美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ahead of Father's Day, we're hearing voices of dads from different backgrounds

Ahead of Father's Day, we're hearing voices of dads from different backgrounds

Transcript¹

Kayden Coleman is one of the dads we're hearing from this week in honor of Fathers Day. The educator and transgender dad talks about what being a father means to him.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

We reached Kayden Coleman just before nap time.

KAYDEN COLEMAN: OK, go get a Popsicle. Go ahead and take it. You have your iPad. You have your TV. You have all your lovely toys, all your books. Here you go.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Thanks.

COLEMAN: You're welcome.

FADEL: Coleman is one of the dads we're hearing from this week in honor of Father's Day. He has two daughters. Jurnee is going on 3...

COLEMAN: But she is basically going on 30.

FADEL: ...And Azaelia is 9.

COLEMAN: The biggest thing for me with my kids was always to make sure that they were built for tough because of the world that we live in.

FADEL: Coleman is transgender, and he educates people on social media about his experience, especially with pregnancy².

COLEMAN: Especially for someone like me who is also Black, also low-income, things of that nature. Especially 10 years ago, people weren't interested in learning about transmasculine people navigating³ pregnancy. So I had to do a lot of advocating for myself, and I experienced a lot of pushback and discrimination within the medical system based off of preconceived ideas of what a pregnant person is supposed to look like.

Fast forward six years, with my second child, I thought that it would be different and it really wasn't. I still had to deal with people telling me that I didn't belong in certain spaces. I had to convince a lot of people that I was pregnant and that I wasn't just some strange man trying to infiltrate⁴ the OB-GYN's office. I got offered abortions⁵ an astronomical⁶ amount of times.

One of the biggest things that people get wrong is that we hate our bodies and thusly anything feminine remotely is something that we will reject. And that's included, but not limited to, pregnancy. Those of us who identify more on the masculine spectrum⁷, just because we identify as such does not take away our desire to have kids. And if we have the body parts to do so, why not? And the other thing is that...

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Daddy.

COLEMAN: ...A lot of people think that because we gave birth, that we suddenly become mothers. And so people are always shocked when they hear my child calling me daddy, my children calling me daddy. And they're worried that our kids are going to be confused in some way, shape or form. And that's just simply not true.

Being a trans dad means I was assigned female at birth, and I was essentially⁸ raised to adhere to societal standards of what a girl is supposed to be, how a girl is supposed to act. I think that because of that upbringing for myself, I got to get the insight into how women are perceived by society. I also just have certain experiences. Like, I know how to do hair. I know - you know, I'll know how to navigate⁹ when the menstrual cycles start and the bodies start changing.

I know how to prepare them for what society is going to be expecting of them and teach them that they have autonomy over themselves. I'm just here to provide a safe space for them to grow and flourish into amazing adults who know what healthy, genuine love feels like and acceptance so that they know to be able to project that out into the world and hopefully be some sort of shining light to others. I feel like, as a dad, my job is to be an example of that for them.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FADEL: That was Kayden Coleman. He's a transgender dad who gave birth to his two daughters, Jurnee and Azaelia.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

3 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

4 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

5 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

6 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

7 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。