Sasha’s story is exemplary of how crucial
gender roles are in the development of a child. Sasha, a boy, was raised as a
gender neutral child up until he turned 5 years old. Sasha’s room was painted a
neutral yellow, he was encouraged to play with whatever toys he wanted to, and
was allowed to wear whatever clothing he wanted. His parents never encouraged
him to play with one thing over another, and they never pushed him to act a certain
way. They simply allowed Sasha to grow up the way he wanted to grow up without
the pressure of living up to a stereotype that has been pre-determined for him.
Gender neutral parenting is starting to
become more relevant in today’s society, and I feel that it is not a problem. I
don’t think that gender neutral parenting is the wrong way to parent. When we
look at the toys children play with, they distinctly define and encourage a
gender to act a specific way. For example, male toys promote violence, aggressiveness,
strength, and masculinity. On the other hand, female toys promote nurturing,
skillful development, and beauty. These toys influence children to behave
accordingly towards their gender roles, and put pressure on growing children to
live up to the common stereotypes about their gender.
Gender neutral parenting attempts to
eliminate gender roles in a developing child’s life. Many believe gender
stereotypes and prejudices have a negative impact, so gender neutral parenting
can be a good thing for children. In her book Gender Neutral Parenting: Raising Kids with the Freedom to be
Themselves, author Paige Lucas-Stannard explores the benefits of raising
kids gender neutral and tries to debunk myths such as the belief that GNP is
anti-feminine or anti-masculine. She believes that parents should expose kids
to a wide range of gender types and to allow them freedom to explore without
judgement. I think that it is beneficial to allow kids to live in the way they
want to live because everyone is entitled to their own lives. I don’t believe
that people’s lives should be dictated through the eyes of others. Everyone is
their own unique person with certain passions in life and they should be able
to freely express themselves without anyone else’s opinion being important to
them.
I agree with your opinion on how children should be raised. It is unfair for them to be forced to grow up a certain way just because society says they have to. Children should be able to grow up how they want, and play with the toys they want to play with. By forcing them to conform to these societal norms early, they will forever feel as if they need to fit into the norm rather than express themselves and be the person they want to be. Also, if children are forced to only play with a certain type of toy, they miss out on development that needs to happen through play with the other gender's toys. I hope raising gender neutral children becomes more popular as more and more people here about these stories.
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