I’ve been noticing an interesting trend with all the memes about the transgender bathroom issue going around.

All of the ones I’ve seen deal with the idea that it will be a man going into the women’s bathroom. I haven’t seen a single one dealing with the idea of the opposite. No Chaz Bono jokes, no threats against my daughter if she takes another man’s urinal. No wondering if they would be safe using a men’s room even if they still have female equipment…And since I’m swinging at low hanging fruit here, where are all the memes about a Catholic Priest using the bathroom with my sons?

Memes are hardly great works of analytical or intellectual thought, but they are fantastic visual soundbites that are used to great effect to influence people’s thoughts and view points. Their capacity for manipulation is strong and relatively subtle.

For example: If you’re worried about my son using the same bathroom as your daughter, is that because he’s a rapist? If he isn’t rapist, is it because he could be? If he identifies as female and likes men, would that still make him a rapist? With several popular memes, the implication is the first, even if it isn’t directly said. Ironically, if you also have a son, it implies the same about him. About you, really(assuming you’re the dad).

Now, a person’s objection to the whole bathroom issue may be religious or cultural, but that’s not what the memes convey. In fact, that just helps muddy the waters more as it fails, or appears to fail, to represent the poster’s real beliefs. In effect, it’s a straw man. It’s a subtle influence, but there it is.

Just my two cents on a very small part of a complex social issue.