Community | May 30, 2011 | 7 comments

Progressives Gone Wild! Bizarro Parents Keep Childs Gender Secret

source: http://www.klup.com/article.aspx?id=92d2517e-7dda-4791-af64-051cd10466ea&catid=0

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congoboy
Ridiculous or ultra-enlightened? A Toronto couple's decision to keep the gender of their 4-month-old baby a secret has touched off a sometimes nasty debate over how far parents should go in protecting young ones from society's boy-girl biases.

Kathy Witterick and David Stocker recently landed on the front page of the Toronto Star, explaining that they hope their third child, Storm, can remain untouched by the connotations of pink versus blue, male versus female, long enough to make up his or her own mind.

The decision has online haters and supporters of the family on hyperdrive. Child development experts, meanwhile, question the impact on the cherubic infant later in life and whether the couple has gone too far in their quest for gender neutrality.

"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."

Soon after the baby was born, in a pool of water at home, Witterick, 38, and Stocker, 39, sent an email announcing to loved ones: "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? ...)."

The couple has been overwhelmed by attention since the story was published last week, telling The Associated Press in an email Friday the idea that "the whole world must know what is between the baby's legs is unhealthy, unsafe and voyeuristic. We know _ and we're keeping it clean, safe, healthy and private (not secret!)." Can a child at a very young age navigate a gender choice for him or herself, as these parents hope? Or is it a case of political correctness gone awry?

"When I read the article it kind of angered me, that I would read something like this about parents doing this kind of social experiment on their own kids," said Stephan Tan, 36, a music school owner and father of four young children in Brampton, Ontario. "What struck me was that the father had made a statement that he found it obnoxious that so many parents make so many choices for their children, but it's plain to see that he himself is making a very extreme choice for his child," Tan said. http://www.klup.com/article.aspx?id=92d2517e-7dda-4791-af64-051cd10466ea&cat...
  1. groups:
    Community
  2. tags:
    Gender Issues,  Gender Roles,  Gender Identity
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7 comments // Progressives Gone Wild! Bizarro Parents Keep Childs Gender Secret

  • curtisreed
    • 0
      curtisreed  

    • I think it borders on child abuse. Who in their right mind thinks that they should avoid "forcing gender" on a child, when we are all BORN with a gender--except for those few who have a sexual abnormality, then it would make sense.

      so if the child is a hermaphrodite, then OK, I agree with the parents. Otherwise...they are just begging to damage the kid's psyche.

    • 12 months ago
  • eden49
    • +1
      eden49  

    • ...first off, it's a boy...(I'm psychic)...apparently all their children are home schooled...I'm all for a bit of progressive thinking, but at some point, this kid will be subjected to the "outside", and this is when the shite will hit the fan in so many ways...

    • 12 months ago
  • congoboy
    • 0
      congoboy  
    • eden49:

      so if youre psychic, what sex am i? but youre right, a little progressive is ok. but the potential here for major psychological experimentation going awry is too risky in my book

    • 12 months ago
  • eden49
  • congoboy
  • congoboy
    • +1
      congoboy  

    • not so bizarre, there are plenty of progressives on here who often have to slip a hand down their pants to be certain of themselves:)

    • 12 months ago
  • curtisreed
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