What is the reasoning behind the new fad to raise children "gender neutral?"

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   insidiousglamourposted 12 years ago

   What is the reasoning behind the new fad to raise children "gender neutral?"
   
   The notion of gender neutrality seems as ridiculous to me as the notion of being color-blind in regards to race. There are physiological and biological characteristics that differentiate male and female. What is the point in trying to erase these through culture? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9028479 … yping.html
   
   

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2. 68

   cloverleaffarmposted 12 years ago

   I didn't realize it was it was a new fad. I was doing it in the 80's while raising my boys.
   I was doing it so that they would be ready for the real world. I taught them how to cook, clean, sew and other "domestic" chores. My friend was horrified when I bought my son a kitchen play set when he was about 4. I was like "he's going to have eat when he gets older isn't he". To this day, their girls/wives are happy that they know how to be domestic.
   I also see no reason why girls can't play with boys toys and visa versa. I did when I was a kid. There was one toy box for me and my two brothers, and it was a free for all.
   There will always be some gender traits that still are there from genetics, but I don't think society has to put more on them.

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3. 73

   lburmasterposted 12 years ago

   The idea is to take down all of the lines or rules making them separate. Why, I don't know. Honestly, I think the idea is pretty foolish since we have lasted this far. Guys like feeling in charge and women like having someone to blame. So I don't see the point in creating a neutral.
   There are a few couples who have brought their children up as neutral so their children can choose to be whatever they want to be. Their kids used mixed bathrooms, neutral colored rooms and clothes. No dolls or toy trucks. Etc.

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   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   I think the one couple in the news tried it, but I don't think that makes it a fad.  And like you I think it is ridiculous. Men and women, boys and girls are different - that is not to say one is superior over the other but they are different.
   
   I'm not sure I understand your reference to being color-blind with regard to race.  It seems like a completely different type of issue.

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5. 60

   insidiousglamourposted 12 years ago

   What I meant by "color-blind" is that we cannot erase the realities of differences in all peoples. I think the two subjects are related because just as males and females have biological and physiological differences, so do different races of people. This is not to say that one is better than another, but since when is being different a bad thing? Equality to me means that everything has equal intrinsic value but it does not mean that they are all the same. As for it being a "fad," I've only cited one news story here, but there are couples in Canada, Sweden, and Britain who've all made waves recently. This isn't a simple matter of letting boys play with dresses and girls play with fire trucks, these couples are hiding their children's gender from friends and family and attempting to raise them, in my opinion, in the absence of gender. I think that the differences between people should be explored and celebrated, not hidden away.

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