But the couple have finally revealed his sex after it became harder to conceal when Sasha started primary school. Miss Laxton, a web editor, said that she thought gender stereotyping was "fundamentally stupid". "I wanted to avoid all that stereotyping," she said. Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes? It's like horoscopes: what could be stupider than thinking there are 12 types of personality that depend on when you were born? It's so idiotic. Gender affects what children wear and what they can play with, and that shapes the kind of person they become."
Photo from SWNS.
She admitted that their stance had led them to suffering some ostracisation and she had been branded a "loony" by other parents. But she felt it was worth it. "I discovered later that I'd been described as 'that loony woman who doesn't know whether her baby is a boy or a girl', she said. "And I could never persuade anyone in the group to come around for coffee. They just thought I was mental. I don't think I'd do it if I thought it was going to make him unhappy, but at the moment he's not really bothered either way. We haven't had any difficult scenarios yet."
The family, from in Sawston, Cambs., were so desperate not to prejudice Sasha's life with gender they didn't ask midwives his sex until 30 minutes after he was born. Only a handful of immediate family members were told of the baby's gender. Finally the secret got too hard to keep and Beck and Kieran were forced to reveal Sasha's sex when he started school. Sasha wears a "ruched-sleeved" girl's shirt as part of his school uniform, and has been banned from sporting combat trousers. The youngster is also encouraged to wear flowery tops at weekends.
11 comments:
They wouldn't like it when one fine day their child went home to ask, 'Just what am I?' or 'Why did you let me wear a skirt to school and tell me it's ok?'
..or when he comes home with his first "boyfriend"
Why is he "encouraged to wear flowery tops at weekends"?
I've never given birth, but it struck me as odd that anyone would have to ask a midwife if your own child was a boy or girl 30 minutes after birth. Shouldn't you see or hold your own child before that much time passed?
Wow. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have kids. There is nothing wrong with his gender.
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So... they damage their child to fulfill their personal expectations. Then they wonder why the child has issues. Talk about selfish. Where are the child's rights? Experimenting on humans much less children is pure stupidity or evil.
@Anon And traditional gender roles have nothing to do with parental expectations, right? You want to talk about the child's rights, how about his right to decide what he likes without society deciding for him? And lots of kids who grow up with typical gender roles end up all kinds of messed up, plus you have no basis for assuming that this kid will have ANY mental health issues. Only time will tell.
@Anon So let's ban people from low socio-economic areas from having babies, or at least make them take a test or get a licence to prove they can look after kids. Better yet, let's forcibly neuter all children all children, all over the world, at birth, no matter where they're from, and only change it back if we think they might be able to have kids "without issues"... Whatever that means. Man, I could go on with this line of thought for a long time!
Today I learned that respecting your child's right to privacy by not handing out their personal information is somehow considered child abuse.
Also, people can't bother to research to find out that the child new what their gender was... and the parent was just refusing to let everyone get all voyeuristic about her kid.
Children can be cruel little beasts and I assume the other boys in his school will make his life a little hard as he gets older. Yes it is wrong and I am sure they will be told not to do so, but this little child is in for a rough time. Should it matter if the child is a boy or girl - no. In the grand scheme of things does it matter - no, but wow that is a tough call to subject your child to that so you can feel good about not gender typing someone.
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