File this under really bad parenting.

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/couple-finally-reveals-childs-gender-five-years-birth-180300388.html

So let's get this right, these two lesbos had a kid, and didn't want to reinforce "gender roles" and stereotyping on their spawn.

Idiotic, but whatever. The thing that gets me is, they claim to want to let him choose but anything masculine is verboten, and you've got a boy wearing hand me down sparkly pink swimsuits and wearing girls clothes. The school he goes too requires a uniform, and instead of just wearing one, he has to wear a girls blouse with his pants. Seems to me that these bitches wanted a girl and decided on the next best thing when they saw the hootus.

I can't wait for the stories 5 years from now when the kid is getting the E36 M3 kicked out of him and the parents accept none of the blame. And later on down the line when the kid goes crazy and kills them for ruining its life.

This is perhaps the most inflammatory thing I've read on this whole board, ever.

I'm not talking about the link, I'm talking about the post.

Possible, but stuff like this pisses me off immensely.

I agree with Grizz. I haven't read the link either but to screw with a kid like this is just wrong. You want to live an "alternative lifestyle" or what ever, knock yourself out. Just don't force your kid into a world of confusion. I've read stories and accounts when people come "out" and they say how hard life was when they didn't understand why they felt this way or didn't feel that way. They are putting this kid in that situation.

So, I guess you guys are both from the "my 3 year old son can't play with a Barbie doll, but my 5 year old daughter can come out to my garage and 'help' me work on my car at any time" camp.

Double standards, guys. Double standards. If the child in question were a girl, this wouldn't have gotten news coverage.

Not even going to touch the tone of the OP, but I'll chime in on the content...

Sounds like a great way to avoid a lot of unappreciated gifts of "lil' knucklhead cowboy moustache cop" or "sparkly dollie princess princess" toysets. We'd all be a E36 M3-ton better off if everyone stopped thinking of everything in terms of "these are boys' things" and "these are girls' things". I applaud these parents for trying what they did, and also for not sticking to their guns hardline about it when it became impractical. Seems almost pragmatic to me.

The kid was not allowed to wear 'masculine' clothing but was allowed to wear pink sparkly swimsuits. If that's not interfering with his development, I do not know what is. I have a daughter, what if I had told her she could only wear masculine clothes, feminine was frowned upon?

I thought the whole reason these two did all this this was so he would be able to choose for himself? Or was it man hate on their part forced onto an innocent kid? Maybe they wanted a girl and are really disgusted that Nature put a stem on the apple?

This isn't about two lesbians. This is about two adults farking around with the head of a kid who is far too young to understand what is going on. That borders on child abuse.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

berkeley yeah!

Derick Freese wrote: So, I guess you guys are both from the "my 3 year old son can't play with a Barbie doll, but my 5 year old daughter can come out to my garage and 'help' me work on my car at any time" camp. Double standards, guys. Double standards. If the child in question were a girl, this wouldn't have gotten news coverage.

No, I'm in the "let the kid actually decide for themselves instead of deciding for them" camp.

They say they let him pick his clothes, only they've classified anything "overtly masculine" as off limits. What they've listed as overtly masculine includes cargo shorts for christs sake, basically, anything "boys clothes" is forbidden.

Grizz wrote: They say they let him pick his clothes, only they've classified anything "overtly masculine" as off limits. What they've listed as overtly masculine includes cargo shorts for christs sake, basically, anything "boys clothes" is forbidden.

You're sure reading a lot into two mostly-information-free sentences in that article...

Jay wrote: You're sure reading a lot into two mostly-information-free sentences in that article...

Did you miss this sentence?

article said:The big no-no's are hyper-masculine outfits like skull-print shirts and cargo pants.

But yet,

article said: Sasha's dressed in a shiny pink girl's swimsuit.

Jay wrote:

Grizz wrote: They say they let him pick his clothes, only they've classified anything "overtly masculine" as off limits. What they've listed as overtly masculine includes cargo shorts for christs sake, basically, anything "boys clothes" is forbidden.

You're sure reading a lot into two mostly-information-free sentences in that article...

O rly?

The big no-no's are hyper-masculine outfits like skull-print shirts and cargo pants.

Tell me, what exactly is hyper masculine about cargo pants?

It stinks of retarded social engineering that's gonna berkeley that kid up for the rest of his life. Forcing a kid to be genderless is every bit as bad as forcing them to act like whatever you think the stereotypical gender behaviour is.

Seems like they're just trying to negate bad style to me. jokes

What pisses me right the berkeley off is someone basically waiting on the kid to get beaten up so he could have a lulz at someone's expense.

The parents in this case are a little boneheaded, but it, IMO, has nothing to do with their parenting style, but with the amount of publicity that they've caused this story to gain.

The sentences read, "the big no-no's are hyper-masculine outfits like skull-print shirts and cargo pants. In one photo, sent to friends and family, Sasha's dressed in a shiny pink girl's swimsuit."

So (a) this has already been interpreted by a reporter who may well very likely have gotten the idea wrong, and (b) whatever information that reporter thought he/she had has been condensed down into a sound byte. Not a whole lot there to condemn a pair of parents over. We don't even know what the shirt looked like. Or, for that matter, the swimsuit. For all you know, what they actually told the interviewer was, "we didn't buy him THAT skull print shirt and THOSE Chuck Norris-stravaganza cargo pants," (which I probably wouldn't buy for my ≤5-year-old either, regardless of gender), but there is no depth to this story that would allow you to confirm or deny that.

They could well have vetoed a bunch of My Little Pony shirts too; you don't know.

I see teenage girls around wearing what I would call 'masculine' skull print T shirts all the time. There is even a line of 'girly' skull Tshirts, stickers etc for cryin' out loud.

EDIT: Holy cow. This shirt is, get this, $52.45.

Derick Freese wrote: What pisses me right the berkeley off is someone basically waiting on the kid to get beaten up so he could have a lulz at someone's expense.

Meh. It's gonna happen, might as well enjoy it.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Yep, maybe the parents just don't like skulls. The "hyper masculine" comment in the article was not a quote from them.

It doesn't have to happen, though. If everyone were raised so that they weren't such big Bob Costas when it came to their own sexual identification, this type of bullying wouldn't take place.

In reply to Jay:

But the fact remains, [could be non-gender specific] skull shirts and cargo pants are out and shiny pink GIRL'S swimsuits are OK. WTB

Jay, my daughter dresses the way she wants. She likes print tees and blue jeans, she will tell you up front she's not a 'girly girl' but she does like some sparkle on her jeans and she will wear a 'dressy' blouse etc at times. I don't interfere unless something is in poor taste for a given occasion or not suitable for the weather. Thankfully she's not into the 'borderline hooker uniforms' that I see on some girls at her school. Now THAT could get ol' Dad into his huff and puff and pull rank mode.

The best comment, which sums it up pretty much:

And the embarrassment they showed by choosing not to announce the sex of their child should not have concluded with this incredibly ludicrous experiment on the life of a human being!

Like it or not, they're setting their kid up to be ostracized. Gender roles are not a bad thing. Screwing around with them can have very adverse affects. The notion of using your kid for an experiment seems pretty wrong to me as well.

Oh um I am going to just say it is one thing to allow your child to be gender nuetral and pick what he/she wants to wear/toys to play with/roles to identfy with, it's another thing to force him or her to be Gender neutral. On the other hand, how do you force a child to be gender neurtal when living with a brother and sister. These parents are tournmenting their child psychologically in so many detrimental ways which can lead to a lot of confusion and abnormal mental ideas/thoughts throughout his youth and adult life.

I am the product of an upbringing that did not discourge crossing gender roles in that I could play barbies if I had wanted or wear a dress playing dress up with my little sister. I was likewise not discouraged to play with cars and guns. I am sure my parents had alot of fun trying to figure out what to encourage and what not to.

Derick Freese wrote: It doesn't have to happen, though. If everyone were raised so that they weren't such big Bob Costas when it came to their own sexual identification, this type of bullying wouldn't take place.

Uh huh, you keep telling yourself that.

I'm just saying that it takes a small man to beat someone up over their sexual orientation. I've been on the receiving end of that fight. Sucks. Seeing the kid on the ground in tears as the 2 girls he was walking with start laughing their asses off at him was priceless, however.

Derick Freese wrote: Double standards, guys. Double standards. If the child in question were a girl, this wouldn't have gotten news coverage.

No, the double standard is these chicks. If they don't want to force a kid into a gender role then give them 100% choice. Don't outlaw things they see as masculine and allow him to dress in pink, sparkly swimsuits. My little girl plays with matchbox cars and her little brother plays house/dolls with her. That's their choice. If I disallowed him to wear cargo pants but dressed him in a pink swimsuit with sparkles (only found in the girls department) is confusing him.
What if he's like my youngest boy, loves cars, trucks, planes and the like. That was his choice.