"Gender Neutral" I Mean..Please!

I think it is silly to teach him that he isn't a boy, so to speak. He's going to grow up and not fit into society. I don't care if a little boy plays with barbie dolls but I feel it should be his choice and I think he should grow up knowing how to relate as a normal (hate that words) boy.

sorry if I end up making a similar discussion, the moment I saw these parents on Tv I cant help but to make a discussion about them because they were so crazy. their style of parenting is a form of abuse. Can you imagine how much of a bullky magnet their child will be because of their experimental the way they raise their baby is. The child is human not a guinea pig they can experiment on.

But, the woman is letting the child make it's own decisions, on if they want to be doing things more boy-like or more girl-like. She isn't forcing him to wear girls clothes, or do anything girly, and as of right now, he's pretty easy going, either way. But, when he hits 7 or 8, chances are, he'll find a bit of a thrill with doing things like playing shoot-up kinds of games with his male friends, and he'll start to realize what makes him different from the other gender... The whole point is, this woman isn't telling him, "Men do this and women do that!" She's letting him figure it out. What if this video was of a Dad telling his daughter that she has to prepare to live at home and make babies for life, and to never get a job, but to just find a man to take care of her. Would that be better then this video? I seriously don't get whats so bad about it...

Now I think that is ridiculous. I understand wanting the child to bro up with his own values and ideas. But not making a distinction between being a boy and being a girl is off the hook. He should know he is a boy and should know the differences between them. Otherwise, he will be a very confused child. I agree with you on this one.

What were those parents thinking?! I think they obviously weren't, this is ridiculous. I personally don't think that superiority between males and females is something that exists but knowing the difference between the two is very important. I hope the child can learn to rid himself of the teachings of his parents.

I fall in with your view.Poor child,he is an innocent.I simply can't conceive why the parents didn't get the child performed an operation earlier ,instead kept it to them and a few friends.Did they do so for fear of domestic shame being made public?I don't know if they thought that doing like this should ruin the child's future life.

oh, okay.. but i think it is too much to not let the child know what or where he stands in the society. i think the parents do want him to grow up with out having to be different from any of the kids' gender but then they are overdoing the gender equality because they should be teaching their child to be respectful of others and not to confuse the child as to what he is!

I saw this and thought "how daft." I think that our gender is an essential part of our identity and whilst I don't think that it really matters what clothes we wear or even whether we confirm to one gender or the other; it is important to know who we are. This boy will grow up having a harder time from his peers than most I suspect. Sooner or later s/he will decide what she us and rebel. I am reminded of Philip Larkin's words "they f*** you up your mum and dad" and this couple seem to be working hard at it!

I did not watch the video either as I tohught it was not worth it. While I understand and respect that there are more than just 2 genders, I think that this boy´s parents´beliefs are just nuts. What sort of thing is this "gender neutral"? It is as absurd as people who will not accept there are people who are homosexual. But we cannot forge gernder: nature and genes have their say.

Seriously? I read that and I couldn't believe what I read. I've heard of teaching your child not to be sexist or raisist, but isn't this taking things a little bit too far? He sounds gender-confused, and where are they getting off calling it gender nutural? Thease parents seem to have worped views in teaching their child not to be sexist. Aren't they confused he might get confused. I'm not saying the type of toys he plays is good or bad, but putting him in front of a camera admitting he can't or doesn't think there is a differeance between girls and boys? What happened when he was a baby. Uh can't say I can comment on that, but now he's out there interacting with other people.... Meantal help anyone?

i read a comment left by someone, on this new story (it wasn't mike, before it was removed, was it?) saying that they thought that what it was really about was that the mother, or possibly both parents, wanted a girl, and i think that was very perceptive. its completely wrong, our gender is an important part of our identity. there are issues of men being forced into a narrow definition of what is a man, and even on mylot there have been discussions about whether men can wear pink, to which is of course they can. but gender neutrality is just a bit scary, its perfectly possible to bring a boy up to enjoy things other than boys toys without denying him his gender.

It seems a little odd to withhold information unless the mother had reason for it concerning the welfare of her child. This is perplexing because although I am certainly not an expert I did see a Dr Phil program last year I think where a couple of children had been brought up as the opposite gender. I suspect there is a lot of information on this sort of thing available and supported by some of the medical community. I can understand the simple stereo typing however. I have read that in early times (1700 maybe) pink was the colour for men along with wigs and blue for the ladies. Also I read an article once where a very macho truck driving man on downtime used to knit and sell knitted products as taught to him by his mother. No one dared criticize him for this “feminine activity” fear get a large fist in the face.

Your title caught my eye and I just had to check it out. I thought it was the most absurd thing I've seen in a long time. Every time little Sasha goes to the bathroom its obvious what his gender is. He's obviously being groomed as his parents own personal guinea pig project. He knows enough to answer the question about traditional colors for both boys and girls. If it was truly 'genderless' his parents wouldnt be focusing so hard on proving otherwise. I think giving a child freedom to be themselves is a good thing. My oldest girl loved bugs and frogs, I did not tell her that these were boy things and barbie dolls were girl things, but she could be 'genderless' and get toy frogs and bugs. By their very approach they have created in this little guys mind what a girl thing is and what a boy thing is... talk about mixed messages! Its upsetting to see how he's been trained to answer his parents in the way that they want him to for their approval. I'm with you Janey, this blows the mind...

Though I can understand the message is equal rights but... I guess... but good Lord, they are turning their kid into a confused zombie for their beliefs. This kid will have a hard time adjusting to the world as he grows up and this gender-neutral is some extremist belief that doesn't belong in a child's mind. Teach your children, don't brainwash them. This can NOT be good for his mental development and view in the world. Sadly, I think there's some kind of mental illness at play here as well...

[i]You say biscuit, I say cake. But I do agree that they take it![/i] They may be thinking that they mean well, but I can see a lot of therapy in that kid's (notice that I also was 'neutral' in my referrence to the boy/girl) future. It may sound silly to them now, but I'm sure it's not down the road.

His father said that 'We wanted to challenge gender ­stereotypes'. The son should say this to pa, 'I think that is really silly..' Oh, poor boy~

Both my mom and dad were raised on a farm, my closest friend was a boy across the street so I was accidentally raised gender neutral. It wasn't until Kindergarten I found out it is inappropriate to play with the boys. When told that play time was next and boys were to play with the big blocks and the girls were to play in the room with toy kitchen stuff I didn't want to pretend I was cooking, cleaning and ironing clothes! I went to play with the blocks! I suddenly felt someone grab me from behind and shake me hard! I turned around to find the teacher face to face with me with the look of violence my bipolar mother had for no particular reason at all! I grew up and truly enjoyed the world where being a girl didn't mean having to find a husband and cook and clean for him. I grew up raising and training horse and girls to ride horses. My husband of 30 years loves the fact "I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty". I love the fact I can act like a woman and keep up with a man, even surpassing mens abilities at times. Men have actually become intimidated by me without me even trying to! I've enjoyed a lifelong career in the financial industry dressed like a woman but I love the fact that either gender can open the door, pay the bill, wear pants or pick up a 30lb stack of files.