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Whatever their political proclivities, these parents are only trying to do what they think is best for the child. If conservatives were true to their principles, they wouldn't be standing in judgment and calling for the government to intercede.
Nothing in the linked article suggests that they are trying to raise a gender-less child. What they are trying to do is not have society and culture determine for the child what his or her interests are, what his or her talents are, based solely on gender.
I can well remember when I entered kindergarten. Every day, we altered between "work" time and "play" time. Work time was genderless, we all had to learn our ABC's, we all had to sing Old MacDonald, we all had to practice counting. But play time was ALL about gender roles. Girls were given dolls to play with, encouraged to braid one another's hair, to pretend to go shopping at the grocery store. And boys were encouraged to play with trucks, to build things with blocks and erector sets. The only thing that interested me, fascinated me even, was the abacus. There was a giant abacus in the back of the room. I loved it. I loved sliding the beads, making patterns, counting things out on it. But every time I went to it, the teacher would come over, take me by the hand, hand me a doll and make me sit with the other girls. Something I had no interest in. I hated it. And so the teacher wrote notes home about the "problem".
This is the kind of thing the parents are reacting to. It's not a problem if your little girl isn't interested in dolls. It's not a problem if your little boy is into bling. It's not a problem if she's a tomboy, or if he has a favorite doll. Some of the people posting on this thread make it into a problem because they are rigidly insistent about gender roles. This couple is fostering an environment where such rigidity is absent. It's not about creating a gender-less child. It's about letting a child fully explore his or her own individuality before the teacher starts forcing a child to play with what the teacher thinks is appropriate.
What's so great about "social norms" that we want them to stay the same forever? "Social Norms" dictated that people born identifying with a different gender, or attraction to the same gender, should be stoned to death. Now, at the least, "social norms" cause those people enough misery to want to commit suicide, or they are often assaulted or murdered. I see nothing wrong with wanting to alter or test social norms, and so long as this child is not abused or brainwashed to hate, I have no idea what the fuss is about. If the kid grows up identifying as a male, then the notion that our gender is only reinforced by our upbringing is disproven. If not, then it isn't. It's not an experiment on the kid, it's a reflection of society.
Sorry, but I don't equate what I'm reading in this article with abuse. And anyone who does has never seen child abuse. And your connection between this gender-identification philosophy and Welfare is tenuous at best, but mostly downright laughable. You think anyone who is not forced to follow gender roles will end up homeless? Do you have any, for example, idea how much more money homosexuals make than straight people, on average?
What do STDs and unplanned pregnancies have to do with anything we're talking about?
LMAO! You're off the rails, entirely. Legislating bedroom morality has virtually no connection with progressive taxation.
Wow. Some REAL stupidity lives (and thrives) on this board.
Maybe I said that wrong, my point was that screwed up kids usually end up as screwed up adults and that can lead to all kinds of problems in society like perpetual welfare cases,
now what kind of issues can arise from raising a gender-less kid and letting the mind of a freaking toddler decide on what gender he/she wants?.. ohh I don't know Gender-Confusion that can appear in Adults or Kids? that have all kinds of problems like
Withdrawal from social interaction and activity.
Feelings of isolation, depression, and anxiety.
Desire to be rid of their own genitals
and that is just a small list of problems and symptoms...You don't think you can seriously risk something like that by leaving up to a toddler decide what he or she would like to be?...
"What's so great about "social norms" that we want them to stay the same forever?"
I didn't say "social norms" was great, I just think its odd they this couple want this "progressive place" so bad that they are willing to "experiment" on their kid...I know liberals would do just about anything to get to their "social justice utopia"
"If not, then it isn't. It's not an experiment on the kid, it's a reflection of society."
“We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now–a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime (a more progressive place? …),”
Now what purpose do "experiments" serve? to get a result of a test....what is this couple testing?....the "world"...what result do they want?...a "more progressive place"...yeah sounds like an experiment to me..
"Do you have any, for example, idea how much more money homosexuals make than straight people, on average?"
Now where did I say people who know what they are end up homeless?...wasn't my point was that those who are severely confused as to what they are end up with all kinds of problems?...If you are straight great, if you are gay great, but what if you simply don't know?...
"LMAO! You're off the rails, entirely. Legislating bedroom morality has virtually no connection with progressive taxation.
Wow. Some REAL stupidity lives (and thrives) on this board"
ohh I get, we are all about freedom to do what we want with our kids, unless its something truly beneficial like passing wealth, giving them a top notch education and the wisdom and experience to be successful, then that's not "fair to everyone else" I usually hear liberals whine....but raising a gender-less kid?...well thats all gravy it seems....the whole progressive taxation is supported by a twisted sense of morality based on "social justice"...it may not be "bedroom morality"....but the sure the hell is "its not fair you got to go a private school and I didn't" morality..
I am willing to say that I didn't explain that as well I should have the first time.....that I should have posted the links and data much earlier, I didn't think so many people would spew out their ignorance like that..
I just finished reading the article and this confirms my belief that liberalism is a mental disorder. Please read the article, it will take less than 2 minutes. These people are a disgrace, and are gonna destroy this childs psyche. Sadly, I'm sure that more than a few Neo Progs here will find this behavior "enlightening" and the epitome of "tolerance."
HOW do you get to "trust fund babies" from the OP???
Do you know what thread you're in???
My point was they you people seem to be all ok with people raising their kids as anyway they see fit (and for the record you are right)....you are ok with gender-less kids and babies, that parents can dress and teach their kids to become whatever they please.....well then I can take it you are you also ok parents giving their kids massive estates and also sending them to the best schools....right?....
you people will no longer whine how "unfair" other peoples lives and upbringing is right?...I mean you people seem to think its ok to be raising genderless kids...well I guess you are ok with raising trust-fund kids...right?
Again, it may be my fault for not explaining it better, I hope that is the case or it could be that typical way of liberal hypocritical thinking, I wouldn't be surprised if it was..
so let me get this straight.. conservative OP is upset that parent's aren't cutting the child's hair a certain way, or throwing blue or pink at them? i don't understand what the fuss is? gender identity is not something anyone can impose upon someone, it just is.. it comes about no matter how much pink or blue you put around a boy or a girl...
Now you tell me does anything in that vid that those kids look healthy and sane?
"he couple’s other two children, Jazz and Kio, haven’t escaped their parents’ unconventional approach to parenting......Though they’re only 5 and 2, they’re allowed to pick out their own clothes in the boys and girls sections of stores and decide whether to cut their hair or let it grow."
Like I said in a previous post if you truly wanted diminish gender roles you would do things like encourage our sons to take up cooking and sewing crafts and our daughters to look into math and engineering...
how the hell does dressing your son in pink and painting his nails, keeping the gender a secret, and letting a toddler make a choice help improve anything?..what purpose does that serve?..how can leaving such decisions to a toddler not leave them confused?...doesn't kids already have a lot of problems to begin with?
Only liberals would think putting a dress on your son is somehow "enlighten" behavior and "freedom"..that you are somehow pushing society forward (the parents did say they would like a " more progressive place" , go figure) ..its just odd and stupid...but what can you expect...liberals..
"Because Jazz and Kio wear pink and have long hair, they’re frequently assumed to be girls, according to Stocker. He said he and Witterick don’t correct people–they leave it to the kids to do it if they want to."
Really?..They are 5 and 2...you are going to let them decide whether they would like to be recognize as boys or girls?...really?...
Its funny that some of you people think that they are tying to give their kids some kind of "freedom" in their up-bringing, how the hell does keeping the gender of your kids a secret and letting them decide what they would want to be known as giving them "freedom"?..they are boy or girl...end of story, we are going to argue against nature itself now?
My point is that how does letting other people know whether you have a son or daughter hinders the development of the kid?...how does simply saying "no that is a boy"...or "I have a son"...somehow restricts the kids "freedom"?
Think about it, you can raise you kid however you please...but don't you find it odd that saying whether or not you have a son or daughter is somehow "restricting" them?...why must the gender of a child remain a secret for them to have this "freedom"?...how do you find it a hindrance to simply say "that is a boy, I have a son"?
DC at the Ridge: " Nothing in the linked article suggests that they are trying to raise a gender-less child. What they are trying to do is not have society and culture determine for the child what his or her interests are, what his or her talents are, based solely on gender."
"Witterick “unschools” all three of her children. It's a fringe style of home schooling based on a no report card, textbook or test philosophy of letting kids explore the world for themselves."
These people are already raising their kids with no regards to society norms, although I am not sure how you can "unschool" someone who has never been to a "school" but whatever....my point is they are already doing what they want without normal standards with their kids....so how can it be said they are doing this so they can remove pressure from "society" when they already go as far as to "unschool" their kids and let their kids decide as to whether they want to be boys or girls?.....my point is they don't care what "society" think, so how can it be said they are doing this as "freedom" from "social limitations" when they don't even care for "social norms" to begin with...why do they care if society know its a boy or girl when they don't care what society thinks..
why keep it a secret? you really think they are protecting the baby by keeping the gender a secret?...you see how twisted that sounds?..but, why should I be surprised?...this isn't the first twisted thing liberals seem to accept...
On a final note how does the kids feel about this?...you know the ones who actually have to deal with this...I know liberals are all into "feeling good" and don't really care for results and consequences...but how does jazz, the 5 year old with the burdens his parents should to be taking care of feel about all this "freedom"?
"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."
So he likes to dress as a girl, but don't want to be mistaken for one?..Yeah, didn't I pretty much state like a million times that this would lead to all kinds of confusion?....I just discovered that about Jazz, so does that make me a "psychic"? ...no....just that common sense would tell you that this could lead to problems...but I know common sense and liberals don't get along too well...
I'm not a doctor (even though “This is not a secret without consequences,” said Mike Brody, a child psychiatrist in Washington, D.C., and instructor at the University of Maryland. “This seems more controlling than the helicopter parents.")....but common sense will tell you that this could cause all kinds of problems for the kids...but I shouldn't be surprise, liberals would discard logic, reason and common sense so they can appear "enlighten" and "smart" in their pursuit for that fable "utopia" of theirs...or "a more progressive place"...
Because then people might treat the child a certain way based upon what gender the child is.
The boys already look like girls and Jazz doesn't want to be mistaken as a a girl, what about what Jazz want, you know the actual kid? they can't tell people he's a boy because they don't want people to treat him like a boy......?
is buying a toy truck because you think "since he is a boy he might like it" is really a "terrible social construct that forces people to conform to gender roles, why did you assume he would like toy trucks?" is real a problem with society?...of all the problems we face, our kids face...is "blue for boys" and "pink for girls" something we should worry about?
and the boys are being mistaken as girls and how do the parents deal with it? by correcting people? no they want their toddler and 5 year old to handle it and seem to not really be bothered with people mistaken theirs boys for girls....are they then ok with their boys being treated as girls?
bottom-line...they don't care what people "think"...
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