Breakpoint BreakPoint This Week: Toxic Masculinity & Transgender Surgeries
John and Maria discuss the challenge in culture to toxic masculinity. This week the nation reacted to displays by Will Smith and Volodymyr Zelensky. John and Maria consider a recent commentary by comedian Bill Maher who challenges the view we have of masculinity and how we value it. In this vein, Maria asks John to comment on a recent HHS announcement to push so-called "gender affirming" surgeries on minors. John references a commentary by Maria on BreakPoint that discusses the role of women, and how the church has a unique place to affirm God's design.
Maria then asks John to comment on a recent BreakPoint where John discussed "The Declaration on a New American Future." The declaration opposes a movement in the 1970s under the banner of the Rockefeller Commission on Population Growth that looked at abortion as population management.
-- Recommendations --
Yuval Levin on Honestly with Bari Weiss>>
-- In-Show Mentions --
Segment 1:
Will Smith apologizes for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, calling it "unacceptable and inexcusable"
Will Smith has apologized for slapping comedian Chris Rock in the face during the Oscars on Sunday. Smith said his "behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable" in a Monday night Instagram post.
ZELENSKY PROVES A LITTLE MASCULINITY IS GOOD & SEXY - ACCORDING TO BILL MAHER
Bill Maher laced into liberals who attack men for having supposed "toxic masculinity." The "Real Time with Bill Maher" host used Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and men taking up arms to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion as examples of how masculinity can be anything but toxic.
NCAA Kicks-off March Madness Highlighting Title IX at 50th Finals
The NCAA began its Title IX at 50 celebration during the 2022 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The celebration commemorates the anniversary of the landmark federal law signed in 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
What are Women For?
Our culture has long struggled with the realities of sexual difference, or "gender." While first- and second-wave feminism generally asserted that women were equal in value to men, transgenderism now asserts that women are interchangeable with men. Notice the underlying assumption: in order for men and women to have equal value, they have to be the same thing.
Segment 2:
The "Declaration on a New American Future" Challenges Abortion as a "Population Solution"
The Rockefeller Commission report "reflected the temper of the times," especially the kind of catastrophic alarmism of Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, a book full of predictions and arguments that have since been proven wrong. And, in the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that factors such as "population growth, pollution, poverty, and racial overtones" were considerations in the decision that imposed legalized abortion on America.
Segment 3:
Biden administration endorses transgender youth sex-change operations, 'top surgery,' hormone therapy
President Biden's administration has released a series of documents encouraging gender-reassignment surgery and hormone treatments for minors.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs released a document Thursday titled "Gender Affirming Care and Young People." The same day, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Child Traumatic Stress Network – another subset of the HHS – released a parallel document titled, "Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care."
Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care
Major medical associations recognize gender-affirming care as the standard of care for transgender,gender diverse, and intersex (TGI) youth. Gender-affirming care broadly refers to creating an environment that facilitates youth to move through the world safely as the gender they know themselves to be.
This includes developmentally appropriate, evidence-based care provided by medical and mental health experts in partnership with youth, parents, and caregivers. It may include evidence-based interventions such as puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones. Gender-affirming care also includes access to opportunities that all children should have, such as playing team sports, safely using bathrooms in their schools and other public places, and positive relationships with supportive adults.
National Child Trauma Stress Network
Gender-Affirming Care and Young People
Research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse children and adolescents.1 Because gender-affirming care encompasses many facets of healthcare needs and support, it has been shown to increase positive outcomes for transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents.
Gender-affirming care is patient-centered and treats individuals holistically, aligning their outward, physical traits with their gender Identity.
Gender diverse adolescents, in particular, face significant health disparities compared to their cisgender peers. Transgender and gender nonbinary adolescents are at increased risk for mental health issues, substance use, and suicide