A genderless baby....

[Deleted]

www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

Parents keep child's gender secret
May 21, 2011

“So it’s a boy, right?” a neighbour calls out as Kathy Witterick walks by, her four month old baby, Storm, strapped to her chest in a carrier.


Each week the woman asks the same question about the baby with the squishy cheeks and feathery blond hair.

Witterick smiles, opens her arms wide, comments on the sunny spring day, and keeps walking.

She’s used to it. The neighbours know Witterick and her husband, David Stocker, are raising a genderless baby. But they don’t pretend to understand it.

While there’s nothing ambiguous about Storm’s genitalia, they aren’t telling anyone whether their third child is a boy or a girl.

The only people who know are Storm’s brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby in a birthing pool at their Toronto home on New Year’s Day.

“When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table.

“If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs,” says Stocker.

~~MORE~~

Now THAT's liberal....

[chiver78]

I remember reading something like this back in school - baby X. I can't remember whether it was a case study, or what. I hope there are follow-up stories to see how Storm is doing as childhood progresses. I wonder if adults and other children will attempt to force a gender identity on the poor kid, and whether that gender will be whatever Storm presents on his or her own. I wonder if the older brothers will be able to keep the secret, too.

thanks for posting this, Krickitt.

ETA: now that I'm actually reading the full link, I see that I read a published full book.

oh, and I'm with Molly - this family sounds a little out there overall. I'll guess that any issues their kids might have as adults won't have anything to do with whether their parents outed the gender of their 3rd child. wow....

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

. . o O ("unschooling?")

Interesting Canadians. Hmmm....

[Deleted]

I chose not to experiment on my kids... 3 boys, 2 girls, all raised as such.... guess I am lucky they all turned out well adjusted....

[marshabar1]

Girl brains and boy brains. . .

www.cerebromente.org.br/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html

[thyme4change]

How can you spot tomorrow's freaks? Alex, I will take "Weird people for $400"

Actually, I suspect that at least one of these children will grow up super-straight-laced / buttoned up type, and will have nothing in common with his/her/X parents. But, the other two will probably be involved in more open and free thinking - like artists or meth addicts.

[thyme4change]

So, will this genderless baby be able to marry anyone it wants? Or, will it be allowed to marry no one?

[Deleted]

Meth addicts!!!!!

[marshabar1]

[thyme4change]

ROFL

[marshabar1]

or can of worms or something. . .

[Deleted]

WHY are they doing that to beautiful baby girl Shiloh???

[thyme4change]

If Angelina's kids DO NOT turn out to be freaks, I will be shocked!

[marshabar1]

Adultification and Sexualization of Girls in French Vogue
by Lisa Wade, Jan 8, 2011, at 10:17 am

Eight readers — Christine B., Hermes, Yvette, Hope H., Tyler D., Pris S., John G., and Dmitrity T.M. — alerted us to a photo spread in the December issue of French Vogue. The series of photographs is another piece of evidence of the adultification of young girls, an adultification that looks suspiciously like child porn, given the sexualization of adult women. New York Magazine reports that the girls are 6 years old. Don’t miss the lipstick, high heels, and disinterested pouts.

The thing is: the adultification/sexualization of young girls is paralleled by a infantilization of adult women. This adds up to a conflation of women and children which serves to uphold prejudice against adult women and the exploitation of girls.

thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/01/08/adultification-and-sexualization-of-girls-in-french-vogue/


World's going crazy.

[ed1066]

This is like a bad parody of loony liberals...

[Deleted]

That's hideous! So, is it either turn them out like hookers or raise them as boys?? Whatever happened to just being little boys and girls?

[thyme4change]

Marsha - are you sure those are 6 year old girls? Maybe they are pictures of Jazz, and then it is okay, because he picked out those heels himself.

[Deleted]

How are we to know, thyme, in the new, genderless society?

[chiver78]

May 23, 2011 18:09:42 GMT -5 @ed1066 said:

This is like a bad parody of loony liberals...

loony liberals that recognize the word in the background? cadeaux means "gifts" - you know, like those accepted by those conservative pedophiles.

[marshabar1]

Roman Polanski is conservative?

[ed1066]

The ACLU lawyers who defended NAMBLA are conservative?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

It really is hard to tell the difference between liberal kooks, and just plain kooks, isn't it?

[Opti]

May 23, 2011 21:54:38 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

I ran into something like this with a friend's nephew. The boy's mom hates men and the lad seemed to do everything he could to make himself into a girl. I remember visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and attempting to have him take a look at the exhibit on superheros or the one on cars, but he only wanted to see the costume institute (women's dresses). I felt like the biggest butch ever since I had more interest in these subjects than him (and I am a straight woman).

It certainly was one of the freakier experiences of my life. A boy who does not like superheroes?

I feel bad for the kid as he's probably acting against at least part of who he is to maintain his mother's love. On the other hand, for a boy to not like superheros IMO would just be an aspect of his personality. I think what is being done in the OP is misguided and will not help the child but I do wish people could be who they are
and not need to fit into stereotypes of what is masculine and what is feminine.

I love cars and didn't see it affecting my straight femaleness in any way. Can't imagine feeling butch without actually preferring women to men.

[marshabar1]

After Storm’s birth, the couple sent an email to family and friends: “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 sons, Jazz, five, and Kio, two, are encouraged to make their own decisions. The boys, who like to have long hair and wear dresses, are often mistaken for girls.

They are “unschooled” – a movement of homeschooling which allows children to plan their own days without tests or homework.

The couple decided to bring up Storm without a gender after Jazz suffered an “intense” time over people’s reaction to his appearance.

Their decision was reinforced after Mr Stocker read the 1978 book X: A Fabulous Child’s Story about a child with no gender who rises above bullying.

www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/05/24/toronto-parents-raise-genderless-baby/

[Deleted]

I've always been kind of "butch." Has kept me alive for a long time when being a foo-foo girl would have sunk me. But I'm glad my Mom raised me as a girl. Life is weird enough without being given a CHOICE as a small child to be either a boy or a girl. I don't know the stats, but I would imagine they are very high favoring people, straight or gay, that are totally secure in their gender. Why mess with little kids just in case they are 1 of that 3% or so (?) that may have gender issues?? Not near worth it. Kids are not social experiments. I think we have enough messed up people as it is.

[Mkitty is pro kitty]

The people in the "List of Republican Pedophiles" are conservative?
911review.org/Alex/Republican_Pedophiles.html

and don't forget:

"POLL FINDS EIGHTY PERCENT OF SERIAL KILLERS VOTE REPUBLICAN"
scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Politics/pages-3/Poll-finds-eighty-percent-of-serial-killers-vote-Republican-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html

The ACLU lawyers who defended NAMBLA are conservative?

People who defend someone else are guilty of that crime?

It really is hard to tell the difference between liberal kooks, and just plain kooks, isn't it?

Liberal kook = fringe

Konservative kook = mainstream success

[Cookies Galore]

Solved! Baby Storm is a girl, named after the X-Men character.

[swamp]

May 24, 2011 12:25:50 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Solved! Baby Storm is a girl, named after the X-Men character.

I dunno about that, I went to HS with a guy named Storm.

Freaks are freaks, no matter what their political persuasion.

[Opti]

Oh no, I'm in Meghan's head. That was my first thought when I saw the name. ;D

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I feel sorry for this kid.