• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Parents keep child’s gender under wraps

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dali said:
That's not them... Ohyou.gif


q7tWB.jpg
Click to expand...


Which one is the mom? Which one is the dad?
 
Dali said:
Is... is that them? Why is there a sudden rage welling up inside me? No, seriously... why does something that moments ago seemed only mildly retarded suddenly get elevated to two attention whores going full-retard?

edit:

That's not them... Ohyou.gif


q7tWB.jpg
Click to expand...

They're from Toronto, that explains everything.
 
Orayn said:
I understand the argument, but a kid figuring out their own identity seems like one decision that parents really shouldn't have control over. I mean, if they can't choose that for themself, what's left?
Click to expand...
The problem I see is that the kids may not even be aware of the cues our society uses to define gender identity, as evidenced by this anecdote.

But Stocker and Witterick's choices haven't always made life easy for their kids. Though Jazz likes dressing as a girl, he doesn't seem to want to be mistaken for one. He recently asked his mother to let the leaders of a nature center know that he's a boy. And he chose not to attend a conventional school because of the questions about his gender. Asked whether that upsets him, Jazz nodded.
Click to expand...
So maybe Jazz here has made the choice but lacks the social awareness to effect it. Or he's unaware of the implications his behavior has on how people view his gender. Consciously subverting traditional gender roles is not the same as ignorantly stumbling around them.
 
Cheech said:
Your "skit" reminded me to post this. Heh. Kids will discover their own interests and figure out their own place in the world irrespective of gender, you don't need to make it a game like these parents are doing. Their education, or lack thereof, is the worst part. Talk about starting out with the deck being stacked against you.
Click to expand...

Maybe. But I get just why the parents are trying this out.
 
No... I don't think this is a good idea. I think there are certain standards of normalcy that should be followed just for the sake of fitting in. Certain basic rules that shouldn't be broken just because. Just because there is a certain comfort and order that comes from being normal.

And I don't understand what they're talking about freedom and choice. By doing this to their child, they're forcing that child to be different and weird. The child has no choice in that matter, as far as I can tell. But maybe I just don't know the details.

Edit: Also, I really don't believe in letting young children decide too much on their own in general. That's kind of what my parents did to me... and it didn't work out well. Kids are stupid. Adults have some intellect.
 
"Mommy, Daddy, am I a boy or a girl?"
"Well, what do you feel like?"

This is well intentioned parenting gone horribly awry.
 
I have decided that I will keep my children's heads under wraps.

In fact, all of their skin will be bandaged so no one will be able to know the color of their skin.

They'll wear sunglasses to hide the color of their eyes.

A tuque to hide the color of their hair.

Their voices will be altered to sound like a combination of all existing voices in the world, it will sound a bit like if you turned on a blender in a box full of tissue.

And finally, if anyone asks if I'm their parents, I will say nothing.
 
AbsoluteZero said:
But why can't you be a boy and enjoy your tiaras and fairy wings or be a girl and enjoy your cowboy whatnot? Just because you're given a gender shouldn't limit you one way or the other. It's just a bit silly is all.
Click to expand...

And it doesn't. My 4 year-old son is fully aware that he is a boy, has a penis and balls, and yet both comes down with fairy wings on out of his sister's dress up chest and loves playing with motorcycles and dinosaurs.

Nothing these parents are doing is letting their kids "discover" themselves - it's just stupid and needs to be called out for what it is.
 
Kosmo said:
"Mommy, Daddy, am I a boy or a girl?"
"Well, what do you feel like?"

This is well intentioned parenting gone horribly awry.
Click to expand...

"A cow! Moo"

Yeah there's your realistic answer too
 
SciencePilot said:
No... I don't think this is a good idea. I think there are certain standards of normalcy that should be followed just for the sake of fitting in. Certain basic rules that shouldn't be broken just because. Just because there is a certain comfort and order that comes from being normal.

And I don't understand what they're talking about freedom and choice. By doing this to their child, they're forcing that child to be different and weird. The child has no choice in that matter, as far as I can tell. But maybe I just don't know the details.
Click to expand...

you're misunderstanding the point they're trying to make. They will place absolutely no gender expectations on their children. The child chooses the clothes, the toys, the games, etc. If one boy wants to play with dolls one day and action figures the next, he's given that choice. But if the boy is teased for having dolls or something and comes to the realization that boys do not wear their hair in pigtails or in the fringe style, then he in kind will start trying to conform to what is "normal" his parents will not get in his way in that case either. They will support their children no matter what.

The thing that worries me though is that there might not be a lot of discipline in the household and the kids might turn out to be overly sensative, or insensitive little crapscallions.
 
lightless_shado said:
you're misunderstanding the point they're trying to make. They will place absolutely no gender expectations on their children. The child chooses the clothes, the toys, the games, etc. If one boy wants to play with dolls one day and action figures the next, he's given that choice. But if the boy is teased for having dolls or something and comes to the realization that boys do not wear their hair in pigtails or in the fringe style, then he in kind will start trying to conform to what is "normal" his parents will not get in his way in that case either. They will support their children no matter what.

The thing that worries me though is that there might not be a lot of discipline in the household and the kids might turn out to be overly sensative, or insensitive little crapscallions.
Click to expand...
They're doing it wrong, though. A toddler cannot decide what is best for him or her. People should be what or who they want to be, but they need to understand the real world, first.

A child cannot understand, and thus needs to be reigned in a little. Reminds me of Big Daddy, when Sandler lets the kid dress how he wants, so he puts on random clothing, a snorkeler, and huge boots. He eats ketchup packets and cereal all day. It's not practical, and neither is what these parents are doing.
 
lightless_shado said:
you're misunderstanding the point they're trying to make. They will place absolutely no gender expectations on their children. The child chooses the clothes, the toys, the games, etc. If one boy wants to play with dolls one day and action figures the next, he's given that choice. But if the boy is teased for having dolls or something and comes to the realization that boys do not wear their hair in pigtails or in the fringe style, then he in kind will start trying to conform to what is "normal" his parents will not get in his way in that case either. They will support their children no matter what.

The thing that worries me though is that there might not be a lot of discipline in the household and the kids might turn out to be overly sensative, or insensitive little crapscallions.
Click to expand...

That's ridiculous, if the kid doesn't even have a definition of what is male or female to work from, how would he know?

Kids can be extremely cruel, you don't let your kids learn that way. As a parent you have a responsibility to protect your kid so he or she can get along adequately with other kids.
 
MalboroRed said:
That's ridiculous, if the kid doesn't even have a definition of what is male or female to work from, how would he know?

Kids can be extremely cruel, you don't let your kids learn that way. As a parent you have a responsibility to protect your kid so he or she can get along adequately with other kids.
Click to expand...

Well I'm guessing that either the parents will give them some basic knowledge of gender and let them work things out themselves or they'll let them go and let them find out the hard way in school.

Their hearts may be in the right place, but they're definitely going about things in the wrong way and it just comes off as lazy parenting.
 
AbsoluteZero said:
Shouldn't that be something they decide once they reach an age where they understand the world around them a bit more?
Click to expand...

Its not really a choice if at all your birthdays, your presents are all pink clothes + dolls or tshirts + micro machines.

Hell, walk into a toys store, and the entire thing is segregated by sex. Theres the boys section, with action figures, nerf, micromachines, transofrmers etc and the girls section with polly pocket, barbie, disney princess, teddy bears etc.


Thats not right.

Should there be a "human figure" section where GI Joe and Barbie are side by side?
 
MalboroRed said:
That's ridiculous, if the kid doesn't even have a definition of what is male or female to work from, how would he know?

Kids can be extremely cruel, you don't let your kids learn that way. As a parent you have a responsibility to protect your kid so he or she can get along adequately with other kids.
Click to expand...

Fuck other kids, little shits. Doesn't matter much really. If their interests are different from a bunch of the kids, they'll be ostracized no matter what, at least their parents allow them to be who they are at home. That's the best a parent can do really, if the kids are also close minded little assholes at school.
 
No way did the dark haired kid say "Mommy, I want bangs and a braid". My guess is that the mom wanted a girl and this other shit is to subconsciously(or consciously) guide at least one of her boys to trans-genderism.
 
Devolution said:
Fuck other kids, little shits. Doesn't matter much really. If their interests are different from a bunch of the kids, they'll be ostracized no matter what, at least their parents allow them to be who they are at home. That's the best a parent can do really, if the kids are also close minded little assholes at school.
Click to expand...

Yeah but that's reality Devolution, so called tolerance won't ever happen.
 
PrivateWHudson said:
No way did the dark haired kid say "Mommy, I want bangs and a braid". My guess is that the mom wanted a girl and this other shit is to subconsciously(or consciously) guide at least one of her boys to trans-genderism.
Click to expand...
You vaguely had a point up until here.

What the fuck?
 
PrivateWHudson said:
No way did the dark haired kid say "Mommy, I want bangs and a braid". My guess is that the mom wanted a girl and this other shit is to subconsciously(or consciously) guide at least one of her boys to trans-genderism.
Click to expand...

the hell is wrong with you man
 
Jazz — soft-spoken, with a slight frame and curious brown eyes — keeps his hair long, preferring to wear it in three braids, two in the front and one in the back, even though both his parents have close-cropped hair. His favourite colour is pink, although his parents don’t own a piece of pink clothing between them. He loves to paint his fingernails and wears a sparkly pink stud in one ear, despite the fact his parents wear no nail polish or jewelry.

Kio keeps his curly blond hair just below his chin. The 2-year-old loves purple, although he’s happiest in any kind of pyjama pants.

“As a result, Jazz and now Kio are almost exclusively assumed to be girls,” says Stocker, adding he and Witterick don’t out them. It’s the boys’ choice whether they want to offer a correction.

On a recent trip to High Park, Jazz, wearing pink shorts, patterned pink socks and brightly coloured elastics on his braids, runs and skips across the street.

“That’s a princess!” says a smiling crossing guard, ushering the little boy along. “And that’s a princess, too,” she says again, pointing at Kio with her big red sign.

Jazz doesn’t mind. One of his favourite books is 10,000 Dresses, the story of a boy who loves to dress up. But he doesn’t like being called a girl. Recently, he asked his mom to write a note on his application to the High Park Nature Centre because he likes the group leaders and wants them to know he’s a boy.

Jazz was old enough for school last September, but chose to stay home. “When we would go and visit programs, people — children and adults — would immediately react with Jazz over his gender,” says Witterick, adding the conversation would gravitate to his choice of pink or his hairstyle.

That’s mostly why he doesn’t want to go to school. When asked if it upsets him, he nods, but doesn’t say more.

Instead he grabs a handmade portfolio filled with his drawings and poems. In its pages is a booklet written under his pseudonym, the “Gender Explorer.” In purple and pink lettering, adorned with butterflies, it reads: “Help girls do boy things. Help boys do girl things. Let your kid be whoever they are!”
Click to expand...
http://www.thestar.com/article/995112

PrivateWHudson said:
No way did the dark haired kid say "Mommy, I want bangs and a braid". My guess is that the mom wanted a girl and this other shit is to subconsciously(or consciously) guide at least one of her boys to trans-genderism.
Click to expand...
I think you had a point until the random bit at the end of your post.
 
lightless_shado said:
the hell is wrong with you man
Click to expand...

Heh. He is more than likely way the fuck off, but I wouldn't past any person to do sick shit like what he said.

To clarify, I'm not calling transgenders sick, but rather the act of forcing someone down a specific path to a gender through mental and physical manipulation.
 
I get the rationale, but it strikes me as an insanely silly experiment that ultimately says more about the parents than it does provide the child with any tangible benefit. A person will come to their natural gender irrespective of how they were raised, else there would be no transgender/transexual people in the first place. But there are tangible differences between men and women, and plugging your ears and refusing to recognize that in order to make some grandiose point about social conditioning just makes you look like somebody unwilling to interface with reality.
 
kinggroin said:
Heh. He is more than likely way the fuck off, but I wouldn't past any person to do sick shit like what he said.

To clarify, I'm not calling transgenders sick, but rather the act of forcing someone down a specific path to a gender through mental and physical manipulation.
Click to expand...

If that were the case then in previous decades people would dress up their third daughter like a boy so that she can bring success to the family while posing as a man. That didn't happen and nobody would go through the trouble of trying to groom a child so that they have a desire to turn into another gender.

I'm pretty sure that there have even been scientific studies done that show that physically transgendered individuals have something within them that compels them to want to be another gender. If you give your boy a doll he'll pretend its a gun. The emotional and financial investment is too much for any parent.
 
Crewnh said:
storm_rightsize.jpg


http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelo...ookout/parents-keep-childs-gender-under-wraps

There was a thread on two Swedish parents who did this and the same book came up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is fucking stupid, and the parents sound fucked up. Why are they even admitting its a human being, how dare they make that choice for the baby? Maybe it wants to be another lifeform? Or maybe they shouldn't talk to him/her, cause theyd then be imposing a language? Its either a male or a female, a boy or a girl, there's limits to this 'freedom of choice' shit. It has a penis or it doesn't.
 
lightless_shado said:
If that were the case then in previous decades people would dress up their third daughter like a boy so that she can bring success to the family while posing as a man. That didn't happen and nobody would go through the trouble of trying to groom a child so that they have a desire to turn into another gender.

I'm pretty sure that there have even been scientific studies done that show that physically transgendered individuals have something within them that compels them to want to be another gender. If you give your boy a doll he'll pretend its a gun. The emotional and financial investment is too much for any parent.
Click to expand...

You have way more faith in humanity than I do.
 
If you care so much about your kid not being judged by anything other than what they are, maybe you should give them a less ridiculous name than Storm.
 
Paradoxal_Utopia said:
Yeah, this is fucking stupid, and the parents sound fucked up. Why are they even admitting its a human being, how dare they make that choice for the baby? Maybe it wants to be another lifeform? Or maybe they shouldn't talk to him/her, cause theyd then be imposing a language? Its either a male or a female, a boy or a girl, there's limits to this 'freedom of choice' shit. It has a penis or it doesn't.
Click to expand...


Or both?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

UK lawmakers approve lifetime smoking ban for today's under-18s
News  2 3
108
591
JonSnowball replied
Gender wars: app edition
Drama  2 3
125
5K
lughnasadh123 replied
Spotify Wrapped 2025
4
322
kruis replied
Report: Amazon worker drops dead in warehouse. Employees instructed to keep working and ignore the body.
2
52
426
EverydayBeast replied
  • Locked
YouTuber "Mr. Crafty Pants" arrested over Child Porn
10
610
kevboard replied
Top Bottom