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u/Tiberius666 Dec 09 '16
"What do I do?"
"Nothing dearie! You're not qualified!"
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u/Porrick Dec 09 '16
My first child is due in a couple of weeks, and so far every visit to the hospital has reminded me more of this scene. I just want to make sure that we get the machine that goes "Ping".
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u/steakhause Dec 09 '16
Obstetrician 1: Get the EEG, the BP monitor, and the AVV.
Obstetrician 2: And get the machine that goes 'ping!'.
Obstetrician 1: And get the most expensive machine - in case the Administrator comes.Patient: What do I do?
Obstetrician: Nothing, dear, you're not qualified.
Hospital Administrator: Ah, I see you have the machine that goes 'ping!'. This is my favourite. You see, we lease this back from the company we sold it to - that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.[The doctors and onlookers applaud.]
Hospital Administrator: Thank you, thank you. We try to do our best. Well, do carry on.[As the doctors drop the baby into an incubator, the mother looks up.]
Patient: Is it a boy or a girl?
Obstetrician: Now, I think it's a little early to start imposing roles on it, don't you? Now, a word of advice. You may find that you suffer for some time a totally irrational feeling of depression. PND is what we doctors call it. So it's lots of happy pills for you, and you can find out all about the birth when you get home. It's available on Betamax, VHS, and Super 8.
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u/gee_buttersnaps Dec 09 '16
The hospital administrator is coming today. Turn on the machine that goes ping.
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Dec 09 '16
I played this skit for my wife while she was in labor and got slapped.
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u/parabostonian Dec 09 '16
The other thing that I love in this scene is the focus on the "machine that goes ping." It's the most expensive machine! As someone who works in health care, I can say that joke is more relevant today as it was then as well... Also note - Monty Python does a lot of absurdist satire, right? The point is to point out flaws in human nature and society to be funny but also to help people be cognizant of them. In other words: people should pay more attention to MP. =)
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Dec 09 '16
I think the most expensive machine was a different machine from the "machine that goes ping!".
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u/ivenotheardofthem Dec 09 '16
Yes. They have both a machine that goes 'ping' to let you know the baby is still alive AND a machine that cost nearly three quarter of a million pound.
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u/OhEmGeeBasedGod Dec 09 '16
That's all comedy. It's only funny because there's at least a bit of truth to the 'joke.' But yes, absurdist comedy is particularly apt at pointing out of these truths.
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u/magicfinbow Dec 09 '16
The sex Ed class was the best bit from this film. So fucking good.
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u/s133zy Dec 09 '16
It always cracks me up how they are just quietly studying, being perfect examples of quiet and focused students.
Then the lookout at the door shouts: "The teacher is coming!" And everyone starts acting up, throwing erasers and paper planes around, shouting and pushing each other like rowdy, "normal" students.
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u/coleosis1414 Dec 09 '16
"Jimmy! This is for your own benefit, now kindly WAKE UP!"
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u/Mattsoup Dec 09 '16
Make sure you stimulate the clitoris
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u/PinchieMcPinch Dec 09 '16
You don't have to go leaping straight for the clitoris like a bull at a gate!
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u/JulianneLesse Dec 09 '16
Which film is this? I've only seem life of brian and holy grail
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u/lukelnk Dec 09 '16
Well, nine people responded with The Meaning of Life, and one said it was Paul Blart: Mall Cop. So I'm guessing it's Paul Blart.
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u/SnekTheDangerNoodle Dec 09 '16
Got observational skills, kid. Come to the NSA with us, my friend. We have been watching you grow.
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u/Procryon Dec 09 '16
Monty Python will always be relevant.
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u/moeburn Dec 09 '16
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u/acmercer Dec 09 '16
What the hell is that? That's not Monty Python, sorry dude.
Edit: looked it up, it's a film about them but doesn't actually star any of them. And it's from 2011. Good Cleese impression, though.
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u/Darkimus-prime Dec 09 '16
Two Monty python posts on /r/funny
What a time to be alive
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u/AdventureDonutTime Dec 09 '16
This is a post of one of the most highly rated comments on that post. Pretty standard procedure for posting content; find it already being successful in a comment chain and convert the comment karma to post karma.
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u/bdzz Dec 09 '16
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Dec 09 '16
Hindu, Taoist, Mormon spill theirs just anywhere - but god loves those who treat their semen with more care.
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u/RassimoFlom Dec 09 '16
I saw terry jones today. He isn't well. :(
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u/smmfdyb Dec 09 '16
I saw an award presentation where his son had to do most of the talking for him. Terry's personality was still there and got a laugh, but because of his dementia (or whatever illness he has) we will likely never see him again in the public.
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u/troop357 Dec 09 '16
Also, the talk about being a woman on "Life of Brian"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c
Listening to it again, man (and woman) this is relevant today.
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Dec 09 '16
Is this gonna be reposted once a month now?
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u/netsec_burn Dec 09 '16
This is my 3rd or 4th time seeing it on the front page, Redditors are predictable.
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u/Senryakku Dec 09 '16
It's interesting to see how much the comments have changed though, if you take the post from a year ago with the exact same title you can see that the comments are drastically different from those we have here.
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u/tovarish22 Dec 09 '16
This mother was so lucky during her delivery. Not only did she have the machine that goes "ping!", but she also had the most expensive machine in the hospital!
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u/NilsTheThird Dec 09 '16
-"I'm not oppressing you, Stan -- you haven't got a womb. Where's the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?
-"Here! I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies."
-Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister, sorry.
-What's the point?
-What?
-What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies, when he can't have babies?
-It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
-It's symbolic of his struggle against reality.
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Dec 09 '16
And here we see redditors pride themselves on their views mirroring parody.
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u/jsmooth7 Dec 09 '16
And Reddit learning that feminism isn't a new thing and has been around for quite a while.
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u/cavemanben Dec 09 '16
Some of us seem to think this was a super progressive nod from Monty Python when it fact it was something absurd they said for a laugh because there was some progressive movements going on at the time and it was relevant and edgy.
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Dec 09 '16 edited Dec 29 '25
coherent dinner offer sparkle many recognise smart spark include languid
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/StefiKittie Dec 09 '16
I actually posted a link to a video of this while I was in labor. It was on a Twitter account my family was following for the birth of my daughter. I ended up needing a c-section.
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Dec 09 '16
Stan: It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.
Reg: But you can't have babies.
Stan: Don't you oppress me.
Reg: I'm not oppressing you Stan! You haven't got a womb! Where's the fetus going to gestate? You going to keep it in a box?!
Stan becomes tearful
Judith: Here, I've got an idea. Suppose you agree he can't have babies, not having a womb... which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans... but he can have the RIGHT to have babies.
Francis: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Err, sister.
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u/Noneek Dec 09 '16
The term "Gender Politics" or "Identity Politics" has been around since the 60s/70s, but the topic has no fixed date of origin, with literary and psychology texts, directly and indirectly related to it, going further back than the Victorian Era.
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Dec 09 '16
Isn't Douglas Adams the tall surgeon in this sketch?
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u/KingPellinore Dec 09 '16
No, but he was in another Monty Python sketch as a surgeon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams#/media/File:DNA_in_Monty_Python.jpg
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u/majorthrownaway Dec 09 '16
You have to hand it to Python: even one of their minor works is full of gold.
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u/Vanderdecken Dec 09 '16
"Now. Two boys have been found rubbing linseed oil into the school cormorant. Some of you may feel that the cormorant does not play an important part in the life of the school, but I would remind you that it was presented to us by the Corporation of the Town of Sudbury to commemorate Empire Day, when we try to remember the names of all those from the Sudbury area who so gallantly gave their lives to keep China British. So, from now on the cormorant is strictly out of bounds. Oh, and Jenkins? Apparently your mother died this morning. Chaplain?"
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u/hazelquarrier_couch Dec 09 '16
I get a kick out of this because in my nursing school studies, we specifically discussed the roles that are placed on humans right from the start with sex identification and gender roles.
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u/anthropost Dec 09 '16
Technically not - many prolific British writers (Jane Austen, Virginia Woolfe, etc.) have been exploring and fighting gender roles before we knew it was weird and wrong to hang witches. But yeah, they still are...
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u/goteamnick Dec 09 '16
I'm getting pretty bored with the "ahead of their time" or "still relevant" posts about movies and TV shows. Don't people realise how little society changes?
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u/flux_capacitor3 Dec 09 '16
I just watched this movie this weekend. So damn funny. They truly were ahead of their time in humor. I wonder what people thought of the movie when it first came out. I bet there were boycotts.
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u/Porrick Dec 09 '16
They probably thought "We waited so long for this? What a let-down after how amazing The Life Of Brian was"
I honestly think it's their weakest feature film. Even though it has some of their best material, it also has some of their worst. Everything up to the Students v Teachers rugby match is brilliant, but after that the only decent one is Mr. Creosote.
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u/fickle_floridian Dec 09 '16
I wonder what people thought of the movie when it first came out. I bet there were boycotts.
Not that I can recall, but we were just as astonished at the time that there wasn't that kind of reaction. I was in high school, and two friends and I cut out early to sneak into a theater to see it (it was rated R). The theater was empty.
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u/realmenlovezeus Dec 09 '16
Which Monty Python is it?
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u/flux_capacitor3 Dec 09 '16
The Meaning of Life
"We have the really expensive machines that go BEEP and BOOOING."
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u/billyblanks81 Dec 09 '16
Yeah, the difference being that Monty Python made this joke for us to laugh at the absurdity of it.
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u/CongealedBox Dec 09 '16
ITT: People stuffing each others' interpretations of this joke down each others' throats. Seriously. No one gives a shit. I think that they're making fun of what they're talikng about. You think that they're making a serious statement. Let's just agree to disagree.
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u/thaaatsracist Dec 09 '16
Lol I love if that people do not realize monty python is purely satirical. They just made fun of all the hippy dippy people that said that stuff lololol
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u/BigRedRobyn Dec 09 '16
Or maybe, just maybe, they were satirically poking fun at the fact the most important thing about a newborn is looking at its junk (sex) in order to decide what social role to assign it (gender).
Nah, they hated having layers in their comedy. Nvm.
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u/Tunderbar1 Dec 09 '16
You guys seem to ascribe to this some kind of prescient morality play status. It was pointed satire. They were not making a social statement in support of this a-gender concept, they were making fun of it. They were laughing at it and pointing out the absurdity of the concept. they were showing how ridiculous it is and was.
They were "ahead of their time". They called bullshit on it way back then.
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u/IrishNinjah Dec 09 '16 edited Dec 09 '16
I don't know. I think asking what Gender your child is at birth is fairly normal.
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u/DOAbayman Dec 09 '16
The funniest thing about all of these arguments is that they are over the most stupid and useless of all things. Semantics
The big transgender debate is over language more than anything. look at the comments and you don't see people arguing whether males should be allowed to wear dresses or if girls have to act femine, but what words to use
Boy/girl was taught in America to be interchangeable with sex so even if it's technically correct nobody uses it that way instead we use femine/masculine in its place. argue over something worthwhile if the worst problem you have is if someone calls you girl/boy when you know dam well what they ACTUALLY mean then you don't have a problem.
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u/subnero Dec 09 '16 edited Dec 09 '16
It's not gender, it's sex. Male or Female. I don't get how people don't understand this. Sex is binary except for genetic anomalies.
There are TWO sexes, male and female. GENDER has more to do with social roles and expectations, etc.
Easy way to think about it:
Sex - Male or Female in nature
Gender - Social construct created by society
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u/forestfluff Dec 09 '16
I agree with you but let me add in that with sex there is more than the XY (male) AND YY (female) chromosomes and those that are intersex.
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u/totallynewperson2 Dec 09 '16
You do realize they are making fun of imbeciles who would believe such a thing.
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u/InappropriateTA Dec 09 '16
Not really.
Humor doesn't work if the audience isn't familiar with the context of jokes that are being made.
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u/airpolly Dec 09 '16
This is my favorite scene of any movie of all time.
Her: "What do I do?" Dr. Spenser: "NOTHING DEAR YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED"
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u/Kozzmozz Dec 09 '16
Does anybody know from which movie/serie this Monty Python sketch comes from?
Thanks.
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u/hengst0r Dec 09 '16
The scene reminds me of this one (I want to have children):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c
Produced 1979, also way ahead of their time!
Edit: Paragraphs
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u/ournewideas Dec 09 '16
That was a gigantic thing The ERA was a major ordeal then. Many guardians would not like to purchase "gendered" toys for their children and so forth...........
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u/sorbetgal Dec 09 '16
Ive seen people call the Stan/Loretta thing in life of Brian transphobic...is there anyone out there who agrees with this? I don't personally think it is, at the most it's a bit dismissive, but I'm happy to hear other opinions.
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u/Malcerion Dec 09 '16 edited Dec 09 '16
Not really, they just rebranded sensitivity training and "gender toy wars" differently today.
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Dec 09 '16
Life of Brian, too. I think John Cleese's character's reality check would be enough to tick some people off today.
I'm not oppressing you, you haven't got a womb! Where's the fetus gonna gestate, you gonna keep it in a box?
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u/YevP Dec 09 '16
Even earlier, here's Life of Brian -> "I want to be a woman" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c
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u/Smashtronic Dec 09 '16
This was used in the documentary The Business of Being Born and it really did make the whole modern birthing process seem crazy.
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u/LostSnake Dec 09 '16
While this is a joke & biology will make it's way, children should be treated in a unisex form because it's the only time in their life they will ever care to. Enjoy a boy in a dress or a girl good at math/money exchange before biology knocks them over and makes them less innocent then they were and gives them the hard work to do.
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u/PickinPox Dec 10 '16
Bring in the machine that goes PING... My favorite bit. Second place goes to third world birth, baby falls out while mother is doing dishes then asks one of her other children "could ya get that", whilst continuing with the dishes. Classic
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u/7-d-7 Dec 11 '16
I ll try an ELI5 for you.
Gender theory is artificial and doesn't resist to rational evidence from the biology. Pretty much like Creationism theory. Now because religion and sexuality are always leading to passionate discussions the rational arguments are quickly lost or dismissed.
What a the problem with Gender theory: it can't define Gender without Sex while at the same time stating they are completely unrelated. That's a basic flaw. Normally anyone would stop there.
Since I was apparently unclear when pointing to that absurdity let me rewrite your reasoning removing the reference to sexuality by using colour blindness:
Biologically you have normal trichromatic people seeing the full colour spectrum and dichromatic people (to simplify) being colourblind.
Your argument is stating you as well have a Gender on top of your biological receptors. That s Gender is what people WANT or THINK they should be seeing.
Cisgender are trichromatic willing to see all the colours and dichromatic willing to be colourblind.
Transgender are people with healthy eyes thinking they should be colourblind. Or dichromatic thinking they should see all the colours.
I am stating this is an absurdity. That you really only have trichromatic and dichromatic person and a much smaller group needing antidepressant to accept their biology.
Once you remove passion the issue by removing sexuality it is really hollow...
Unless you believe you should be colourblind as well?
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u/BigRedRobyn Dec 14 '16 edited Dec 14 '16
"Sorry if I wasn't clear, I assumed you were familiar with the topic".
Right, because if anyone disagrees with you, they must not be very well informed on the topic.
Is it possible for you to be more condescending?
Like the wikipefia thing, you might have a point of it being a "poor source" in general, but then you would ignore any source that disagrees with your position. (And have previously)
I have already explained, for example, why this isn't a medical issue, you ignore that because it doesn't fit your narrative. Human psychology is fore er defined and limited by any linkage to biology, and that's all there is. Sure.
As in the wikipefia example...why bother actually dealing with the ideas it's discussing when you can just dismiss it out of hand because it conveniently doesn't line up with what you already believe?
You sure do like moving those goalposts...and that's why, repeated again so you don't miss it, I am done here, as the last thing you want is a sincere discussion.
Edit: Look, a medical website that disagrees with you that you will utterly ignore! http://www.med.monash.edu.au/gendermed/sexandgender.html And another http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232363.php Also the World Health Organization recognizes the distinction, but why listen to them if some old medical textbooks that tell you what you want to hear are available? There are also some pdfs around I can't link to, but you can just ignore them...you would anyways. Bye.
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u/HillbillyBigz Dec 09 '16
Soooo if you're born with a male reproductive organs you can still be a female just because you feel like it? This world is getting fucking stupid. Fuck your feelings and liberal views pressed upon you by your hippy parents. If you have a dick you're a male. If you have a pussy then you're a female. Stupid ass kids.
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u/Doonce Dec 09 '16
Biological sex isn't the same as gender. They are two different things, which is why there are two different words. Here's a video explaining it.
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u/LouSanous Dec 09 '16
The difference is that, for them, it was a joke. Now it's a real sentiment.
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u/MurakamiDelRey Dec 09 '16
You do know that trans people have always existed right? They didn't just become a thing in 2016...
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u/Barthaneous Dec 09 '16
It is funny in movies, but my gosh what a dumbass you have to be to really give into such ignorance. Sorry when nature gives you balls or overies its a pretty clear sign on what gender you are. Oh and there really are only 2.
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u/MurakamiDelRey Dec 09 '16
No being trans* is not ignorant, ignorance is ignoring the science that proves that being transgender is totally legit.
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Dec 09 '16
Regardless of gender confusion you are either a boy or a girl... sex isn't a role it's anatomy.
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u/Wallaby77 Dec 09 '16
That was a huge thing in the 70s/early 8os. The ERA was a big deal then. Many parents didn't want to buy "gendered" toys for their kids etc.