I like this idea!
Meet the parents who are raising a 'genderless' baby
A Canadian couple has decided to keep the gender of their baby a secret in order to provide it with 'more choice'.
For most of us, as soon as a pregnancy is announced, the gender guessing game begins. And while some like to keep the sex of their baby a secret until the child is born, one couple has taken a decidedly different approach on revealing the sex of their offspring.
A Canadian couple from Toronto have decided to keep the gender of their four-month-old baby a secret in order to raise what they call a 'genderless' child. Storm will be raised as neither a boy nor girl and will choose a sex when he or she grows up.
Kathy Witterick and David Stocker have only revealed Storm’s gender to close members of the family, including their two young sons, one friend and the midwives who delivered the child.
After Storm was born on New Year’s Day, the parents sent out an email to the rest of their friends and loved ones, writing: “We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex - a tribute to choice in a place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime ( a more progressive place?...).”
The couple told the Toronto Star about the flood of unsupportive comments they have received. Friends expressed their fears of how Storm’s genderless nature would make the child vulnerable to bullying in the future. Another concern was that they thought the couple were actually taking away the newborn’s right to choice, by forcing their own ideology on the tot.
Defending their decision, Kathy said, “With the baby, even the people who love the most and know you intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘“Is it a girl or a boy?”’ David added, “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.’
Kathy and David feel strongly about releasing their children from the constraints that society poses on males and females and want them to make their own decisions about how they act and look.
Their sons Jazz, five, and Kio, two, have the freedom to dress themselves and decide when they want to cut their hair. Kio’s favourite colour is purple and older sibling Jazz has long hair, he likes pink.
After being mistaken for a girl and home schooled because of how people would, “immediately react with Jazz over his gender” the couple decided to raise Storm genderless.
source
I can see how some people wouldn't agree with this family's approach, but I personally think it's a great idea! And if they're homeschooled, the posibility of bullying is lowered. What I don't like are the REALLY mean comments on this article. There's even some about how these parents shouldn't be ruled fit with this behavior. That's just harsh. Even if you don't agree, it's not like they're hurting their kids!
Idc, I like it. My brother gets a lot of shit from my grandparents about how he likes to play with the same toys my sisters do. It only makes sense! He's got nothing but sisters, two of which are the only people he gets to play with at home, one of which is his TWIN... I mean, so what if he plays with the same dolls and shit as them? They don't say anything about my sister's playing cars with him! Also, they bitch about how my brother needs a haircut because, for some reason, they think boys are supposed to ALWAYS have short short hair. My cousin's hair gets over his ears and they bitch about it until he get his hair cut and my brother's got shoulder length hair because it looks SO good (he's blonde so it looks soooo cute).
And besides, the baby in that story will be old enough to say 'I'm a girl' or "I'm a boy" before a child really takes on either a masculine or feminine appearance anyways, so what does it really matter what gender a little kid is?
If more people were like this the trend of 'girly things' and 'boyish' things wouldn't be so split. And I know, I refer to things as 'girly' all the time, but it's only because I need to describe something based on the current gender-defined idea of things. I've always liked 'boyish' things and wore 'boyish' clothes and I used to get shit for it. I didnt CARE but most kids weren't like me. They got upset when people said mean things about what they did or wore or liked. Even now, my mom likes my current haircut because before I got the back stacked and angled layers down to the front, I had just razorcut hair about chin length and my mom would always point out guys with the same haircut. She didn't mean it in a mean way and I didnt REALLY care, but it's still giving a HAIRCUT a gender... which is just ridiculous really... its HAIR, you know?
Okay, I got ranty, but the point is, I like this couple's idea. It's really neat!
A Canadian couple has decided to keep the gender of their baby a secret in order to provide it with 'more choice'.
For most of us, as soon as a pregnancy is announced, the gender guessing game begins. And while some like to keep the sex of their baby a secret until the child is born, one couple has taken a decidedly different approach on revealing the sex of their offspring.
A Canadian couple from Toronto have decided to keep the gender of their four-month-old baby a secret in order to raise what they call a 'genderless' child. Storm will be raised as neither a boy nor girl and will choose a sex when he or she grows up.
Kathy Witterick and David Stocker have only revealed Storm’s gender to close members of the family, including their two young sons, one friend and the midwives who delivered the child.
After Storm was born on New Year’s Day, the parents sent out an email to the rest of their friends and loved ones, writing: “We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex - a tribute to choice in a place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime ( a more progressive place?...).”
The couple told the Toronto Star about the flood of unsupportive comments they have received. Friends expressed their fears of how Storm’s genderless nature would make the child vulnerable to bullying in the future. Another concern was that they thought the couple were actually taking away the newborn’s right to choice, by forcing their own ideology on the tot.
Defending their decision, Kathy said, “With the baby, even the people who love the most and know you intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘“Is it a girl or a boy?”’ David added, “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.’
Kathy and David feel strongly about releasing their children from the constraints that society poses on males and females and want them to make their own decisions about how they act and look.
Their sons Jazz, five, and Kio, two, have the freedom to dress themselves and decide when they want to cut their hair. Kio’s favourite colour is purple and older sibling Jazz has long hair, he likes pink.
After being mistaken for a girl and home schooled because of how people would, “immediately react with Jazz over his gender” the couple decided to raise Storm genderless.
source
I can see how some people wouldn't agree with this family's approach, but I personally think it's a great idea! And if they're homeschooled, the posibility of bullying is lowered. What I don't like are the REALLY mean comments on this article. There's even some about how these parents shouldn't be ruled fit with this behavior. That's just harsh. Even if you don't agree, it's not like they're hurting their kids!
Idc, I like it. My brother gets a lot of shit from my grandparents about how he likes to play with the same toys my sisters do. It only makes sense! He's got nothing but sisters, two of which are the only people he gets to play with at home, one of which is his TWIN... I mean, so what if he plays with the same dolls and shit as them? They don't say anything about my sister's playing cars with him! Also, they bitch about how my brother needs a haircut because, for some reason, they think boys are supposed to ALWAYS have short short hair. My cousin's hair gets over his ears and they bitch about it until he get his hair cut and my brother's got shoulder length hair because it looks SO good (he's blonde so it looks soooo cute).
And besides, the baby in that story will be old enough to say 'I'm a girl' or "I'm a boy" before a child really takes on either a masculine or feminine appearance anyways, so what does it really matter what gender a little kid is?
If more people were like this the trend of 'girly things' and 'boyish' things wouldn't be so split. And I know, I refer to things as 'girly' all the time, but it's only because I need to describe something based on the current gender-defined idea of things. I've always liked 'boyish' things and wore 'boyish' clothes and I used to get shit for it. I didnt CARE but most kids weren't like me. They got upset when people said mean things about what they did or wore or liked. Even now, my mom likes my current haircut because before I got the back stacked and angled layers down to the front, I had just razorcut hair about chin length and my mom would always point out guys with the same haircut. She didn't mean it in a mean way and I didnt REALLY care, but it's still giving a HAIRCUT a gender... which is just ridiculous really... its HAIR, you know?
Okay, I got ranty, but the point is, I like this couple's idea. It's really neat!