sucksucksmile (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sucksucksmile) wrote2011-05-29 06:06 pm
sucksucksmile) wrote2011-05-29 06:06 pm
a novel on gender roles
Another update immediately after.
I figured I'd put this in a separate entry.
So I came home from dogsitting and we had the sunday Toronto Star sitting on the table.
This story was in the main news section and immediately caught my eye. I consider gender and sexuality to be one of my main passions in life and I could spend all day and night debating about them if I didn't need to sleep (which I mostly don't)
I found the entire article to be intriguing especially since it was given a place in the A section of the news, which is something that I would never have expected.
Of course, this was before my parents told me all about the baby Storm who is being raised in a gender neutral role and only seven people in the world know which sex Storm is.
But I'll get to that in a second.
For the Gender Debate that the Toronto Star decided to place in the A section of the paper, I found it entirely biased.
There are two short lines which offered the idea that instead of gender being innate, it is pushed onto us through our experiences and that some people believe that the intense gender roles and stereotypes being pushed onto our children and youth from a very early age force children to comply with these structured gender identities that our society has deemed appropriate.
Other than these two small references the entire article is biased to the belief that boys will be boys and girls will be girls.
There are multiple examples of families with their children who happily conform to the gender norms expected of them, girls playing with barbies and polly pockets, boys with trucks and their rough-housing ways.
In all truth, I found it to be interesting and I was glad that they included it despite the bias, but I really feel that it was only included to provide an alternate view to the apparently controversial choices of the parents of baby Storm.
After reading that article, which was from today's paper my mother handed me the article in which the baby Storm was first introduced.
I think that the Star was definitely smart making this their front page story, it would definitely sell papers which it has since the story exploded after it was released to the public.
The baby Storm is being raised as gender neutral in hopes that it will rein in the rampant pressure to conform to gender norms and that it will allow the child, Storm, more freedom and fluidity when it comes to making his or her own decisions regarding gender.
A common misconception is that gender and sex are the same.
In reality, sex refers to which reproductive organs you have (penis or vagina) and gender refers to which you identify with.
For example, I am a female who identifies as a straight woman, ideally I can thrive in the stereotype my society has established for me.
The judgement passed onto children is something I find, personally, appalling.
In the article regarding Storm, it mentioned his or her's two older brothers.
Both who have long hair, one of which loves the colour pink and the other purple, both wear whatever they pick out and choose from the boys and girls departments, whether it be pants or dresses.
Both boys have been mistaken for girls, and when some people find out which sex they actually are they are faced with judgement and criticism.
Our society is smothered by our structured assumed gender roles. We live in a culture that is filled with assumed heterosexuality and intolerance.
If raising a child in a gender neutral role can possibly side step the judgement from adults and the rampant stereotyping for children, then I say all the power to them.
Of course there are negative aspects to this situation, and while I don't know whether it will be successful, raising Storm gender neutral, I hope that it will at the very least provide the child with the choice of being who he or she wants to be.
I also think that the Star absolutely built up the 'other-ness' of the family involved in the Storm story, referencing all the ways that they are far left on the political spectrum. Which I found particularly irritating as it applies a stigma to this family and what is essentially a social and political experiment that they are attempting.
I figured I'd put this in a separate entry.
So I came home from dogsitting and we had the sunday Toronto Star sitting on the table.
This story was in the main news section and immediately caught my eye. I consider gender and sexuality to be one of my main passions in life and I could spend all day and night debating about them if I didn't need to sleep (which I mostly don't)
I found the entire article to be intriguing especially since it was given a place in the A section of the news, which is something that I would never have expected.
Of course, this was before my parents told me all about the baby Storm who is being raised in a gender neutral role and only seven people in the world know which sex Storm is.
But I'll get to that in a second.
For the Gender Debate that the Toronto Star decided to place in the A section of the paper, I found it entirely biased.
There are two short lines which offered the idea that instead of gender being innate, it is pushed onto us through our experiences and that some people believe that the intense gender roles and stereotypes being pushed onto our children and youth from a very early age force children to comply with these structured gender identities that our society has deemed appropriate.
Other than these two small references the entire article is biased to the belief that boys will be boys and girls will be girls.
There are multiple examples of families with their children who happily conform to the gender norms expected of them, girls playing with barbies and polly pockets, boys with trucks and their rough-housing ways.
In all truth, I found it to be interesting and I was glad that they included it despite the bias, but I really feel that it was only included to provide an alternate view to the apparently controversial choices of the parents of baby Storm.
After reading that article, which was from today's paper my mother handed me the article in which the baby Storm was first introduced.
I think that the Star was definitely smart making this their front page story, it would definitely sell papers which it has since the story exploded after it was released to the public.
The baby Storm is being raised as gender neutral in hopes that it will rein in the rampant pressure to conform to gender norms and that it will allow the child, Storm, more freedom and fluidity when it comes to making his or her own decisions regarding gender.
A common misconception is that gender and sex are the same.
In reality, sex refers to which reproductive organs you have (penis or vagina) and gender refers to which you identify with.
For example, I am a female who identifies as a straight woman, ideally I can thrive in the stereotype my society has established for me.
The judgement passed onto children is something I find, personally, appalling.
In the article regarding Storm, it mentioned his or her's two older brothers.
Both who have long hair, one of which loves the colour pink and the other purple, both wear whatever they pick out and choose from the boys and girls departments, whether it be pants or dresses.
Both boys have been mistaken for girls, and when some people find out which sex they actually are they are faced with judgement and criticism.
Our society is smothered by our structured assumed gender roles. We live in a culture that is filled with assumed heterosexuality and intolerance.
If raising a child in a gender neutral role can possibly side step the judgement from adults and the rampant stereotyping for children, then I say all the power to them.
Of course there are negative aspects to this situation, and while I don't know whether it will be successful, raising Storm gender neutral, I hope that it will at the very least provide the child with the choice of being who he or she wants to be.
I also think that the Star absolutely built up the 'other-ness' of the family involved in the Storm story, referencing all the ways that they are far left on the political spectrum. Which I found particularly irritating as it applies a stigma to this family and what is essentially a social and political experiment that they are attempting.