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"Swedish parents keep 2-year-old's gender secret"

http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623

A couple of Swedish parents have stirred up debate in the country by refusing to reveal whether their two-and-a-half-year-old child is a boy or a girl.

Pop’s parents [see footnote], 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.

We disussed this in out lecture before (We're doing work on gender) and I was just woundering other peoples opinions on the story?

Reply 1

darigan

14

Not being funy, but who cares what gender the child is?

Reply 2

Holly Hiskey

11

“I think that can make these kids stronger,” Henkel says.
Or "I think this kid is going to get bullied."
I like the idea on theiry but think that actually using it in practice on your own kid is just a little unfair to the child in question

Reply 3

DMV

OP

darigan

Not being funy, but who cares what gender the child is?

The child in question maybe when they go to school...?

Reply 4

Manitude

20

It's not like they can hide it forever. You can't force a kid to not tell anyone what gender they are, and then there's the inevitable physical changes as he/she gets older.

It just sounds like some pretty crazy parents to me.

Reply 5

Muffinz

16

It'll become cruel when the kid gets ostracised at school for being the genderless kid.

Reply 6

milliondollarcorpse

16

Holly Hiskey

I like the idea on theiry but think that actually using it in practice on your own kid is just a little unfair to the child in question

I agree. I doubt that much will come from this anyway; you would need to do this experiment with a fair amount of children to get a reliable result.

Reply 7

darigan

14

DMV

The child in question maybe when they go to school...?

In the 'who cares' comment, i was talking more about people outside the family circle, lie me whose opinion is sought (however, i didn't make that clear in the post)

Yeah, clearly, but are they going to keep the childs gender a secret fom the child itself? If they do that then they have seriously gotta questio their ability to be parents.

They sound like a pair of complete idiots.

Reply 8

Boo_x

11

It's to prevent social norms being put on the child isn't it?

Obviously people are going to find out sooner or later and it's going to be awkward for the child when people ask and it doesn't know, I can see the logic behind the idea it's just not well thought out

Reply 9

puddlejumper

2

I hate gits like that who use their kids for experiments. Who the hell do they think they are?

They should be forced to disclose the gender under penalty of having the child removed from their care.

If they want to play games then they should get a doll and play with that instead of potentially warping a human being.

Reply 10

JoshyEls

4

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=956341&highlight=secret+gender

Reply 11

mel_h

they dont want to do the labelling with blue and pink thing fair enough but a lot of parents dont anyway, just go for yellow or something, its pretty unfair on the child though when they grow up. kids are mean and having something different about you makes you stand out so this could push the child to an extreme either extrovert or just become completely an introvert and miss out on so much!

Reply 12

sundance_kid

10

darigan

In the 'who cares' comment, i was talking more about people outside the family circle, lie me whose opinion is sought (however, i didn't make that clear in the post)

Yeah, clearly, but are they going to keep the childs gender a secret fom the child itself? If they do that then they have seriously gotta questio their ability to be parents.

They sound like a pair of complete idiots.

how the **** could you do that? :lolwut:

Reply 13

Dinendal Leralonde

1

Awwww, Dylan Moran's doing a Scandenavian tour? Wish he'd come here... :sad:

But, back to being on-topic, it's a novelty, and one that will wear off very fast.

Reply 14

kamc

15

It will be interesting to follow up on the family in 5, 10, 15 years time to see how Pop's developed.

I can understand their thinking, they want to avoid forcing gender stereotypes or traits on the child and allow him/her to decide what he/she likes. If they had let people know Pop was a girl she'd be given loads of pink toys, dolls, etc and if they'd let people know Pop was a boy he'd be given loads of cars, army toys, etc. Do girls like pink because they're girls or because thats what is given to them?

They're not telling Pop that he/she is genderless, just not telling people to avoid the above I think. I'm sure that once Pop is in school his/her gender won't be hidden from other people.

Reply 15

darigan

14

sundance_kid

how the **** could you do that? :lolwut:

Up to a certain age it would be quite simple, a child isn't born aware of gender, they learn about it both formally and informally.

I struggle to believe that the parents could keep the childs gender a secret to the child past the age of about five though - what with schoolyard boy/girl slagging off etc.

Anyways - haven't read the article, i may have the wrong end of the stick - but each end of the stick does paint the parents out as idiots

Reply 16

MazalTov89

9

Reminds me of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer

Reply 17

Teaddict

17

It is the parents decision as to how they raise their child, however, I disagree. Girls and boys are very different and that should be recognised.

Reply 18

Afrotortina

2

It kinda reminds of of the book The Wasp Factory... but the kid is brought up as a boy and later discover "he's" a girl. Well messed up.
.... What's wrong with a child being brought up normally, with everyone knowing if they're a boy or girl? Wouldn't doctors need to know for medical reasons?

Reply 19

Rimipie

11

who wants to bet on what it is, i'm in a booky mood today

"Swedish parents keep 2-year-old's gender secret"

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