Travis, So?
On Jun 25, 10:36 am, Travis <[email protected]> wrote: > 2-year old doesn't know if it is a boy or girl. > > From: *Travis* > Date: Wed, Jun 24, 2009 > Subject: Sweden is Laughing-stock > > 1. Sweden's welfare state, supported by tax rates of 60+ percent on those > of its citizens who actually work, has halted all economic innovation 2. Its > immigration policies, coupled with the extremely low fertility rates of > Swedish women, have begun to transform drastically Swedish society and > culture 3. Immigrant crime rates, particularly in Sweden's third-largest > city, Malmö, are staggeringly high. > See:http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/02/muslim-rape-epidemic-in-sweden-a...4. > But it's good to see that folks like those described below are raising their > children in ways that will help address such public crises Swedish parents > keep 2-year-old's gender secret > > Published: 23 Jun 09 16:24 CET > Online:http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/ > > Dictionary tool Double click on a word to get a translation > > http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=20232&print=true > > Meet Pop, a two-and-a-half-year-old Swedish child whose parents are refusing > to say whether the apple of their eye is a boy or a girl. > Pop’s parents, both 24, made a decision when their baby was born to keep > Pop’s sex a secret. Aside from a select few – those who have changed the > child’s diaper – nobody knows Pop’s gender; if anyone enquires, Pop’s > parents simply say they don’t disclose this information. > > In an interview with newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in March, the parents were > quoted saying their decision was rooted in the feminist philosophy that > gender is a social construction. > > “We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific > gender mould from the outset,” Pop’s mother said. “It's cruel to bring a > child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.” > > The child's parents said so long as they keep Pop’s gender a secret, he or > she will be able to avoid preconceived notions of how people should be > treated if male or female. > > Pop's wardrobe includes everything from dresses to trousers and Pop's > hairstyle changes on a regular basis. And Pop usually decides how Pop is > going to dress on a given morning. > > Although Pop knows that there are physical differences between a boy and a > girl, Pop's parents never use personal pronouns when referring to the child > – they just say Pop. > > "I believe that the self-confidence and personality that Pop has shaped will > remain for a lifetime," said Pop's mother. > > But while Pop’s parents say they have received supportive feedback from many > of their peers, not everyone agrees that their chosen course of action will > have a positive outcome. > > “Ignoring children's natures simply doesn’t work,” says Susan Pinker, a > psychologist and newspaper columnist from Toronto, Canada, who wrote the > book The Sexual Paradox, which focuses on sex differences in the workplace. > > “Child-rearing should not be about providing an opportunity to prove an > ideological point, but about responding to each child’s needs as an > individual,” Pinker tells The Local. > > “It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to keep this a secret for long. Children > are curious about their own identity, and are likely to gravitate towards > others of the same sex during free play time in early childhood.” > > Pinker says there are many ways that males and females differ from birth; > even if gender is kept ‘secret,’ prenatal hormones developed in the second > trimester of pregnancy already alter the way the child behaves and feels. > > She says once children can speak, males tell aggressive stories 87 per cent > of the time, while females only 17 per cent. In a study, children aged two > to four were given a task to work together for a reward, and boys used > physical tactics 50 times more than girls, she says. > > But Swedish gender equality consultant Kristina Henkel says Pop’s parents' > experiment might have positive results. > > “If the parents are doing this because they want to create a discussion with > other adults about why gender is important, then I think they can make a > point of it,” Henkel says in a telephone interview with The Local. > > “You can talk about there being a non-stereotypical gender; if you are a > girl you can do the same as a boy, and if you’re a boy you can do the same > as a girl.” > > Henkel also says a child's sex can deeply affect how they are treated > growing up, and distract them from simply being a human being. > > “If the child is dressed up as a girl or boy, it affects them because people > see and treat them in a more gender-typical way,” Henkel explains. > > “Girls are told they are cute in their dresses, and boys are told they are > cool with their car toys. But if you give them no gender they will be seen > more as a human or not a stereotype as a boy or girl.” > > She says that without these gender stereotypes, children can build character > as individuals, not hindered by preconceived notions of what they should be > as males or females. > > “I think that can make these kids stronger,” Henkel says. > > Anna Nordenström, a paediatric endocrinologist at Karolinska Institutet, > says it’s hard to know what effects the parents' decision will have on Pop. > > “It will affect the child, but it’s hard to say if it will hurt the child,” > says Nordenström, who studies hormonal influences on gender development. > > “I don’t know what they are trying to achieve. It’s going to make the child > different, make them very special.” > > She says if Pop is still ‘genderless’ by the time he or she starts school, > Pop will certainly receive a lot of attention from classmates. > > “We don’t know exactly what determines sexual identity, but it’s not only > sexual upbringing,” says Nordenström. “Gender-typical behaviour, sexual > preferences and sexual identity usually go together. There are hormonal and > other influences that we don’t know that will determine the gender of the > child.” > > Both Nordenström and Pinker refer to a controversial case from 1967 when a > circumcision left one of two twin brothers without a penis. Dr. John Money, > who asserted that gender was learned rather than innate, convinced the > parents to raise 'David' as 'Brenda' and the child had cosmetic genitalia > reconstruction surgery. > > She was raised as a female, with girls’ clothes, games and codes of > behaviour. The parents never told Brenda the secret until she was a teenager > and rebelled against femininity. She then started receiving testosterone > injections and underwent another genetic reconstruction process to become > David again. David Reimer denounced the experiment as a crushing failure > before committing suicide at the age of 38. > > “I don’t think that trying to keep a child’s sex a secret will fool anyone, > nor do I think it’s wise or ethical,” says Pinker. “As with any family > secret, when we try to keep an elemental truth from children, it usually > blows up in the parent’s face, via psychosomatic illness or rebellious > behaviour.” > > But with a second child on the way, Pop's parents have no plans to change > what they see as a winning formula. As for Pop, they say they will only > reveal the child's sex when Pop thinks it's time. > > *Footnote: Pop is not the child's real name but is the name used in Svenska > Dagbladet's interview with the child's parents from March 6th.* > > Lydia Parafianowicz ([email protected]) > > __,_._,___ > > -- > *~@):~{> > > -- > *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
