A couple in Canada is raising their child without a gender. Is this a good idea

1. 94

   Lissa Clasonposted 9 years ago

   A couple in Canada is raising their child without a gender. Is this a good idea or a bad one?
   
   Could this help to dissolve gender stereotypes and decrease the emphasis on gender, or will it cause problems for the child socially? Could lacking a gender hurt the child's formation of their own individual identity? Would they be able to keep the child's gender a secret, or would they have to give it up as soon as the child needs to use a public bathroom? Will people be accepting of the child or will they shun him or her for being different?
   
   http://www.thestar.com/life/parent/2011 … ecret.html

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2. 45

   thomasczechposted 9 years ago

   One can not raise a child as if he/she has no gender. Every human has a gender. What this family is doing is extremely dangerous and hurtful. It could harm the child emotionally, socially etc. We are all born Male or Female, nothing one does will change this.
   Genesis 5:2 King James Version (KJV)
   2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

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3. 79

   dashingscorpioposted 9 years ago

   People who look, talk, behave,and think differently usually are shunned. Most of us learn what it takes to "fit in" early on.
   While the parents may strive to raise their child "genderless" the rest of the world is going to put them in a category. Most children also choose to conform to their surrounding peers. They'd rather be "in" the circle than to be "outside" of it.
   Having said that I have wondered myself just how much is "natural" behavioral differences we see in boys and girls versus our parental/societal "gender indoctrination" and expectations. 
   What would happen if some parents home schooled their son and daughter with little influence from the outside world? Suppose they gave the little boy baby dolls to play with, a stroller, a coloring book of flowers, an Easy- Bake Oven to bake cookies and brownies, and a tea set, along with bright colorful clothing, scented soap/candles gifts for birthdays which included. While the daughter was given fire trucks, remote control cars/boats/planes, water pistols, walkie talkies...etc
   Would they automatically want to switch toys because of their gender or would they accept what they have as being "natural".
   Are boys naturally more aggressive and girls naturally more passive? What if we encouraged boys to express their emotions and told girls "Real women don't cry" during their formative years. Would we see a difference? Which has the most bearing on how we turn out: gender or environment? hmmm

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4. 58

   Snøwmanposted 9 years ago

   Everyone has a gender. It's a fact. You can't just hide facts and pretend they don't exist. Especially important ones like gender.

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      Link10103posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      They are trying to avoid raising their child with gender stereotypes. Not trying to just ignore the gender completely.

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5. 83

   bethperryposted 9 years ago

   As attractive as the parents might perceive this idea to be, I think it would suggest to the child that having a gender is an evil and/or shameful thing. For biologically speaking, humankind is (most generally) divided up into the females and the males. Cultural attitudes they can re-evaluate, they can re-design, they can un-teach and they can eliminate entirely from the environment in which they raise their child. But once parents start trying to deny basic physiology, they have ventured from parental privilege into the realm of sci-fi fantasy. Such preoccupation with fantasy simply isn't psychologically healthy for any member of the human species, and it can cause identity issues down the road.

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