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The Inconvenient Truth About Shultz's "Natural Bodies" Article
It really is another attempt to weaponize parental love and fear
Hey everyone, I want to talk about a recent article by Lisa Shultz (EyesOpen)1 that's been posted on PITTparents.com - one that claims to be about protecting "natural bodies" but is really just peddling fear and falsehoods about transgender youth and the gender-affirming care that saves their lives. (TLDR2)
The author throws around a lot of loaded terms like "healthy breast removal" and "disassociating from womanhood" that show a fundamental misunderstanding, or willful misrepresentation, of what it means to be trans. No one is getting mastectomies for funsies or because they're confused about gender stereotypes. These are necessary life-saving medical procedures for folks suffering from severe, often debilitating gender dysphoria.
And let's be clear - being trans isn't a trend or a phase, it's a deeply-rooted identity that has existed throughout human history. Implying that social media is somehow tricking girls into cutting off their breasts is not only absurd, it's downright dangerous. This kind of rhetoric fuels the very real discrimination and violence that trans people, especially trans youth, face every day.
The author also conveniently ignores the fact that gender-affirming care is supported by every major medical association as evidence-based, medically necessary treatment. It's not about "cementing an identity that might not last," it's about alleviating suffering and allowing individuals to live authentically. No one is getting fast-tracked into surgery - the process involves extensive assessments, counseling, and safeguards. Frankly, it's far more difficult to access than it should be given the life-saving impact it can have.
But perhaps the most insidious part of this article is the way it weaponizes parental love and grief to argue against affirming trans kids. I have no doubt that having a child come out as trans can be challenging for families, but the solution isn't doubling down on rejection that we know leads to devastating mental health outcomes and high suicide rates. If your love for your child is contingent on them conforming to your expectations of their body and identity, then that's not really unconditional love at all.
At the end of the day, no one is claiming that medical transition is right for every gender questioning kid. What we're saying is that trans youth deserve respect, support, and access to the full spectrum of care they might need to survive and thrive - just like any other kid struggling with a health issue. Spreading misinformation and stoking fear about best-practice treatment doesn't help anyone. In fact, it just contributes to a culture of transphobia that claims far too many young lives.
So while I empathize with the protective instinct and parental anxiety underlying articles like this, I cannot condone the way they misrepresent science, dismiss lived experiences, and ultimately make the world a more hostile place for an already marginalized and at risk population. If we want to have a real conversation about supporting gender diverse youth and their families, it has to start with facts, compassion, and a whole lot more listening to the trans community itself. Not advocating for what is tantamount to a form of gas lighting and conversion therapy.
But that is just my thoughts on it. I think we all can agree that we should think more critically about the information we consume and the impact our words can have.3 Stay safe out there, and take of yourselves, and each other.
Lisa Shultz a.k.a EyesOpen, this article in particular: “It’s Time to Help Girls and Women Accept Their Natural Bodies”
Lisa Shultz relies on several common TERF talking points and assumptions:
Framing being transgender as a "trend" or "ideology" that young girls are being influenced into, rather than a real identity
Suggesting that gender-affirming medical care like mastectomies is "mutilation" of "healthy bodies" and a form of internalized misogyny, rather than necessary treatment for gender dysphoria
Arguing that supporting a child's transgender identity is a rejection of their "natural body" and femaleness, and causes parental grief
Claiming that trans activists and medical providers are pushing children into medical transition for profit, without regard for their wellbeing
Positioning transgender identity as opposed to feminism and a threat to the mother-daughter bond and female solidarity
Though the article expresses concern for the welfare of gender-questioning youth, it does so through a lens that denies the reality of trans identities, misrepresents the gender-affirming care process, and recycles many anti-trans stereotypes common in gender critical feminist discourse. The alarmist language around "erasing womanhood" and "disassociating from the female body" is a hallmark of TERF ideology. Finally, the title and headline are sensationalized, she never addresses who is profiting from this - it is just thrown up there for clicks.
See above
As someone who had top surgery, I can attest to how difficult the entire process is and was, and just how thorough all of my medical support team was in ensuring that it was not only the right choice for me but that I got what I wanted and needed out of it. It was an incredibly long road full of appointments, paperwork, insurance hurdles, letters from therapists, and more. This is why it's so painful to the trans community when we hear others toss around this idea that you can get gender affirming surgery on a whim. We can barely access this care even with all of those hoops we have to jump through.
The ‘parental grief’ thing reminds me a lot of the ‘autism moms’ community where there’s also a lot of talk of parents grieving ‘the child they should have had’, instead of this weird defective one they don’t know what to do with. I find it so incredibly harmful and gross.
Like yes, I understand that some kids have more issues than others and it can absolutely be challenging. But the idea of mourning a fictional child over loving and doing the best you can for a real one just sits so wrong with me. And it sends parents down the completely wrong path - instead of looking for ways to connect with the child they have (and thank heavens research has come so far since ABA therapy and there really are many different things to try), they’re focusing on how sad it is that their kid can’t do ‘the normal things’ like the kids next door. Thus robbing themselves of actually knowing their kid, because you know who wants to open up to you and be close if you make it feel like you’re seeing their entire existence as a personal tragedy to yourself? Nobody, that’s who.