So I'm driving my buddy home, wait, so I'd already done that, and I'm driving back up that hill in the rain, and just as the Beastie Boys are doing the opening bit to "Intergalactic" (Intergalactic/Planetary-Planetary/Intergalactic- dunununuu) and a bolt of lightning forks down, bisecting the night sky. It was sweet.
An article I read in this weekends Toronto Star told the story of Storm, a baby with a purposefully undisclosed gender, and Storm's family- two loving parents, 5 year old brother Jazz, and 2 year old bro Kio.
I wish I hadn't read about this in the Star like it was "big news" for people to either like or dislike immediately. I'd rather have seen this in some obscure psychology journal framed as the social experiment it is.
I like that people assume this is a terrible idea or a great idea... how about we see where it goes? Like, give it twenty years, and see how the kids are doing then?
But I am irked by the parents pointing at their eldest son, again, who is 5, with his pink accessories, long braided hair, and little self written book about gender, and saying, "see? This is how REAL children are when we don't apply our preconcieved notions of gender on them."
Nope. No. Really? Don't pretend you aren't instilling your own values in your kids. You have definitely not taken the nurture out of "nature and nurture", whatever you may think.
As the great Homer once said- "kids are great, Apu, you can teach them to hate the the things you hate!"
It's a shame that Jazz ALREADY (again, at 5!) doesn't want to go to school to avoid getting made fun of by the other kids. That's pretty crazy.
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In ten years, Storm will pick up a Nintendo system, and be faced with a very awkward question from a Pokemon professor. I hope (s)he is able to get past that point.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting article. I heard a bit about it on the radio, but not much. It would be absolutely impossible to project preconceived notions about gender onto children. The only possible way I can see that would avoid this would be to have your child raised by wolves or something.
It is a shame that at 5 years old this kid is being made fun of at school. Though that does show you how early family and TV establish gender appearance norms. I also have to wonder if at 5 Jazz really, on his own, picked pink accessories and to have his hair long and braided or if there was pressure by his parents to be gender neutral, which is probably just as bad as pressure to be a boy or a girl.
Pressure to be gender neutral- yes, that was my point, pressure is still pressure.
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what's worse? According to that article, Jazz was getting made fun of at like a park or something- he doesn't actually go to school! And already doesn't want to go!