Today's topic has to do with gender. It is based on this article: Gender Neutral Child. If you want to take a minute to read it, you can. But there isn't a return link, so you will have to use the back button on your browser.
I will summarize: Essentially this family had a baby, they decided not to tell anyone what the sex of the child was. They gave the child a gender neutral name and dressed him/her in a gender neutral manner. Spoiler alert, it comes out that the child is a boy. When he goes to school the decide that they have to "out" him as a boy.
First off, this sort of behavior strays a bit to far from socially accepted norms for my taste, so it is not something I would ever consider doing. I had to know what sex my kids were before they were even born. We sports themed room for Mac from the beginning. Further, using my child to make a societal statement is not something I would opt to do.
That said, as a society we place a lot of pressure on people to conform to gender roles. So, while I am sure I would not do this to my kids, this family it attempting to allow their child to be what he is and not force him to conform to gender roles. There is a great blog about a family with a son who likes to do girl stuff. He wants to take ballet, wear tutus and dress like a girl. Pink sparkles is his thing. They have decided to accept him the way he is, and deal with the "scorn of society." Raising my Rainbow
I remember when Sam was a baby and Mac started trying to nurse his baby dolls. He was only mocking the behavior he had seen me do, and trust me there was a lot of focus on feeding Sam, "Mr. I lost 20% of my body weight in the first 5 days of my life." Mac's friends were mostly girls. Mac did a lot of things that didn't conform to gender norms. My husband struggled with that. He wants a boy to be a boy. That wasn't how Mac rolled. I think it is best to let him be what he will be.
Hannah, my baby girl in pink, will clock you if you aren't careful. She is as tough a cookie as they make. She can keep up with any boy she can meet, pass them probably. Her friends are mostly boys. It is ok for her to cross gender expectations. It is ok for her to play with trucks. It is ok for her to play soccer with the boys. Society is a lot more accepting of a girl-child that plays in the sandbox with boys. This changes as girls get older, but I am focusing on children.
I am left wondering why is is ok for Hannah to act like a boy, but it isn't ok for Mac to act like a girl?
Want to see what the other ladies have to say? Check them out at: Froggie, Momarock, and Merrylandgirl
Editors Note: Mac does not act like a girl at this point in time. The example refers to Mac when he was the age of the child in the article.
I will summarize: Essentially this family had a baby, they decided not to tell anyone what the sex of the child was. They gave the child a gender neutral name and dressed him/her in a gender neutral manner. Spoiler alert, it comes out that the child is a boy. When he goes to school the decide that they have to "out" him as a boy.
First off, this sort of behavior strays a bit to far from socially accepted norms for my taste, so it is not something I would ever consider doing. I had to know what sex my kids were before they were even born. We sports themed room for Mac from the beginning. Further, using my child to make a societal statement is not something I would opt to do.
That said, as a society we place a lot of pressure on people to conform to gender roles. So, while I am sure I would not do this to my kids, this family it attempting to allow their child to be what he is and not force him to conform to gender roles. There is a great blog about a family with a son who likes to do girl stuff. He wants to take ballet, wear tutus and dress like a girl. Pink sparkles is his thing. They have decided to accept him the way he is, and deal with the "scorn of society." Raising my Rainbow
I remember when Sam was a baby and Mac started trying to nurse his baby dolls. He was only mocking the behavior he had seen me do, and trust me there was a lot of focus on feeding Sam, "Mr. I lost 20% of my body weight in the first 5 days of my life." Mac's friends were mostly girls. Mac did a lot of things that didn't conform to gender norms. My husband struggled with that. He wants a boy to be a boy. That wasn't how Mac rolled. I think it is best to let him be what he will be.
Hannah, my baby girl in pink, will clock you if you aren't careful. She is as tough a cookie as they make. She can keep up with any boy she can meet, pass them probably. Her friends are mostly boys. It is ok for her to cross gender expectations. It is ok for her to play with trucks. It is ok for her to play soccer with the boys. Society is a lot more accepting of a girl-child that plays in the sandbox with boys. This changes as girls get older, but I am focusing on children.
I am left wondering why is is ok for Hannah to act like a boy, but it isn't ok for Mac to act like a girl?
Want to see what the other ladies have to say? Check them out at: Froggie, Momarock, and Merrylandgirl
Editors Note: Mac does not act like a girl at this point in time. The example refers to Mac when he was the age of the child in the article.
Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the approach you took with this topic. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm nominating you for the Kreativ Blogger Award! Check out my recent blog post for information:
ReplyDeletehttp://momarock.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/a-kreative-blogger-award-me/
If you want to participate, awesome! If not, that's OK too!
-Sara