Warning: This content may be triggering to those who are sensitive about their gender identification, those who were born a boy and raised a girl, or oversensitive, cry-baby millennials. If you feel that you may be triggered, please redirect here. Proceed with caution.
Millennials have a negative connotation, thanks to Generation X. However, we have no problem brushing off the negativity and proudly proclaiming that we are the better generation. But is that really true? I'm 100% sure that I am pissing off my entire generation when I say this, but we seriously suck. They embarrass me most of the time. Hear me out--not all the stereotypes we're given are true, but can you really say that we're perfect? We have a problem at hand, and it's getting out of control. We're having an identity crisis.
We can't seem to find who we are, and it's tragic. The whole issue with transgender people using the bathroom which they identify with is unnecessary. If you look like a girl or identify as a girl, you use the girls' restroom. If you look like a boy or identify as a boy, you use the boys' restroom. Nobody is going to question you if you look feminine and go into the women's bathroom. If you look manly, don't use the woman's restroom, even if you're a transgender woman. It makes people uncomfortable. That shouldn't be a shock to you, because being transgender isn't natural. I'm not saying being transgender is wrong, but it certainly isn't normal. Trans people are calling attention to the issue and making it worse by seeking legal action. It wasn't an issue until millennials made it an issue. Yeah, I get that some places refuse to let transgenders use the bathroom they prefer, and it's really unfair, but they brought the attention to the matter at hand, forcing public establishments across the nation to make a decision. A few ruined it for all.
Before 2015, I hadn't heard anything about the transgender community. Now, December 2016, I've heard enough about it to make up for the 18 years I missed out on. I get that being transgender isn't a choice, but instead it's the way you feel. I don't have an issue with whether or not anyone identifies as a boy or a girl, but I do have an issue with children starting hormones at a young age. Like I already said, it's unnatural to decide you're not who you were born as, but when do you really know who you are? Maybe you've heard of Jazz Jennings or even seen her show. She is famous for being one of the youngest transgender figures to go public. Jazz was diagnosed with a gender identity disorder at four years old. That was when she told her family that she was actually a girl and not a boy, despite what her birth certificate says. Jazz's parents started her on hormones as a child/tween. What if Jazz goes off to college one day and realizes that she is really a boy? Children should not be able to go through hormone therapy to physically change their appearances. They cannot be trusted to make a definite decision on something like their gender until they're old enough to understand what they will go through. Transgender children face bullying, weird body changes (weirder than normal children), and often have anxiety and depression as a result of what is going on with their body and life. It's wrong to allow them to mutilate themselves with hormones, and it sure as hell isn't right to offer your children the option to be a boy or a girl.
We have spent far too much time worrying about how to not offend non-binary gendered individuals. There are so many other things we could be spending our time on. We should be worried about the radical Islamists, or how we're going to deal with ISIS. We're a society that struggles with its morals. We could be focusing on teaching each other to be honest and good; instead we're raising hell over pronouns. I'm sorry if you were misgendered, but can you blame someone for assuming you're a man if you look like a cis male? My generation is oversensitive when it comes to these situations. I can't completely understand the frustration of transgender people who are sick and tired of being called him or her when it's really her and him because I've never questioned my gender identity. I'd truly like to apologize to everyone I've ever misgendered, but getting your pronouns right is not my top priority. I'm more concerned about what I should do if there is an active shooter on my school's campus rather than if I hurt your feelings when I referred to you as "her." Sometimes I think social justice movements need to be put on pause, and maybe now is that time and maybe it's not.
Millennials are almost comical. We're supposed to be the generation who gets it right. We're the future of this country, and half of us can't figure out who we are. Our parents didn't have these problems. Whether they didn't care about these same social issues or just didn't have time to get so offended, I don't know. There was none of this "I'm not a boy, but I'm not a girl," malarkey. How can we do great things when the biggest issue in our little bubble of a world is two little boxes to check for "male," or "female," on a medical form? You might not think you're seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, but trust me, if your gender identity is your biggest problem, you are. Eventually we'll get our act together, hopefully sooner rather than later.
