I heard and read about a couple who raised their child of 5 years to be "gender neutral". The child was free to play with any toys and dress in any clothes and other such activities that were otherwise tailored to a specific gender. Funnily enough the child also has a unisex name. The parents not being a fan of gender stereotypes do not adhere to them, neither did they employ any pronouns that will serve to betray their child's sex instead calling their child "the infant".
I guess they raised their child to be an antithesis to those stereotypes that have come to define (or limit) gender roles by somewhat combining both in the child's upbringing. The child was raised in such a manner for 5 years however recently the child has started school so his gender had to be made known.

Now as fascinated as I was about this story I wondered about many things . . .

Could there be side effects (good or bad) to this type of upbringing?
Are the parents just instilling their beliefs onto their child?
Regardless of one's orientation/disposition/beliefs doesn't gender form an integral part of our identity and development?
Is their child just a social experiment?
Is this type of upbringing perhaps advanced for it's time?

The full story:http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Global-interest-in-Sashas-gender-neutral-upbringing-24012012.htm

When my first son was about 7 I gave him a lecture about ,"what a man can do, a woman can do, " I was driving on a not too busy road. He just listened and suddenly he said "mummy stop the car". I stopped and he got down opened his zip and "watered" the nearby shrubs. There were passerby's but it didn`t bother him. He got back into the car smiled at me and said, " okay mummy since a woman can do what a man can do go and do the same". I had to correct myself. He was right. "okay a woman can do most things a man can do and vice versa"
This really happened and I still laugh about it till today.

mutter:

When my first son was about 7 I gave him a lecture about ,"what a man can do, a woman can do, " I was driving on a not too busy road. He just listened and suddenly he said "mummy stop the car". I stopped and he got down opened his zip and "watered" the nearby shrubs. There were passerby's but it didn`t bother him. He got back into the car smiled at me and said, " okay mummy since a woman can do what a man can do go and do the same". I had to correct myself. He was right. "okay a woman can do most things a man can do and vice versa"
This really happened and I still laugh about it till today.

Lord give me a son with the wit and humor of this dude!

amen

Each gender is created the way it is for specific roles. This gender neutral thing is absurd and can not work anyway.

Nothing that this end time won't bring.

zayhal:

Each gender is created the way it is for specific roles. This gender neutral thing is absurd and can not work anyway.

Nothing that this end time won't bring.

Yeah there are specific roles for each gender but then there are also stereotypical roles attached to each i.e. young girls must therefore be attracted to dolls and all things pink. Young boys must like blue and football is a "lad's sport" etc.
Stereotypes doesn't have to match specific gender role. If a boy liked pink and played with dolls would his masculinity and sexuality not be questioned? Some people operate outside those gender casting roles.
At least that was the purpose behind this child's upbringing as the parents do not adhere to gender stereotyping. They didn't want their son to be governed by societies notions of how each gender is supposed to behave.

mutter:

When my first son was about 7 I gave him a lecture about ,"what a man can do, a woman can do, " I was driving on a not too busy road. He just listened and suddenly he said "mummy stop the car".  I stopped and he got down opened his zip and "watered" the nearby shrubs. There were passerby's but it didn`t bother him. He got back into the car smiled at me and said, " okay mummy since a woman can do what a man can do go and do the same". I had to correct myself. He was right. "okay a woman can do most things a man can do and vice versa"
This really happened and I still laugh about it till today.

Lol.

I was never a pink loving girl or interested inplaying with with dolls. It is just silly to make a big deal of this. The parents are even contradicting themselves to make this silly point. Why give him a feminine name then.

I think these parents are confused and haven't thoroughly thought through the consequences of their chosen path. Will this person now refer to members of opposite sexes as 'persons', or will he deny the effects and workings of testosterone and oestrogen in individuals? They have only succeeded in laying the blueprints of a confused/contradictory lifestyle for their offspring.

Outstrip:
I was never a pink loving girl or interested inplaying with with dolls. It is just silly to make a big deal of this. The parents are even contradicting themselves to make this silly point. Why give him a feminine name then.

Yeah I was wondering if they could spot the contradiction themselves. In trying to rear their child in a "gender neutral" way they deliberately additionally provided him with toys and the likes - that according to the same stereotypes they are trying to challenge - are associated with girls. I understand what they are trying to do but it's not part of the package of being a little girl to love all things pink and they are just nurturing him under both stereotypes as a means of moulding him to be "neutral" in my honest opinion. Besides there are many "gender neutral" toys/ activities etc that are not bound by these gender stereotypes.
But I think it's one thing for the young boy to naturally crave for these type of activities and another for such to be instilled in him. Because I have seen young children who have made that distinction at an early age and may not even adhere to those stereotypes and want for things that are supposedly for a "him" or a "her" instead of it being ingrained in them.

I'm actually surprised they never gave their son a feminine name. Sasha is a unisex name.

Outstrip:
I was never a pink loving girl or interested inplaying with with dolls.

Same here. Actually my parents weren't into all that. They never provided me with those type of toys i.e. barbie etc and I have a unisex name and despite all that they never made my gender redundant in my upbringing or moulded me into a "neutral".

However I find this "gender neutral" upbringing quite intriguing.

mutter:

When my first son was about 7 I gave him a lecture about ,"what a man can do, a woman can do, " I was driving on a not too busy road. He just listened and suddenly he said "mummy stop the car". I stopped and he got down opened his zip and "watered" the nearby shrubs. There were passerby's but it didn`t bother him. He got back into the car smiled at me and said, " okay mummy since a woman can do what a man can do go and do the same". I had to correct myself. He was right. "okay a woman can do most things a man can do and vice versa"
This really happened and I still laugh about it till today.

You would be surprised, how much wisdom some kids have. That is so funny!!!