Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

When you make a list of who is hit hardest by abortion bans and gays make the list but women don't. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

The USSR's successful export of Marxism is still fueling impoverishment and dysfunction in multiple countries. I hope decolonization efforts can succeed in coming years. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

A surfer and his shadow https://t.co/kWEQU28quL — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@dachte Just noticed that, thanks, deleted — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

What is even happening with the Mayan's MC story lines — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Will users be warned for overstating the danger or only for understating it? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast It seems like when people say *boy* and *girl* some are talking about sex and others about gender. The former seems easy to explain, the latter more complicated. Insofar as we're talking about gender I agree with you — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@snailprincess3 What do you mean specifically? Like, how will it go wrong in your view? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Jump Around by House of Pain is on the radio and they just bleeped the word "McEnroe" — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@taylorgrayson @DBistoli It's also just a thing every school district is going to be grappling with if they haven't already. How do we teach about gender identity if we do at all? When? Why that way? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

My default on most questions, in older grades, is a viewpoint diversity curriculum, where insofar as there are public controversies, you teach them rather than coming down on any particular side. But I'm not sure that's possible among young kids with these questions. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Another question––another tension, perhaps––is what to teach kids about the import of these questions. This lesson is titled "Who Am I?" At the opposite end of the spectrum, one could teach, *you are you, and if you decide you're a different gender that doesn't change you* — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@DanFriedman81 I don't think that follows from this lesson. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

At a higher level of analysis, one might ask, of any curriculum, should pre-k or ks be taught how the world is or how we want the world to be, or some combination, and how do we decide which applies when? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and see different approaches. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Now one of the images from the slide deck, where you'll see one example of the tension, because the symbols used to represent the genders are a dress and pants https://t.co/VnRDTccyvk — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

So here is one lesson that I understand to be trying to navigate this tension. First, the lesson overview for teachers: https://t.co/SEgPLoFZHE — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

As a matter of observation, setting aside any value judgments, it seems to me that both of these things are true. For example, anyone can wear any clothes, and also, some people where certain kinds of clothes to express their gender identity. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

As a matter of observation, setting aside any value judgments, it seems to me that both of these things are true. That is, anyone can where any clothes, and also, some people where certain kinds of clothes to express their gender identity. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

The tension is, basically, wanting to teach kids to reject gender stereotypes--teaching them, e.g., there are no boys toys and girls toys, and you can be a girl and wear pants or a boy and where dresses--and also teaching them that e.g. clothes are a way we express our gender. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Working through this curriculum, I see its authors struggling to work through a tension that I'm about to articulate, and I wonder how different school districts are handling it and what teachers and parents believe to be the best approaches they've found. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast For me, the answer is the same as if a concept in math or reading or any other subject is introduced too early--we should aim to introduce things at the right age as best we can, but also keep in mind that if we get things wrong nothing terrible is going to happen. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast Louisa, I think we can agree that one-year-olds are too young to understand what non-binary means, and also that there is nothing wrong with non-binary people being around one-year-olds, whether as parents or aunts or uncles or day care workers or whatever. Do we agree on that? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

RT @FresnoBee: Cheers, hugs and fist bumps were exchanged as members of the public returned to Hearst Castle for the first time since March… — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

The book banners are catastrophizing: — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast imagine that if we simply keep quiet they won't exist. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast Louisa, I emphatically reject the idea that any of the identities we've discussed don't belong around children. My question did not cause people to believe that. They have always believed it, and we need to find a way to both beat them politically and to change their minds, not — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast any specific concerns you have at whatever length you'd like to air them, and I have read with interest and pondered everything you've said in our conversations here. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast anything I ever write on this subject will reflect those values. In my estimation, it would be a huge mistake to approach this issue in a way that cedes all coverage of it to right wing populists and social conservatives. But I am always eager to here from you about — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast parents in jurisdictions all over America will weigh in on how public schools teach about sexual orientation and gender identity. There is no escaping that. I want everyone to be as informed as possible and to be rounded in an ethos of respecting everyone's dignity. And — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LouisatheLast Louisa, I share your concern about the reactionary backlash we've seen in some red states. I reject the idea that it is fueled by earnest attempts to understand, for example, at what age very young children are first capable of grasping the concept of non-binary. In coming years, — PolitiTweet.org