Bullshitphobia
A (nonalcoholic) toast to the truth
Last week one of my dogs had a dentist appointment. This is a big deal in the dog world. It means anesthesia. It means extractions. In Fifi’s* case it meant SIX extractions, poor girl. And it meant over $400, which is cheap in the world of doggy dentistry, yikes.
Yesterday Miss Miller was holding her, petting her and showing concern for her comfort. I said, “You’re such a good dog mom, honey,” knowing it was a bold move to refer to my daughter who (perhaps still) identifies as a gay man.
But then she replied, “I’m a good emotional support mom. You and Dad give her material support.”
I was over the moon. I’ve gushed recently that Miss Miller has twice responded to her real, legal name with, “That’s me!” And now this—referring to herself as a ‘mom.’
This is all to say, don’t lose hope. The truth really does win in the end.
Some kids, even if they can’t articulate it, even if they vehemently rail against it, know they are safe with moms and dads who refuse to lie to them. I know I’m lucky. There are so many stories of moms who told the truth and lost all contact with their daughters or sons. And then there are those who do lie to their kids and lose them in different, nightmarish ways. Jeanette Jennings I’m looking at you.
With Miss Miller our position was and still is, in this household, skepticism does not equal transphobia. The position does not argue against anything except the freedom to question. And when you’re a parent, if you’re not questioning a recent worldwide phenomenon popular with tens of thousands of children, complete with its own medical industry, you’re doing something terribly wrong.
Every day, even though I can be irritable and grouchy and bitchy, I feel a little more comfortable in my rebellious skin. Proof grows by the minute it seems, that Wokeism is a tyrannical mental disorder, a disease hellbent on destroying liberal democracy, the Western world and free thought. I never was much of a follower to begin with but I had no idea my bullshitphobia™ would lead me straight out of the Democrat party, which harbors and encourages the wokeness I fear and despise. “Wokephobic” works too, now that I think about it.
Before Miss Miller woke me the fuck up (oh the irony!) I marched and virtue-signaled for half-truths, propaganda and issues with which I had no direct experience. I was so smug then. Okay. I’m still smug. But now I have receipts. And I know what I am fighting for.
The truth WILL win. Eventually. Cheers to that.
❤️🔥
Congratulations on evidence of Miss Miller's continued (and, I hope, increasing) desistance! Also on your sobriety.
Your essay has given me a new word to use when my daughter accuses me of transphobia. "No, I'm a trans-skeptic," I'll say, "because I don't believe in gendered souls and 'need' to be in the sports and spaces of the opposite sex." We'll see how that goes over. But it's the truth and needs to be constantly communicated.
Awesome, and congratulations! You deserve every moment of that trip over the moon.