I post on Fridays and usually I have a good idea of what I want to say long before the day approaches. This week the blog had an interesting week. My sister (as most of you know) blogged about Barry Manilow and the concert that was cancelled. My goodness, the responses were amazing! Barry is one lucky man, he has some of the most devoted fan(addicts) ever. They are very loyal. I also learned a lot about Manilow too. I learned he has a show in Vegas, and has a new cd coming out called 15 Minutes being sold on QVC. I learned he has a manager named Garry (sp?) and a personal assistant named Marc. It was an interesting education for me. Our little blog had over 1000 hits this week.
That being said, I am not going to post about Barry. Instead, I want to write about a shocking thing. I was flipping channels on the t.v. and paused for a moment to hear Chelsea Handler’s monologue—and was astonished to hear her say something I agreed with.
She was referring to the Canadian couple that is planning to raise their youngest child ‘genderless’. She stated that she thought it was crazy! And I found myself agreeing with her. In the interest of fairness, I decided to google this story and read more about it.
I read about how Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, want to raise their child free of the constraints of gender stereotypes. I read that baby Storm has two older brothers Jazz and Kio. I know baby Storm was born in a birthing pool and will most likely be ‘unschooled’ (similiar to home schooling but guided solely by the child’s curiosity). I learned the family co-sleeps. I learned that Jazz and Kio are allowed to choose their own hair styles and clothing. Jazz often chooses pink clothing from the girls department.
I also learned that there is another family in Sweden doing the same thing with their young child, Pop. I learned everyone has an opinion, and tons of people are freaking out about this. However, since this is my blog I get to give my opinion.
Those people are nuts. Gender is physically determined. Physically and genetically a person is a male or a female. That is Anatomy 101. Almost all of nature has male and female. And while Kathy and David are striving to be so liberal, they are already teaching their children gender stereotypes. Mom Kathy is, by her own description, a “stay at home” mom, while Dad is the breadwinner. Mom Kathy has a trendy hairstyle and both parents wear gender typical clothing. The dad does not run around in a dress. 
Basically my point is that by trying to hard too create a gender free environment, the entire focus of these children’s childhood is going to be on gender. Why else would 5 year old Jazz have a notebook that reads ‘The Gender Explorer”. In purple and pink lettering, adorned with butterflies, it reads: “Help girls do boy things. Help boys do girl things. Let your kid be whoever they are!” Jazz did not come up with that from his own curiosity. I have three boys–their curiosity has been all about bugs, fire, bodily functions and dinosaurs. I gave them dolls and they did not cuddle and kiss them, they made the dolls fly, used them as swords, or dinosaur victims.
I understand that Kathy and David read X: A Fabulous Child’s Story Louis Gould and that it is part of the reason behind the social experiment. I read it too, so I could try and see where they were coming from. One GIANT problem , it is fiction NOT real life. These parents are making a life changing decision for their children based on a fictional story with a happily ever after ending! News flash—Happily ever after is not always real life.
Storm is either a boy or a girl–regardless of apparel, job, or interests. Just like Mom Kathy is a woman/female/girl and Dad David is a dad/male/boy. Not giving your child any gender identity is, in my opinion, irresponsible parenting.
