Comments by "Roger Smith" (@rogersmith8339) on "1955: What did children want from Father Christmas? | Panorama | Voice of the People | BBC Archive" video.

@KoshVader Very sad but true. An awful lot of girls were tom boys but generally it was only a phase that they went through though.
3
@vantheman1238 It was cowboys and Indians when I was a kid because that was what all American movies seemed to be about.
3
@KoshVader Totally agree and I was not trying to deny that there have always been people who seem to have the wrong body as it were. In the past, this was mostly visible among the upper classes who could get away with it whereas the poor had to suffer in silence or face the full force of the law (including capital punishment in some cases). I do however think there should be an age limit before anything irreversible is done for the very reason that some children do go through phases (all three of my sisters and my Mrs fall into the Tomboy category that could have easily been misdiagnosed).
2
@barbarasanders7965 That is because it was always hidden away and those affected made to feel ashamed. Have you ever heard of the Famous Five books or the "Amazons" in Arthur Ransome books?
2
@wweisbeast321 Imagination was stolen from children when toys started to get more sophisticated. An ordinary push bike could be anything you wanted it to be in your imagination. As soon as it was made to look like a police motorbike or whatever, that is how it stayed for ever. Even Lego and Meccano became guilty when they started making kits that basically prevented kids using creativity and imagination.
2
@KoshVader I am aware of the laws in the UK and all the issues around this topic here. What does worry me (assuming any of it is accurate) is the situation in the US where, typical of them, money making has come into the equation. Some of the highly emotive terms being bandied around don't help either way.
2
That is a very short list for a modern child!
1
@atomictraveller Very topical!
1