Action point: complain to the BBC

Trigger warnings for binarism, sexism, and cissexism apply.

The News Quiz (BBC|Wikipedia) is, as the BBC says, a "topical panel quiz show, taking its questions from the week's news stories."

This week one topic of discussion was Storm, a Canadian child whose parents are allowing Storm to make their own choice about when to disclose their sex and gender. I'm not going to link to news articles, because it's easy to find more information, and the family has explained that they are feeling overwhelmed - but I will note that, as the excellent blog Sociological Images points out, this isn't new.

The News Quiz, alas, got it very badly wrong.

The following transcript is taken from Series 74, episode 7, starting at 19:46. Panelists were Susan Calman, Jeremy Hardy, Andrew Maxwell and Paul Sinha; the chair was Sandi Toksvig. The episode is available on iPlayer until the third of June.

( Transcript. )

There's a lot in there to deconstruct.

I can't do all of it, but feel free to contribute in comments. Off the top of my head:

• "No freedom or choice on the part of the child" - a gross misrepresentation. Allowing a child the choice to disclose their own sex is potentially extremely empowering: reactions to babies are measurably different depending on their perceived sex: this even begins before birth.^[1] Taking away the ability to pigeonhole a child's personality based on a binary label means people will actually have to get to know the child rather than prescribing and suggesting its behaviour: sounds like freedom to me.
  
• "Boys have willies and girls don't!" This is sexist, in that it defines women as lacking; it is cissexist, in that it erases the existence of trans children, and equates people's gender with their genitalia. Note the follow-up: vaginas are described as too technical. (It's also a gross and binaristic oversimplification, because of course It's A Bit More Complicated Than That.)
  
• "Boys like boys' things and girls like girls' things." This is a harmful and sexist attitude, and a self-fulfilling prophecy: children are extremely sensitive to gender policing. It's also ridiculous, particularly given the example of a pink dinosaur: as Sociological Images points out, pink is a manly colour - or at least was constructed as such until the 1950s! Restating this idea contributes to the problem.
  
• "Why don't you [David Stocker] give your children normal names, and YOU walk around in a post-gender freakzone?" Andrew Maxwell here suggests that "normal" doesn't include non-binary people; he minimises the difficulty of changing one's name; he overlooks the fact that David's gender is (presumably) male, which accords with his name, whereas Storm's gender is as yet unknown; and he is quite explicit that he views people outside the gender binary, or people trying to challenge gendered assumptions, as "freaks" to be mocked: which is exactly what already-marginalised groups don't need.
  
• "Men who think they're women, women who think they're men." This is a significant misrepresentation of trans* people, and suggests that e.g. trans women are "really" men. It is harmful and inaccurate and bigoted.

Action
I am appalled that the BBC chose to endorse the harmful and bigoted views expressed in this segment. Let's let people know how disappointed we are.

• Complain to the BBC - and, if you're comfortable, please share your wording in comments!
  
• Contact The News Quiz directly.
  
• Contact TransMediaWatch at transmediawatch at googlemail.com.

More ideas? Please leave them in comments. Thanks! Want more references? Ask me and I'll dig them out.


[1] Kane, 2009. 'I wanted a soul-mate:' gendered anticipation and frameworks of accountability in parents' preferences for sons and daughters. Symbolic Interaction, 34 (4), 372-389.