It's back in the news and provoking all kinds of speculation, debate and dialogue. The experiment: the parents who have decided to keep the gender of their new child a secret for as long as possible may be doing that child a serious disservice. To allow shim* to develop an identity without gender bias being imposed on shim. (*"Shim" I have made a contraction from she and him in order not to refer to a child as it). Gender neutrality can also create new grammatical issues as a byproduct.
Babies begin life gender neutral and I always believed gender became less neutral as children grow. There isn't a mammalian species anywhere that is without gender traits. Since the purpose of a species is to reproduce, it is essential that they have the recognition and stimulation traits necessary to accomplish that. A tom cat is very different from a queen yet they are both cats sharing similar feline behaviour. Even when they are neutered they still retain some gender differences. A stallion is a different horse from a mare but they both share the traits of a horse. These differences are neither good nor bad. They just are.
Only when social class, economics and rewards enter the picture as with us humans, does gender become more desirable or less desirable. We wouldn't even be having this conversation if gender were truly neutral. But, if in a society, a woman is worth less than a man it becomes necessary to fight for a gender advantage. The search for gender neutrality is a search for social and economic parity. It can't work, because the biological imperative to reproduce is too strong. Instead of searching for neutrality, which I believe is a sad diminution of the sexuality of our species, we should be stamping out the stigmas that devalue girls and women.
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About Me
- kingmisha
- I'm bigger than a pile of breadboxes, but smaller than a Sherman tank. I'm overeducated, underpaid but very content with my life. I have loved infrequently but intensely. I dated a poet, divorced a Dean, had an affair with a jazz pianist, was engaged to a diplomat, and widowed by my child's father. The men in my life were all very special. Not all grand passions but much loved in their time: Leonard Cohen, Alfred Pinsky, Billy Horn, Wendell Goodin, and Elliot Hirschman. Thanks for the memories... I'm a lapsed artist which doesn't really trouble me because I'm a very successful parent. I lacked the requisite conceit to persevere as an artist. I just couldn't make myself believe that my art came before my child. The world really doesn't need another sculptor (even a good one), but it does need another good human being. It can use all the good human beings we can turn out. I present Mambolica as my evidence so judge for yourselves.