Cory Doctorow at 9:22 AM Saturday, May 21, 2011
Kathy Witterick and David Stocker are raising a kid in Toronto without disclosing its sex to anyone except its older siblings and grandparents. Its siblings are boys, but choose whether they wear "girl's" clothes or "boy's" clothes and get to pick their own toys. The parents attribute their childrearing notions to being reared on Free to Be... You and Me. I like the section in the article about bullying: "When faced with inevitable judgment by others, which child stands tall (and sticks up for others) -- the one facing teasing despite desperately trying to fit in, or the one with a strong sense of self and at least two 'go-to' adults who love them unconditionally? Well, I guess you know which one we choose."
"When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, 'Is it a girl or a boy?'" says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table.
"If you really want to get to know someone, you don't ask what's between their legs," says Stocker.
The moment a child's sex is announced, so begins the parade of pink and barrage of blue. Tutus and toy trucks aren't far behind. The couple says it only intensifies with age.
"In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, 'Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s (he) wants to be?!." Witterick writes in an email.
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