Subhead: When PC Meets Utopians
Dear mother and father:
Welcome to parenthood. Here on planet Earth, we don physical bodies. Those bodies have genders. Some are male, some are female. Both serve their purposes; there is nothing wrong with either — unless you make it so. Bless your poor child. We suggest that you begin saving for his/her therapy now because he/she will need it.
Signed, a higher intelligence
+ +
Some stories stand the test of time. Quite possibly you’ve already read this; it’s been all over the news and Net. Here’s one published in May. Be advised: No gifts in blue or pink.
Ever since the 1970s when Marlo Thomas and Friends introduced the idea of raising gender neutral kids in the Free to Be…You and Me record, parents have encouraged their boys to play with dolls and their girls to build with block
A Toronto couple is taking this concept to a more controversial extreme by keeping the gender of their 4-month-old baby a secret. They have no plans to reveal whether their child named Storm is a boy or a girl. They say it will be up to Storm to deliver the news when he (or she) is old enough and ready.
The parents, Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, hope to raise their child in a world that’s “unconstrained by social norms about males and females,” according to the Toronto Star. They want their child to freely grow into his (or her) own person and to find his (or her) true self unhindered by gender stereotypes.
Only a handful of people know whether baby Storm is a boy or a girl: the parents, of course; Storm’s brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2; a close family friend; and the two midwives who delivered Storm at home in a birthing tub.
You might assume Storm’s appearance would give the gender away but photographs posted on the Toronto Star depict a blonde-haired baby that looks no more like a boy than like a girl–there’s really no way of telling. The parents mix up the pronouns they use when referring to their child. They dress Storm in pink one day and blue the next, and often the baby is wearing gender-neutral colors like red. What’s more, Storm’s longhaired brothers are often wearing more girlish colors and they’re mistaken for females.
The parents alerted friends and family of their idea to keep Storm’s gender under wraps in an email: “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? …).”
Their announcement was met with mixed reactions. The grandparents were slow to warm up to the idea. Many friends were supportive but a few were confused, even angered. Some feared that Storm would grow into a child who’s bullied by peers.
Reactions in the Internet world have been equally conflicted. Some criticize the parents for treating their child like a lab rat and others applaud their efforts to fight against societal pressures. Many point out studies indicating that male and girl behaviors are influenced by prenatal development, not only by societal pressures. They say boys will go after toys that are stereotypically male even if you push dolls on them.
Over at BabyCenter one reader chimes in: “I see this backfiring in the future when the kid is confused as hell going through puberty and the social outcast throughout their life.
“You can have a girl and let her play with doll and truck and roll in the mud and not pressure her to ‘act’ like a girl. And little boys can enjoy playing dress up and playing with dolls too. We are given our gender for a reason and if we were meant to be neutral we’d all be hermaphrodites.”
Barefoot Blogger 
Oct 01, 2011 @ 18:21:46
Maybe the baby will just be part of the green revolution – no pink or blue.
Oct 01, 2011 @ 19:16:35
I read about this poor child several weeks ago. I think this is horrible what they are doing to that baby. That child will always be confused. The world is hard and confusing enough!
Oct 02, 2011 @ 12:26:43
@lexiemom – Fortunately the world’s designed not to go along with this idiotic plan by parents who have no business parenting. No preschool is gonna accept a child where the parents’ “decline to answer” is checked on the M or F enrollment papers. Their plan is rife with failure and fast. Sad part is, they’ll still do damage to their child by instilling their values and beliefs. The kid’s screwed and should be in therapy at around age 8!!!
Oct 02, 2011 @ 02:38:53
I hope they are saving for the therapy already. That poor child. Why inflict their social experiment on a defenceless child? We had two girls and a boy and they all played with the same toys. I soon realised that they had their own preference, and it was most certainly along gender lines, though they still enjoyed the other gender toys. No doubt the child will figure it out – for one thing he/she will know if he/she had the same genitalia as the two brothers in a year or two. I would be really angry with my parents for using me as a guinea pig and trying to manipulate me to suit their needs, not mine. Flakes.
Oct 02, 2011 @ 12:22:37
@FD – Some people should not be parents. Case in point. This has trouble, insanity and failure written all over it! Quick example: What’s gonna happen when this “sexless” child enters preschool and s/he announces s/he has to go pee-pee and the teacher needs to direct him/her to the right bathroom? What’s the teacher supposed to do or say? ?Are you a boy or girl?” Child: “My parents told me not to tell you.”
Stupid stupid stupid and more stupid!