Baby raised without 'gender' sets off debate | CTV News
Do you think this is a unique way of showing children they don't have to conform to gender stereotypes? Or is it just a bit too weird?? I think they are brave parents to do this in such a judgmental society but how can you hide a child's gender? I think it's pretty much impossible especially when children are so influenced by media today.
The comments for this are fantastic! (and a bit annoying)
ReplyDeleteIt would seem the majority of people responding have a big problem with this, I think this comment sums up my feelings best:
"The child will understand his or her gender very quickly - the parents aren't hiding the gender from the child (or siblings), but from the outside world. Therefore, it's society that must adjust. We don't know whether to call him handsome or her pretty, to buy her a doll or him a truck for the child's birthday. The parents aren't challenging the child, they're challenging everyone else. I don't think it's a big deal at all. Sex is biological; gender is learned behaviour (environmental). The child will be fine."
No I'm not sure its entirely 'kind' to the child if it has to grow up with this stigma but very early on the child will be able to recognise their sex and easily reveal its gender if it chooses.
The parents are just bringing the child up in a way different from normal social conventions but why should they have to comply? It wasn't my free choice that my mother dressed me in pink, (actually theres tons of photos of me in blue as a toddler) Did this make me grow up to consider myself female or could i have rebelled subconsciously against all the pink to gender myself male?
I recon the whole things a bit of an accidental attention stunt but its certainly raised some questions. When does gender manifest itself? Especially if left open. And what is society's reaction?
Just watched this ! i see why they are doing it in a way but the way it has been fussed over is unnessesary. its a hard to say because it is there child they can do what they want ? i see it from there point of you if people did not have any sexual organs or woman have breasts and we all dressed the same then there wouldnt be much way of telling if we were male or female, but those parents are not going to be able to stop that childs hormones changing his or her body shape? if it is a girl she will not only grow breasts but her hips will also make it more obvious if it is a girl. i seen in a magazine a girl who has a sex change at 15 and she looked amazing !! you looked at her and thought wow you should of been a girl. i dont think its fair why docotors make people wait if they know they want a sex change because the younger it gets done the more realistic they look as the other sex. this is going way too deep ! i think im off topic now ! lol xx
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that the child will have the freedom to be whoever they want to be! Why is it correct to dress a girl in pink and a boy in blue? The parents clearly just want the media attention, and it isn't really for their child.
ReplyDeleteI like that comment you choose jade especially the sentence 'The parents aren't challenging the child, they're challenging everyone else.' The obvious reaction is that we find it weird but why is this? It's better to be open minded about such things, our gender shouldn't define us as people.
We are quickly turning into a world full of 'different' people which is always a good thing. The media want to make us into generic duplicates of one another. We have probably seen or even known/know people who have had sex changes but maybe wouldn't have realised until told so. I think sex changes at a young age is too full on for someone who hasn't even developed into their eventual body. But who am I to say it is right or wrong when I don't have these feelings of changing my gender. If someone is so uncontrollably unhappy with who they are then the most important thing is to do what makes you happy.
I wore all colours as a child and loved both girl and boy toys but and I never felt pressure to be a girly girl but I have grown up to adhere to the pressures of make-up and hair styles and feminine clothing.
This is all very deep stuff, I agree Ashleigh, I have no idea if I'm staying on topic but I quite like researching about sex changes so I think I'll stick to it and see what I get out of it! Sorry If I'm bombarding you all :)