The Cobb County brouhaha over elementary school availability of “My Shadow is Purple” by Scott Stuart — a book aimed at 4- to 8-year-olds — prompts me to say that no book that makes gender dysphoria seem cute and desirable is proper for children under 9.
Books like that are dangerous indoctrination into a counter-productive meme. Societies have been deciding which roles are most useful since we started to use fire.
We, the 90% of us who think one’s sex is determined at conception, have the right to pass on mores which we have found beneficial without counterculture individuals interfering in the socialization of our children.
Part of growing up is figuring out your own sexuality. If you are going to artificially change your gender, there is plenty of time to do so when you are an adult.
We ask people to wait to drink, or drive, or smoke. We want to give a person’s brain development time to catch up with their body before “the twig is bent.” Certainly, becoming sexually active can wait until you are over nine.
Even that dirty old man, Freud, acknowledged a period of sexual latency in children (six through puberty). A mature brain is needed to make any kind of life-altering decision. Preying on little children by pushing them into sexual decisions before they have a mature mind and body is child abuse.
It is well to note that there is a difference between a role and a genetic function. Gender roles can change. They have become different, just in my lifetime. Women, especially, made strides in claiming vocations previously closed to us. Men learned that they could be a nurse or a nurturing parent.
We learned that your genetic sex does not have to limit you in many of the ways they did in previous eras. But a role, which can change, is not your sex which does not. Definitions of roles changed becoming less ridged, but we were all still encouraged to settle into our genetic function. We were supported through our confusion. Confusion is normal in preteens and teenagers. Being nudged into genital or chemical mutilation is not.
There is no excuse for bullying or meanness toward someone who is struggling. There is no excuse for rudeness. Children ought to be taught to act like civilized human beings, but savagery does not make the object of that savagery right or socially preferred or useful, as it seems to in so many of the trendy pro-transgender books like “My Shadow is Purple” or “Purple Shadow” by Moorhouse.
I detest book burning. All books ought to be available in the public library. But just as we do not stock texts on how to brew Fentanyl, build an atomic bomb, or even a Molotov cocktail in the elementary school library because we deem them too dangerous in the hands of immature individuals, we need to limit the availability to children of books which teach that it is desirable to blow up your genetic code.
Pam Danz
Peachtree City, Ga.
Should we suggest to children that schizophrenic delusions are just an example of diversity we should all learn to accept in the name of diversity?
the book is an obvious dog whistle for normalizing mental illness to any honest reader
Should we should start teaching children that schizophrenic delusions are nothing more than an individual’s truth?
Attempting to re-categorize a mental illness is a mental illness in and of itself.
The teacher was let go, and rightfully so. Activism in the workplace is a great way to ruin your career.
Yeah, next we should start teaching children that schizophrenic delusions are nothing more than an individual’s truth.
Attempting to re-categorize a mental illness is a mental illness in and of itself.
Yeah, next we should start teaching children that schizophrenic delusions are nothing more than an individual’s truth.
Attempting to re-categorize a mental illness is a mental illness in and of itself.
I believe I am a bird, so y’all are obliged to get me a bird feeder and the Government should pay for trimming my wings.
I notice that anytime the subject is part of a “globalist agenda” the comments light up. As if we don’t know globalists pay people to troll these agendas to try to herd the lost into the ultimate globalist agendas. It’s OBVIOUS. And only sick people can think that talking to children about sex is part of education. Leave the kids alone.
It baffles me that in some States when you turn 18 you are allowed to enter the Army, go to war and kill people. But you got to be 21 to go to a bar and have a beer….
Well folks it’s turned into the unusual fur ball of comments from the usual group of commenters…catch everyone on the next opinion piece that sets us off…I’m going back to my hole…have a pleasant weekend.
Stranger…did I say ban the book? No, inform the parent.
Teachers should teach the basics and when it gets to anything close to the subject everyone here is debating…just inform the parents.
HI Vics – In the real world, little Johnny comes to his teacher and says that Joey is a liar because he said he has two daddies and no mommy. The teacher can tell Johnny the truth, and then the Pam Danzs of the world will be calling for her to be fired at the next school board meeting. She can tell Johnny that she is not allowed to talk about reality with him.
Or she can tell little Johnny that Joey’s fathers are bad people who will surely be punished by God. She can congratulate Johnny for attending a MAGA school where hate is welcomed and invite Johnny to shun Joey for the rest of the year. Then, Ms. Danz will nominate the teacher for educator of the year.
Looks like you can most definitely make this stuff up.
Love and props to AnnoyedVet, Stranger, and Suz for speaking up here. Of course I completely agree with them. And I am curious about the question Suz and Vet ask of the others in this conversation: Have you read the book? If not, you can’t really comment on how harmful it is. Right?
I wonder if you would still think it is harmful if instead of a trans kid telling the story, it was a black kid? Would you say it was too dangerous for children to read how a POC child discovers that all people are some color, and no particular color is better or worse? If you say no, that’s not harmful, why is a trans kid discovering that there are lots of gender roles and no particular one is better or worse dangerous?
It’s not! There’s nothing about sex in the whole story, and there’s certainly no way this can be called “grooming,” whoever threw that loaded term into the conversation. What are you people afraid of, and how can we help you get over those fears? The Civil Rights Act didn’t take away the rights of white people. You don’t have to worry that granting trans people the right to exist will somehow take away your rights either, see? In a society where we’re all focused on love and inclusion, no one loses.
I’m old, but when I was a little kid we had a whole movement called Free to Be You & Me, and part of the story was “William Wants a Doll,” a very similar story to this one! He was a boy who loved baseball and freaked everyone out when he also wanted a doll to play with. Thankfully by the end of his story we learned it was perfectly fine for William or anyone else to play with whatever toys they wanted.
As I say I was a little kid at the time, but I don’t remember anyone freaking out and saying we should ban Free to Be You & Me. I don’t recall anyone saying, “Part of growing up is figuring out your own sexuality. If you are going to artificially change your gender, there is plenty of time to do so when you are an adult” because William wanted a doll! That would have sounded really stupid and incongruous based on the storyline. Just as it is stupid and incongruous to say about My Shadow Is Purple.
Thankfully no one at the time was so focused on sexualizing children that they made such an outrageous accusation — certainly we as kids saw no connection between William’s toys and his sexual orientation, I mean, we were kids! What is wrong with you people?
Suz said, “If this book might make the world a kinder place, beginning at school, I am all in.” I have to agree!
It’s sad that Ms. Danz even has to take the time and energy to write this letter and express these common-sense viewpoints. Can you imagine 20 or 30 years ago, proudly proclaiming to the world that you were encouraging your 9 or 10 year old child to permanently mutilate their body by chopping off their sexual organs and reproductive parts, so they could be more in line with their little feelings? It’s a sad, sad state of how far our country has drifted morally and how we have lost our grip on things that are true and good and pure. Ms. Danz is correct – this movement is pure evil.
Have you read the book? Anyone can listen to it on YouTube. There is nothing sexual about it. There is nothing suggesting you should change your gender. It’s just an age appropriate story about how some kids feel different because they are different. That’s it.
Some people are straight. Some are gay. Some are trans. Some gay and trans people know something is different about them at very young ages. All this book does is say that’s normal and OK.
There is no evidence of any negative impact of these books. If your child doesn’t have those feelings described in the book, it won’t mean jack to them.
Good lord, the ignorance of people just knows no bounds. Leave our gay and trans kids alone! They aren’t bothering anyone – and deserve to have books that make their lived experience. No child at any age is “being nudged” to genital mutilation in our schools.
Hi annoyedvet101
Who says it’s age appropriate? Who made that decision…did the parent? This is where you lose your way…having become numb to how far the Woke and Trans have taken the school environment…in fact all environments like government, sports and education…a little here and there but never wanting to stop or reconsider the slow rot and erosion of our intuitions. The object is to dismantle 8,000 years of human history and disavow science and biology.
Look at so many average young adults…festooned with piercings, tattoos, obese, no social skills, zero attention span and an inability to keep a job…now we want schools to teach doubt about their gender?
How about a book to show kids that being “festooned with piercings, tattoos, obese, no social skills, zero attention span and an inability to keep a job” is normal and OK?
Well Brewster…The book would be a cautionary tale about the loss of social mores and structures …. the great “mushing” of society being led by its nose rings, guided by social media influencers rather than an individual motivation to succeed.
I also recommend “The Emperor’s New Clothes” about the willingness of society to embrace a big lie.
“Woke and Trans” have made no material impact on what goes on in our schools. The parent can and always will have say in what is appropriate for their children. It’s not like a 6 year old is checking out books from a library and their parents don’t know about it.
Your claims about science and biology are just that – claims. Please feel free to link to scientific literature that supports anything you are saying.
annoyedvet101
Choose the subject or topic …I’ll get with a flesh and blood expert and supporting documentation and get back to you.
The topic is this whole made up controversy, Vics1966. There is no empirical data that has been peer reviewed that supports your claim, but by all means do some research and post links. Any college librarian would be able to point out the bias, inaccuracy or straight lies listed therein.
Vet – leave our straight kids alone and we’ll leave your kids alone. Deal? I can’t speak for all but I can speak for myself when I say I don’t hate them….I don’t have anything against them – I just see the brokenness and the cry for attention and I pity them. This LGBTQ+ cr@p is a mental disorder. Pure and simple. It’s stinkin thinkin. These kids need help, they need love, and they need to know the truth instead of believing the lies about the LGBT religion.
Back to the book……maybe it’s fine….but keep it out of a library. Kids don’t need to be s#xualized at young ages. I don’t care if its gay, LGBT, straight – if it’s s#xual in nature – keep it out of schools. Those conversations belong at home.
There is nothing in that book that is even close to sexual in nature. Who is bothering straight kids? No one.
Your opinions about the mental state of children that don’t fall cleanly into your preconceived notions of what is healthy or a disorder are just that – opinions. There is no peer reviewed empirical data to support your claims.
LGBTQ youth have over TWICE the rate of suicidal thoughts / considerations, and twice the rate of attempted suicides as kids who don’t have gender dysphoria disorder.
If you don’t see that as a sign of mental disorder and stress – then you’re just a Fool.
PS – source of that data was the Trevor Project, not necessarily and anti- LGBTQ source.
Really missing the point there. If we treated our children with love and kindness and listened to the advice of doctors and not ill informed people on the news, children would not be so stressed out and having mental breakdowns. That’s the whole point of the book, and it’s pretty hilarious that you realize our affected LGBTQ youth struggle with mental health, but can’t piece together that it’s because everyone around them is telling them they are a mental case and not listening to doctors.
Being a child who is gay is not what makes them want to kill themselves. Being a child with parents and a community who tells them being gay is a mental disorder is what makes them want to kill themselves. Literally moving to a country where people are more enlightened solves this problem, and research proves it.
Wing- Let’s follow your logic. Since military veterans have a substantially higher suicide rate than the general population (17 – 22 per day), they must clearly be mentally disordered. I know you’ll join me in making sure we shun all our veterans because, after all, we don’t want to be fools.
Or perhaps – just maybe – the disdain with which some groups are treated contributes to their stress levels and incidences of self-harm. Could it possibly be that rejection, constant haranguing, vilification, etc. are the most salient factors that result in intense anxiety and self-harm.
Of course not! It’s all because bad people get exactly what they deserve. So, let’s keep passing laws that condemn everyone who doesn’t have the precise skin color and sexual preferences that we MAGA folks enjoy. Even a fool can see how much better life was under Eisenhower.
annoyed – I think you’d agree with me that most people accept that being gay is a thing, and that there are spectrums on the scale of how masculine a man is, and how feminine a female is. What ISN’T accepted is the BTQIA+ crap, everything that comes after the LG. The LG, I think we all know is how our DNA are. The BTQIA+ crap – that’s 100% culture-promoted……that’s the mental disorder part. It’s a sickness that unfortunately, more and more people are buying into.
STF – you nailed it. If we’re losing that many vets a day, then yes, we have a mental health crisis and those folks need help. I think I’d have PTSD and mental health issues too if I had to see some of what our nation’s soldiers saw and experienced in the Middle East.
Also – name me one law that’s been passed that condemns people of a certain skin color. I”ll wait.
You folks just don’t understand – you can do what the heck you want in this country. You can love who you want to love, you can act like a cat in your personal life and crap in a litterbox. But you cannot force me to accept it. Just as you have a right to do those things, I have the right to disagree with you and to think you’re nuts. And you don’t have the right to cram your agenda down the majority of American’s throats who think you’re crazy.
Satire definition: “The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.”
STF – so everything you write on here is satire? Noted. Adding you to the ignore pile.
Hi wing – If you can’t discern the difference between argument and satire in my post, or the posts of anyone else on this site, I agree, you should not venture to respond to them.
Wing – I know what you mean. I feel the same way about the false MAGA religion. These pitiful MAGA disciples are constantly trying to force authoritarianism down our throats. As you point out, it’s just a mental disorder, stinkin’ thinkin’.
Maybe one day they will look around and know the truth instead of believing the lies about the MAGA religion. How freeing that will be for those caught up in this deceitful web, and how wonderful it will be for all of us normal people who are forced to share our worlds with them.
What exactly do you consider the “MAGA Religion” to be? What beliefs do they espouse, what’s their core values, etc?
the_wing_t —You underestimate young people. As soon as you differentiated between “our straight kids” and “your kids”, they knew exactly where you stand on this issue.
And it doesn’t fool them for you to claim, “I don’t hate them…I don’t have anything against them…I pity them” while following up with “This LGBTQ+ cr@p is a mental disorder. Pure and simple.” The kids know better.
It’s another version of the old, “Love the sinner…hate the sin.” it was a lie then and it’s a lie now. Children are still waiting for an edited version worthy of them–“Love”. Period.
It is up to us to prove it to them. Accepting the differences in other people seems like a good way to begin. Who knows? “My Shadow Is Purple” and books like it might actually have us celebrating them!
Even to the sharp-eyed gazes of our wonderfully honest young people, this might seem more like love than your “stinkin thinkin” accusation.
Suz – If you care about context and clarity, you’ll note my “leave the straight kids alone” comment was a direct reply to annoyedvet’s “Leave our gay and trans kids alone! ” comment.
Suz – it most certainly is a mental disorder. Not my words – the DSM’s. Why in the world do you think there’s been an explosion in the LGBTQ+ junk over the past 10 years? It’s due to cultural influence – plain and simple. It’s not a natural phenomenon, it’s broken people who think the gateway to acceptance is a new lifestyle they choose to identify with. And when their new choice isn’t universally accepted, the poor kids get more desperate and hopeless and thus you see suicide rates at 2x the rate of straight kids.
What?! “Being nudged into genital or chemical mutilation…”?! I join with annoyedvet101 in asking, “Have you read the book?”!
“My Shadow Is Purple” is the story of a child’s heartbreak turned into joy by his acceptance at a school dance. Acceptance by his brave friends and a supportive teacher.
Surely we all remember what a cruel place the schoolyard could be, especially to students that for any reason unsettled the social norm. Bullies parroting their parents vitriol and making daily life unbearable for the “mis-fits” (they aren’t fooled by your insipid “no excuse for rudeness” paragraph out of the entire letter).
Consider the lyrics from Rodgers and Hammerstein in South Pacific–
“You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late.
Before you are six or seven or eight.
To hate all the people your relatives hate–
You’ve got to be carefully taught.”
If this book might make the world a kinder place, beginning at school, I am all in.
how about you not talk about sexual organs to children. Or ask them how they feel about other children sexually. My friend was raised with 2 mommy’s back in 1990 & nobody made a big deal about it and she is a healthy woman that had her own child already. How about you let their parents raise the children they created. There’s no such thing as trans kids. It’s all manipulative mind control. As if grooming children to mutilate themselves is a positive thing. If you want to mutilate a child I guess nobody is stopping you from creating your own child and abusing them, right? Sickness will never be healthy. No matter how hard you all work at inverting this world. Just the fact you think about their bodies in a sexual way is sick. What’s next, you’re gonna support is litter pans in the cafeteria because some kids view themselves as Disney characters that are not human. Or x x x movies in the classroom because of amendments that you pick and choose to support when it’s convenient and/or supports the mind control you’re currently under?
Some of us see what is actually behind this insanity. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real.
MsV—That is the entire point of this discussion! The book “My Shadow Is Purple” does NOT mention “sexual organs” or “ask them about how they feel about other children sexuality” (as you write),
It is a story of any child who is feeling “different” (for any reason). And how they can also feel accepted and welcomed.
Any mention of genitals or sexuality was introduced in the original letter. Then brought up in more vulgar and juvenile terms by the_wing-t. Now echoed by yourself.
Since when is “Love one another” ever sick?
Suz – love one another, yes. Indoctrinate entire generations of impressionable kids? Crossing the line. Leave your “I feel purple” crap for misguided parents to teach their kids at home. The USA is falling desperately behind in science, math, reading, even spelling – and you want purple shadow feelings junk taught in schools. You’re part of the problem. Your priorities are mixed up.
And so we come full circle, dear the_wing_t—
You underestimate young people…and you underestimate love. The two together are brilliant and unstoppable. My hope for the future rests upon both.
And that is the theme of “My Shadow Is Purple”.
Suz is so much kinder than I am! In the_wing’s response here, I don’t see a person underestimating the next generation or the power of love … I see someone caught in a trap of his own making. First he argued that somehow My Shadow Is Purple taught children about sex (which it certainly does not!) and when he couldn’t defend that stance, he desperately made another jump to:
“The USA is falling desperately behind in science, math, reading, even spelling – and you want purple shadow feelings junk taught in schools.”
LOLZ … if THAT were truly the_wing’s objection, we would have to assume he is against any library book that doesn’t focus on teaching reading, writing, and rithmetic, right? But no, I don’t see him calling for The House at pooh Corner, the Chronicles of Narnia, Where the Red Fern Grows, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and Harold and the Purple Crayon to be removed from the shelves. It’s fine to put THAT kind of “feelings junk” in the library — just not the kind that tells a kid it’s OK to be herself or himself or themself.
Stop trying to fool yourself, the_wing. Your objection to My Shadow Is Purple is that you fear it will give a child permission to become the kind of person you want to erase from existence, not that it will somehow keep those science test scores from rising. It’s sad, but it’s obvious, and your attempts to dance around it are pitiful.
Again I encourage you, and anyone who is afraid of My Shadow Is Purple, to read it, and to consider what good news it might be for a child who feels different to realize, we’re all different, and it’s OK. That’s all the book is about, and we don’t have to be afraid of it.
I love that so often in the Bible the first words an angel speaks are, “Fear not.” Either the angel’s appearance, or presence, must somehow have been frightening — yet the angel is a messenger from God, and God is love. So even if you are frightened that My Shadow is Purple might give a child permission to be someone you don’t want them to be, take the angelic advice and “Fear not.” It won’t take away your right to be who you are if you allow someone else the right to be who they are. There’s enough rights to go around. There’s enough love and joy and hope for all of us. Fear not.
Suz – if your idea of love is confusing kids about the differences between male and female (the only 2 genders there are), and encouraging kids to challenge gender norms at an age when they should be learning reading, writing, spelling, science, and math, then you’re perverted. You can feel free to teach kids those ideals on your own time…..but it has no place in public schools.
Once again, the_wing_t….Neither I (nor the book) are talking about sex or gender (to children or anyone).
We are extolling kindness. Kindness and empathy and compassion and hope and courage.
I do my best to always speak of love.
Surely that will never be viewed as perversion.
Vjax—Always a pleasure.
“Fear not”, indeed.
What but fear could cause anyone to read “My Shadow Is Perfect” and find it alarming?
While others find it completely unobjectionable, even hopeful?
Same book. Two different ways of “seeing”.
God forbid I ever allow fear to blur the lens that I look through (not just at this children’s book, but at life, in general).
Holy scripture also tells us that “perfect love casts out fear”. I would argue that it also brings life into focus, and restores our capacity to be awe-struck, not “dis-couraged”.
Of course you also run the risk of being labeled a pervert! Not a bad trade-off, IMO.
Keep the faith, Vj.
MsV, are you OK?
No one here is talking about kids in a sexual way except the people who want to make sure a book they haven’t read isn’t allowed in school libraries. It is the folks on your side of the debate who are sexualizing children. If you read the book, which as AnnnoyedVet pointed out you can find and have read aloud to you on YouTube, you will see it has nothing to do with sex and certainly doesn’t mention genitals or encourage children to do or not to anything with them. I think you are reading a lot more into the comments here, and certainly into the book, than we are saying or than the book says.
You say:
“As if grooming children to mutilate themselves is a positive thing. If you want to mutilate a child I guess nobody is stopping you from creating your own child and abusing them, right? Sickness will never be healthy. No matter how hard you all work at inverting this world. Just the fact you think about their bodies in a sexual way is sick. What’s next, you’re gonna support is litter pans in the cafeteria because some kids view themselves as Disney characters that are not human. Or x x x movies in the classroom because of amendments that you pick and choose to support when it’s convenient and/or supports the mind control you’re currently under?”
Wow. That is a bunch of disgusting stuff that neither Suz, nor I, nor AnnoyedVet, nor StF said anything about … and yet you bring it up. Maybe it is the preoccupation of people with your viewpoint, and not ours?
Isn’t it strange that back in the day you didn’t care that your friend had two mommies, but today you are up in arms about a book that encourages kids to be themselves? What happened to you in the interim? I hope you can find your way back to where you were when you were more open-minded and not as terrified of people being themselves. Everything will be OK, even if our LGBTQiA brothers and sisters and non-binary siblings are allowed to embrace and express who they are. As the book expresses, the world might even be more colorful and fun when that happens! 💜💚❤️💙🤎
Parents should be vigilant and forceful with any school board that wants to influence their children in these ways. It is nothing but sexual grooming…it is unbelievable how the school systems have become pits of sexual deviation throughout the country since the pandemic.
If I went to a playground and started reading to children some of the books now allowed and part of what is taught in some school systems…I would be arrested as a pedophile…yet some local governments and school systems take it on themselves to “fiddle about” with our youngest and most impressionable children.
I 100% agree. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for this crime. IT IS CRIMINAL.
Pam writes, “I detest book burning. All books ought to be available in the public library,” but of course, she also loves to ban books.
You can’t make this stuff up. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Hey Stranger…you know folks don’t work for free…who is behind all of this Woke school curriculum and where is the money flowing?
Hi Mr. Hardy. Don’t you find it hypocritical that Pam asserts that she doesn’t want to ban books while she is writing a letter about the value of banning books.
She should just be honest and write, “I’m in favor of banning all books that I don’t agree with.” Then at least she wouldn’t be adding hypocrisy to her uninformed prejudice. Telling the truth always makes it easier to look into the mirror.
You leaving out the most important part of Pam’s post regarding banning books, there St. Fiction. Of course, that is your specialty.
Hi Stranger…There is nothing about banning books in her opinion that I see just “we need to limit the availability to children”… Try reading it again. I’m not a book banner…but if material has to be determined “age appropriate” then the parents should be involved. Young developing minds are sometimes irreversibly altered by what they are exposed to…(ex: adult content or shouting preachers).
Hi Vics, I hope you are doing well.
Without entering a semantics debate, prohibiting a librarian from placing a book in school library or prohibiting a teacher from reading a book to his/her class is tantamount to banning the book.
I happen to believe that school systems typically hire qualified teachers and librarians who can make the most informed decisions about the curriculum for their students. If parents can’t trust the educators in a school, they shouldn’t send their children to that school. Attempting to circumscribe every behavior of an educator that you have no faith in is akin to playing Wack-a-Mole – and the mole will find some way to win.
Ms. Danz proclaims that she is open-minded about book availability while advocating making books unavailable. That is hypocrisy by any definition. It would be funny on a sitcom or in a comedian’s monologue; it is sad on this public forum because she is so clueless.
If Ms. Danz is so wise that she can prescribe the most effective educational materials for school-age children, why not just proclaim her special powers? Why make statements of open-mindedness that are categorically false?