Editor’s letter

Stella O’Malley thinks that if she had been born 30 years later she would have become a man. But when she was a kid and was confused about her gender, times were different. And she eventually accepted herself, and accepted herself as a woman. You might not agree with everything she writes in her dispatch from the frontlines of gender today, but she certainly asks some fair questions. A lot of people of my generation and, indeed, my parents’ generation, have had to take in a lot of new thinking about gender in a very short space of time. So anything that helps to educate people about developments, as Stella’s piece does, has to be a welcome addition to the discussion.

Stella’s guiding principle in writing the piece was that it would be written with compassion. It is a brave and honest piece of writing.

As is Stefanie Preissner’s piece for Leaving Cert students about how to embrace failure. As Stefanie says, more people should admit they have failed, that they don’t know about something, that they made a mistake.

If only the general discourse nowadays had more people who would say, “I don’t know”; “I was wrong”; “Are we sure about this?” But that’s not how it is, is it?

I’m right. You’re wrong. And you are an asshole for having a different opinion to me.

Brendan O’Connor

Editor