[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

How to mess your kids mind up in easy stages.... pffft!

Yeah...I try to be openminded about stuff..but this was my first thought when I read the OP :/

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Yeah...I try to be openminded about stuff..but this was my first thought when I read the OP :/

And the poor kid has two older brothers... I would say this is some problem of the mothers, I think she had her heart set on a girl and if she doesn't tell anyone that storm is a boy she can carry on the delusion.

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

And the poor kid has two older brothers... I would say this is some problem of the mothers, I think she had her heart set on a girl and if she doesn't tell anyone that storm is a boy she can carry on the delusion.

Yeah, this is one case. I only used that article because it was the best one I found. Let's try and refrain from lumping all parents that carry this out into a particular assumption-based category.

This is quite good a piece that dispels some qualms people have with the idea - 5 Myths About Gender Neutral Parenting

It's about liberating the child and enabling them to make their own choices and decide how they wish to live their life from as early an age as possible. By raising them in an environment free from stereotypes, they are not forced into living a particular way, adhering to certain gender norms and behaviours or liking particular things...they are free. I accept that this opens the doors for bullies to take advantage - but that's an argument that is regularly applied to gay adoption - the point is, the movement has to start somewhere, the only way the world will become as liberal as possible is by progressive moments pushing boundaries. Eventually, the more people that hop on the bandwagon, the more it is normalised and as such, the possibility of issues like bullying is completely eradicated.

There are evidently issues that need to be addressed, but I think that it's an interesting idea all the same. It doesn't need to be as radical as the article in the OP, like refusing to tell people the sex of the child. It can simply be dressing the child in non blue and pink clothes, and buying them both Action Man and Barbie dolls. I don't really see an issue with that - it's ridiculous to just prolong this ongoing circle of 'boys must dress in blue and like football' and 'girls must love pink and be compassionate one'. That in itself leads to as many problems as gender neutral parenting does.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Jack_

Yeah, this is one case. I only used that article because it was the best one I found. Let's try and refrain from lumping all parents that carry this out into a particular assumption-based category.

This is quite good a piece that dispels some qualms people have with the idea - 5 Myths About Gender Neutral Parenting

It's about liberating the child and enabling them to make their own choices and decide how they wish to live their life from as early an age as possible.

Kizzy was only commenting on that one mother, as she mentioned the older siblings.

It's not allowing a child to make their own choice. You're born the way you are.

If you're born with white skin, you're white. If you're born a girl, you're a girl. There is no choice.

If you decide later in life to change genders that's fair enough but it doesn't change the actual fact that you were born one specific gender. Confusing children from the start is basically telling them from the beginning "You're not going to like how you were born".

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by 08marsh

Kizzy was only commenting on that one mother, as she mentioned the older siblings.

It's not allowing a child to make their own choice. You're born the way you are.

If you're born with white skin, you're white. If you're born a girl, you're a girl. There is no choice.

You do understand that there is a difference between sex and gender though, don't you? Sex is the biological fact and gender is the social construct.

Then again I recall you making transphobic comments in the past so perhaps you're not the best person to discuss this issue with.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Jack_

Then again I recall you making transphobic comments in the past so perhaps you're not the best person to discuss this issue with.

Did I? Link to it.

What qualifies you as someone able to discuss it? Bring it on a public forum and we can all discuss it.

I'm not against transsexuals, I just think if people are free to explore then they find their own way.

This type of thing is like immediately instilling ideas in their head and confusion as opposed to allowing them to figure out for themselves.

I liken it to a mother who bought her 13 year old a voucher to get a boob job when she's 18. Immediately telling your child "You won't be happy with your boobs, you'll want to change your body" before they've even fully developed physically and mentally.

[InOne]

Originally Posted by Jack_

Yeah, this is one case. I only used that article because it was the best one I found. Let's try and refrain from lumping all parents that carry this out into a particular assumption-based category.

This is quite good a piece that dispels some qualms people have with the idea - 5 Myths About Gender Neutral Parenting

It's about liberating the child and enabling them to make their own choices and decide how they wish to live their life from as early an age as possible. By raising them in an environment free from stereotypes, they are not forced into living a particular way, adhering to certain gender norms and behaviours or liking particular things...they are free. I accept that this opens the doors for bullies to take advantage - but that's an argument that is regularly applied to gay adoption - the point is, the movement has to start somewhere, the only way the world will become as liberal as possible is by progressive moments pushing boundaries. Eventually, the more people that hop on the bandwagon, the more it is normalised and as such, the possibility of issues like bullying is completely eradicated.

There are evidently issues that need to be addressed, but I think that it's an interesting idea all the same. It doesn't need to be as radical as the article in the OP, like refusing to tell people the sex of the child. It can simply be dressing the child in non blue and pink clothes, and buying them both Action Man and Barbie dolls. I don't really see an issue with that - it's ridiculous to just prolong this ongoing circle of 'boys must dress in blue and like football' and 'girls must love pink and be compassionate one'. That in itself leads to as many problems as gender neutral parenting does.

The thing is, kids become their own people anyway. It just seems a bit over the top to go that far. They will obviously gravitate towards what other boys/girls do because when they make friends trends will pop up and what not. Society will have the most impact, the parents can only do so much. It's almost like you're creating problems that aren't there.

[Jack_]

Originally Posted by InOne

The thing is, kids become their own people anyway. It just seems a bit over the top to go that far. They will obviously gravitate towards what other boys/girls do because when they make friends trends will pop up and what not. Society will have the most impact, the parents can only do so much. It's almost like you're creating problems that aren't there.

Of course society has the most impact, that's the point of it, to kill these predetermined gender roles that everybody is just automatically meant to sign up to. But there are problems with this, people that fall outside of the gender binary and wish not to identify themselves as one particular gender face all sorts of psychological issues.

These two blogs explain the distinction between sex and gender that people must first comprehend before they can fully understand gender neutral parenting. I would really recommend everyone reading these, they explain it very well and articulate it better that I'll be be able to in this topic.

http://genderbinary.wikidot.com/livi...without-labels

http://genderbinary.wikidot.com/gend...y-outside-mold