It's a boy!

[mudskipper]

Parents kept their child's sex secret for five years to raise him “gender neutral’ - mirror.co.uk

"A couple who have spent five years keeping their child’s sex a secret have finally revealed it’s a boy.

Beck Laxton, 46, and partner Kieran Cooper, 44, decided to hide it from all but their closest relatives and raise him as “gender neutral”.

The couple say they wanted to ensure Sasha was not affected by the pressure of gender stereotypes.

And they only revealed he is a boy because they had to when he started primary school. He now attends lessons wearing a girl’s shirt and boy’s trousers."


Right or wrong? Does it matter what gender a small child is, or should we be treating them all the same?

[Old Greg]

Parents kept their child's sex secret for five years to raise him “gender neutral’ - mirror.co.uk

"A couple who have spent five years keeping their child’s sex a secret have finally revealed it’s a boy.

Beck Laxton, 46, and partner Kieran Cooper, 44, decided to hide it from all but their closest relatives and raise him as “gender neutral”.

The couple say they wanted to ensure Sasha was not affected by the pressure of gender stereotypes.

And they only revealed he is a boy because they had to when he started primary school. He now attends lessons wearing a girl’s shirt and boy’s trousers."


Right or wrong? Does it matter what gender a small child is, or should we be treating them all the same?

I heard the dad on the radio and the story in the press has been exaggerated. But I still found the parents' reasoning odd. They wanted their son to have the opportunity to play with girls' toys and boys' toys, which is fine. But I know plenty of parents with little boys who have dolls, or dresses in their dressing up boxes, without resorting to the extremes that these parents have.

It strikes me that these parents are a parody reflection of dads of little boys who won't let their sons near girls' toys in case they turn out gay, and lets face it - those dads are probably closeted benders anyway.

[northernladuk]

Surely the biggest influence in his life is his parents and how they decide to treat him as he grows up so they are just kidding themselves doing this?

I don't see it makes a difference but seems a tad extreme. He might not be affected by social gender pressures but he will be affected when he grows up in a right mess and drops out the system.

[jmo21]

Ludicrous reasoning, even if exaggerated for the tabloids.

The poor kid is more likely to be negatively affected by them doing this through school, assuming they stay in the same area throughout, he will always be treated as an odd-ball, which is wrong of course, but does not make the parents correct.

[Dearnla]

They just didn't want to buy him a train set until he was old enough to ask for one......

[BrilloPad]

Another quality news thump...

Parents avoid child gender stereotypes by conforming to hippy stereotype