The Stockers have just had their third child, Storm, a beautiful, healthy, bouncing baby. They’re keeping the child’s sex a secret from the world so that Storm may grow to develop his or her own identity without the social expectations of masculinity or femininity. The family has two other sons, Jazz and Kio, whom they have given complete freedom with identity. Jazz loves his long hair and his sparkly dresses, and Kio adores purple.
After receiving media attention and outrage the couple has declined further interviews. The response they’ve gotten from the public and the media has been mixed. Some are convinced that they’re setting their child up for bullying and a lack of self-identity. Without the direction from his/her parents on how he/she should act and dress, how can Storm grow up like a normal child?
From a transgentleman’s point of view, I am completely and totally supportive. A lot of transfolk have expressed that their gender identity was such a struggle to find because of social pressures placed on them for being a boy or girl. If they hadn’t had those gender stereotypes placed on them, maybe they would have been able to discover their true identity earlier. If we weren’t judged and reprimanded for expressing masculinity or femininity regardless of our sex, then maybe our gender identity wouldn’t be so hard to find.
I applaud this family for what they’re doing with Storm. If the world weren’t so focused on “boys do this, girls do this” then maybe we wouldn’t have so much gender dysphoria in our society. We would learn to develop our own sense of identity without the expectations placed on what’s between our legs. I know that I, personally, wouldn’t have gone through so much confusion and inner chaos when I was younger if I hadn’t been raised with the idea that I would be rejected if I didn’t act and dress a certain way.
I can see the validity in the negative responses to the genderless baby. It’s true that the baby might be teased and Storm might have trouble with his or her identity without the structure of gender stereotypes. However, studies have shown that children raised in unconventional ways have developed into strong, confident people. Some hold the view that the parents are being selfish by using their child as an “experiment,” with one commenter comparing Storm to a lab rat.
There hasn’t been a study on raising genderless children. I can only speculate, from someone whose life has been a mass of doubt and uncertainty because of gender, that Storm will grow and develop into whomever Storm wants to be — without the constraint of gender roles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjLGVdZHm2Q
First off I notice you used the terms gender and identity as if they were interchangable, which they are not. Moreover, you also associate the term gender to that which is between one’s legs, which is a misnomer. Gender is how we define our roles in society economically, socially, legally, culturally, etc. Identity is how one defines oneself regarding our personality, morals, beliefs, ethical standards, conduct towards others, and the mannerisms we exhibit socially. Last but not least, that which is between our legs is merely the biological and phsyiological classification of who we are on an evolutionary scale…procreation. If you have a penis, you’re a male who contributes the seed; and if you have a vagina, then you’re a female into whom the seed is injected and carries the pregnancy (should she become pregnant) to term; thereby giving birth to another human being. While I understood much of your argument, it was poorly executed and could have been stated much differently in order to get your point across more clearly; especially without the misnomers improper indirect references to child psychology in how we grow up during our formative years in learning who and what we are and what kind of person we want to be in this world (i.e. identity).