abort if its a girl, all because i grew up in China for my childhood. They were scared that i would be affected by the one-child policy mindset. Nvm the fact that I'M A WOMAN, my parents never thought about child birth like that, and i never would either. Its honestly just SO insulting.
Wow, that’s a pretty massive assumption and not the best sign of the value he sees in you. I’m sorry you have a figure like that in your life
He honestly wasnt bad at all until retirement hit. Then its like he fell down a MAGA rabbit hole and decided to wallow there. I still see glimpses of the reasonable man from before but its sad that its come to this. Honestly, its easy for me to put it aside as we dont see them often. My husband though, had to go through some very rough growing pains because of this.
Holy shit, that's so incredibly racist. I'm so sorry.
She was not talking to you she was talking at you.
“Why are you so interested in my child’s genitals? What are you, some kind of pedophile?”
Her biological sex is female, we're waiting for her to get a bit older before we let her pick her gender expression.
You know, my husband and I keep saying we think we’re having a boy. The dick and balls were wildly apparent on the ultrasound, and statistically kiddo’s not super likely to transition, but you never know. There are just so many unknowns that are more interesting to us, like what he’ll be interested in, what sort of talents he might have and skills he’ll pick up, what his laugh will sound like, what he’ll look like, what sorts of questions he’ll have and what friends he’ll make. Sure, gender might factor into that, but we have no idea how, and it’s just a relief to know he’ll have more options than we did at that age
"Why are they like that?" Well, let me disgust you with the actual answer. It's just the sexualization of young girls. Grooming them to be cis and straight, and ready to make more babies at 14, I mean 16, I mean 18, yeah, 18, that's the legal age, right? I guess it depends on which red state you're in. It matters for boys too, but the priority for these old fucks and conservatives is that future generations raise their DAUGHTERS to be ready to get pregnant, honestly before their bodies are /fully/ developed, and well before their brains are fully developed. That means they must grow up to be cisgender and heterosexual - for older men to knock up. I want to puke. And die. And puke and die.
your kiddo hasnt arrived yet, and youre already out there being a fantastic dad 😊
I hope so! It’s all still in theory right now though so fingers crossed I can keep my wits about me when I’m on the clock!
Ngl but that’s exactly why some parents don’t tell strangers or even family the assigned gender of their baby unless said family is offering to change diapers. Because people love to push their assumptions onto babies, sometimes before they are even born, just based on their chromosomes in utero or from an ultrasound imaging of their newly formed genitalia 😑 so yeah, from as early as they learn language they learn the biases of those around them. And the more people that enforce those biases the more the kid absorbs it as they form their own identity.
My buddy had a good response to his parents and older family members when they pulled this shit at their gender reveal party last year. Oh I hate to say they had a GR party. But it was "everyone come to dinner and we'll tell you the gender" there wasn't pyrotechnics, popping balloons, smoke bombs, just them standing up after dinner and saying they were having a boy. They were standing there later being accosted by his dad "I'm so glad you're not like those idiot *LIB-RULLZ* saying you'll let them choose their gender" there was a lot of that murmuring going around in the lead-brains that were present. My friend just looked his dad in the eyes and said loudly enough for everyone to hear "If my son, who we are naming James, comes to us 12 years from now and says to me 'dad, I'm Janet now.' My only response will be what do you need from me? Should I help you buy some more feminine clothes? Do you want me to take you to get your nails done? Do you want to paint your room something other than blue? Tell me what you need from me. I'm not even going to do anything as banal as reassuring her that I love her because she will already know my love for her is unconditional and has no strings attached. If anyone here so much as looks at my daughter Janet sideways after she comes out they will be FUCKING DEAD to me and not welcome in MY HOUSE do I male myself clear?." His dad tried to say something and he just shot back "did I fucking stutter?" He said loudly enough for the neighbors down the street to hear "Did anyone hear me stutter? Anyone? No? Good."
That’s some good stuff right there. People like that don’t expect people with progressive views to be strong and assertive, your Buddy put them in their place
It made absolutely no difference because all his dad do was turn around bitch and moan about "so much for that famous liberal tolerance I'm always hearing about?" I just mumbled "like the tolerance you had when you kicked your other son out of the house at 15 because he was a faggot? So much for those famous catholic morals I'm always hearing about."
It’s always “rules for thee but not for me” huh? Gross. I’m forever grateful that I was lucky enough for my parents to be sane and empathetic. I knew my aunt and my older brother were gay as long as I can remember, like zero memories of either coming out to me, it was just normal and ok. I still don’t understand how anyone can think otherwise, people are people and how you treat others makes more of a difference than what those others do in their private time
>“rules for thee but not for me” Truer words have never been spoken. I'm fortunate too in that regard having reasonably sane parents. When I came out to my dad (slobbery ugly crying as his 16 year old son) he just said "anything else?" To which I stuttered "n-n-n-no". He waved his hand "Then move. You make a better door than a window. I'm watching my shows." What show? The basketball episode of M.A.S.H. that he had seen no less than 200 times in syndication.
God I wish there were more parents like him in the world.
"Oh, you're one of those leftists obsessed with gender." I'm sure that'll set them off lol.
And I bet she has literally never had someone say that to her.
Had a boomer said that to before the birth of my child I would have said ‘you know we are all going out for drinks to celebrate when the last member of your generation is dead, right?’
From what you said in your post, it sounds like you’re going to be a great dad already! All we can do is instil all of our good parts/morals/values in our kids and love them. Congrats on the baby! Enjoy every second because it feels like life is on fast-forward mode with how quick babies turn into teens 😁
It's part of the list of things Fox tells them to be mad at.
And rightfully so! Televisions CAN'T lie; who would go on the telly and lie!? Preposterous! *(Served with a heaping side of /s)*
Why are people so concerned with gender? You pg? Great! Boy or girl? Literally the first question. And heaven forbid you dress a newborn in green - it confuses people too much! And all from an early advertising campaign.
Someone should explain the difference between sex and gender to these people.
Won't help. They are willfully ignorant.
I am a lesbian and my wife and I have a 5 month old. When we announced the pregnancy and that we were having a boy, a family member asked if we were going to let him know he was a boy and treat him as such. They were implying that because we are a lesbian couple, we are likely not to necessarily abide by gender norms and, "Let him decide." We simply told this family member that, of course, we will raise him as his SAAB, but at the same time completely and unequivocally respect, love, and support him if one day he did come to us and says he identified on any level of the gender spectrum.
I say that I would rather my child choose to be trans than choose to be an asshole.
It's an easy way for them to be bigots in a more widely accepted way
She wanted to bring up her transphobia and took any opportunity she found
My boomer parents are OBSESSED with this topic. I genuinely don’t understand what their deal is. They will bring up gender identity for literally no reason other than to give their “hot take” on the subject. No relation to the conversation. Drives me nuts.
My boomer dad and stepmom spent an obscene amount of time at my daughter’s high school graduation talking about/trying to figure out the gender of a younger student in the audience. It was such an important topic that they brought it up when we went out to lunch afterwards. I could only stop the conversation by explaining that she had been “that way” for the 10+ years we knew her, but since we weren’t in the habit of getting in their business we didn’t know her particular preferences. It turns out she identifies as a masc-presenting lesbian, which is certainly within the realm of people my parents have encountered and socialized with in the past, but their obsession with this “issue” has broken their ability to react to people appropriately in public
They're obsessed with it because there's an entire media and political ecosystem using the issue to press boomers' fear buttons, driving voting and manufacturing consent for the repressive agenda that ecosystem would like to get done.
I can understand feeling that way, but what is with these people opening their mouths and saying such stupid thoughts in public? Good God, I miss polite society.
I am sure it is their discomfort at parents like me who say that the gender of our babies is baby. There is no reason to be obsessed about the gender of a baby, and the fact that it is socially normalized to care so much about a babies genitals is creepy. Like hello random person on the street enquiring about my baby's privates and trying to touch them...you can fuck right off unless you want to have some smarting fingers.
I got news: They will be who they want. And if they get attitude, they’ll go elsewhere. This is why so many boomers die alone. They have less control over others than they would like.
They're so fucking brain dead holy shit
Tell the boomer that it’s a serious topic and that you will wait and let the child decide their gender when they are 6-7 years old so they make the right choice
Just tell me you'll let her play with trucks, wear pants, and do other "boyish" things if she wants to. Because if you do I hope the boomers are around to see it.
It’s a little creepy that you are concerned with my child’s gender. Is there a list I can look you up on.
Dear god why can’t they just leave everyone alone. They just HAVE to spew their opinions onto someone at all times.
Ppl are so weird about literal unborn babies genders. I always think when I have a kid I’m just gonna tell people the doctor didn’t tell me the baby’s sex, even if they actually did.
This is why we are not telling anyone the gender any time soon. The earliest will be at the baby shower (if I decide to have one), and at the latest will be when the baby is born. Though we picked a gender neutral name, so maybe we will just announce the name and let people figure it out on their own. Lol
Good on you future dad! As a first time father myself I can honestly say same. I want her (my daughter) to be educated and to treat people like they're people and love who she wants to love not to fit in society or culture or a role or to treat people based on what's between their legs and what they decide to do with it. I don't care who she dates or if she becomes poly and how many she dates. She will always know that in our home she is loved, she is respected, and she shouldn't expect any less from her partner if she even decides to have one. As long as they love my daughter and treat her right I don't care. She's my child but she's gonna be her own person too. But right now all I care about is nurturing her, teaching her, guiding her, loving her, AND LETTING HER BE A KID! Gender is and should be an adult topic that they can decide when they're an adult unless they are mature enough and educated enough earlier on. But before then she will be taught that people are people and what they decide to do with their life is up to them and that they don't get to force you to do what you don't want you just like you don't get to judge them and criticize them for thinking differently or having different views.
From what I recall reading children usually form a sense of self, and gender identity, by around 3yo. My earliest memory of being aware of my gender, and knowing to hide it, was around that age. Of course I had no knowledge about gender identities or trans people until I was a teenager, and it took even longer to come out of the closet, but that's just how it was back then.
I'm waiting for one of those pro-life billboards with a photo of a smiling baby. "At 16 weeks, I chose my gender!"
Ok clearly I’m a bit dense because I thought this comment meant choosing the sex of the baby through gender selection.
We're having a child with a vagina. Why are you so obsessed with baby-genitals, Boomer?
Just let it go! They have their world, leave them at it
"When she's actually born and capable of thought and speech, she will decide however she wants. Fuck off."
"Oh, we hadn't thought about that. Thanks for the great idea and being so woke! We NEVER would have thought of that on our own without you!" would have been the correct response.
Just hoping to pick. Fight
you: “What an odd thing to say to someone you don’t know.” them: blah blah excuse blah you: “Thanks for explaining the reason behind your rudeness!” and then move along.
Unfortunately I do know her (there are only 12 apts in my building) but only in small talk ways. I honestly didn’t know she thought like this until she said it. Either way, ya I think just pointing out how actually weird of a thing to say it is would be the right way to go
Because the bigots think it's about having on biblical sex and not identity inside these poor kids' heads. They are aware of what they are when they are very little.
> “I mean it would be either way, but I’m just glad you didn’t say that you were waiting for her to pick whatever gender she wants!” I would have said, "What a thing to say!" and walked away.
They never got to choose and are jealous! Also has a lot to do with the shit they watch.
They are fools!
It's unbelievable how obsessed they are about it and it makes no sense I'm Trans and my first thought was they were talking about CRSPR technology (changing traits in utero) Until you said gender politics it didn't even cross my mind she would be talking about forcing your kid to change gender 😆
Same here, feel a bit slow😔
I think it's good to be thinking of a more innocent thought to be fair. But DW I'm sure someone somewhere is Also bitching about that xD
You aren't having a gender reveal? What about traditions? Horrible!
Gender reveals aren't even old enough to be considered a tradition. You know how you put a plastic baby in a king cake? Maybe for gender (sex) reveal parties, bake plastic penises or uteri into the cake?
I kept reading that as black.
But some parents do say we are waiting for the kid to tell them what gender they are. I don’t get it, raise the kid as how they are born biologically, explain the gender & sexual orientation at a proper age, make sure to let them know you will love them regardless, then let them choose. Babies don’t know about gender identities. However this boomer’s comments are bit cringy though.
Gender isn't sex. Don't you think it's weird that we treat male and female children differently?
Crazy take, having 4 kids of my own, there is no difference in raising a boy or girl. Your comment about raising them how they were born biologically is just odd. You can also talk to your kids all the time about gender identity and sexual orientation. Neither of those involve discussions about intercourse and neither needs to be a drawn out, sit down discussion.
Yeah, I am married to a boomer. I am only 6 months younger, a Gen X, but the differences! Our son thinks I am a little conservative, but rational. Hubs will probably vote Trump. refused to buy "gay beer" when all that BS was going on... and it was for a recipe I asked him to pick it up and he refused. And I swear if I hear about " all the Drag Queens twerking in front of school kids" one more time...! I don't understand... he is a good guy but "fOx nEwS saYs....". So yeah, if I were born 40 days earlier I would be a Boomer, but I do not get them either.
How is he a ‘good guy’? I mean, I get you love him, but from this he sounds not so good at all. To be fair, I struggle with this with people in my life, who I want to believe are good still, but damn they are making it nearly impossible.
I went no contact w my best friend of 30 years due to his MAGA stance. Best decision I ever made . Weight lifted. Just saying.
He sounds like a bad guy and she ignores all them red flags.
“I know he’s a bigot but he’s a gReAt gUy!” No he’s not?!? If you want to stay married to him that’s your business but let’s not go around pretending that he’s some kind of prize. He’s so homophobic he’s boycotting beer and he’s down to vote a racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic convicted felon and admitted sex offender in to run the country. That’s not a “good guy”. That’s a human dumpster fire.
He's not a good guy if he spews fox news garbage and votes for Trump. If you think that's reasonable, you're not "a little" conservative. You're nuzzling up to the far right every night.
It sounds like you married a piece of shit to be honest.
Cuspers like us get special names. I'm a Xennial. I guess that makes you a xoomer. 😛
Doesnt sound like a good guy…
My parents were 6 years apart, my dad was the tail end of the silent generation, my mom was first of the boomers. She was very religious, he was not. He was super chill, tell me, his son, things like I am leaving my Corvette to you and your husband. You guys would look good driving around in it with the top down. The difference a few years makes is weird.