Diploma in ECDE - This is how it always is

Running head: ECDE 1
Diploma in ECDE
Student’s Name:
Instructor’s Name:
Name of University:
Course Number:
Date of Submission

ECDE 2
The title of the book to be critiqued is “This is how it always is”: by Laurie Frankel. The
primary objective of the author is to get to convince people to embrace transgender people and
embrace them like any other family member. The author contends that transgender issues scare
people away and maybe they have not come into contact with anyone affected by transgender
issues. Such a move is difficult but urgent. The author is inspired to write on the transgender
issue by examining the family of Rosie (medical doctor) and Penn (works from home) because
one of their five children Poppy was born and identified as a boy but at age six began expressing
interest in being a girl. The author chooses to go public and share their experience in bringing up
a transgender child with the aim of encouraging those with similar situations to embrace them
and that it is a natural phenomenon.
Additionally, the author aims at raising awareness in the parenting of transgender
children by striking a balance between protecting the children and allowing them to fully express
themselves. The book argues that the idea of fully trusting the decision-making ability of a child
and working with that is not the most appropriate way, even though this was how they initially
treated Poppy. The book discourages their initial approach to parenting and also common among
other families in which the parents make a judgment call and expect a child to follow especially
when the child’s wish is contrary to normal practice.
The thesis of the author that is not explicitly stated but can be summed up from the book.
The book points out that transgender people are like any other people but with a varying gender
expression from that assigned at birth, and thus it is not an issue of controversy. However, this
contradicts existing research that has shown that transgender people are seriously discriminated,
scorned and considered as a bad omen in most of the societies. For instance, Bradford, Reisner,
Honnold, and Xavier (2013) assessed the experiences of transgender people in Virginia using a

ECDE 3
quantitative research approach. The participants were self-identified transgender people who
passed the eligibility tests. The authors found out that 41% of the participants had experienced
discrimination that is associated with transgender. Some of the factors associated with the
discrimination of such a group included geographic location, low socioeconomic status and
visible signs of gender transition. Similar findings were also reported by (Budge, Adelson, &
Howard, 2013; Bockting et al., 2013). Therefore, there is literature evidence of the controversies
surrounding transgender issues, but the author is determined to counter all these by using the
real-life experience of the family of Rosie and Penn with one of their transgender child Poppy.
There are theoretical assumptions implied by the case study explored by the author. The
author contends that gender orientation is not only identified through the traditional binary
approach of either male or female. The studies by Nagoshi and Brzuzy (2010) and Nagoshi,
Brzuzy, and Terrell (2012) have also criticized the traditional binary of defining genders. Instead,
the emerging theoretical orientation on the identity of gender and its nature should be based on
the lived experiences of transgender people. The author reasons that the theory surrounding the
transgender controversy is distinct and should focus on the significance of physical embodiment
in gender identity. However, the author doesn’t explore the theory in detail.
The book has a significant contribution to the topic of transgender in childhood
discipline. The initial understanding of the family of Rosie and Penn is that which is common in
the society. The author points out how the parents of Ponny were affected when they came into
terms that their child was showing signs of transgenderism. The mother is a medical doctor who
has a different view and solution for the issue of transgender, whereas the father is a writer and
who works from home also views the situation differently and is with a different solution.
Similarly, the brothers to Poppy are very much affected by his transformation. The author uses