'How has the form of your child been culturally interpreted?'

[Bittermints]

Can't really see it catching on, to be honest.

[userschmoozer]

“They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.”

Philip Larkin, High Windows

[Bittermints]

In this case it looks as if the achingly woke Cultural Studies lecturer who tweeted this has no children. The relentlessly biological nature of pregnancy and birth might be a bit of a shock for her if she ever does have a baby.

[userschmoozer]

Oh thats priceless. Give her a few years and a couple of kids and she'll be shoving them in front of the telly with a packet of Wotsits like the rest of us

[theresaspiderinthesink]

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Is that meant to be instead of asking "what's the sex of your baby?" or "is it a boy or girl?"

[MadamePudding]

Sounds more like an essay title for a BA in Wokeness Studies than a question you'd ask a new parent...

[BlazeAway]

"One need not [ask]".

True, but other than sex, name and weight there isn't really much to ask about tiny babies...

[Beamur]

Why even ask? It's not important...don't impose your own labels people!
Ask if the baby is healthy, how is 'it' sleeping, the usual inane stuff.

[SleepingStandingUp]

"so, what genitals did yours get?"

[Bittermints]

It is important, actually. Human beings, like all other mammals, come in two kinds, male and female. Which sex class you belong to is important. It's possible to acknowledge that and not blindly accept that girls get brought up one way, boys another.

[AssassinatedBeauty]

It's not important but it shouldn't be taboo to ask the sex. It's a fact about the baby, like how much it weighed or when it was born. All totally normal facts about a baby that new parents might like to share. No need to give it any special significance, but no need to deem it unspeakable.

[Frequency]

Many mothers would be rightly offended if a well meaning neighbour pootled up to them and said, "So, how is it sleeping?"

[Beamur]

Let me rephrase, sex is important. But it's not important to discuss the sex of your baby. But had anyone asked me, my DD was a baby girl, now a young woman. She agrees.

[Beamur]

Some parents do take offence at people guessing the sex of their baby incorrectly (but it's often hard to tell)

[thehorseandhisboy]

Why oh why can't the Woke Brigade ever talk about sex and gender without mentioning Judith Butler?

It's almost as though they haven't really thought any of it through, but know that if they invoke her name is certain quarters they'll be a Pavlovian 'you got this' response.

[AngryAttackKittens]

Today in "how to baffle and annoy anyone unfortunate enough to interact with you".

[AngryAttackKittens]

Maybe invoking Butler is like hitting the extra points squares in Scrabble, or owning hotels on Mayfair in Monopoly.

[Mutakirorikatum]

Quite impressed that these people managed to get pregnant in the first place, given that their level of understanding of how babies are made seems to be somewhat below that of Babette Cole’s ‘Mummy Laid An Egg’.

[userschmoozer]

I see it more as holding up a tin of own brand beans and yelling 'By The Power of Greyskull'' in a crowded supermarket.

[FWRLurker]

Huh? Why do they even want to ask about the kids sex / gender?

How about “and how’s the baby doing?” “Any issues with the baby?” “How have you been doing since the baby came along”?

Shows that no matter how much they claim they too believe gender stereotypes are damaging they actually love them.

[Purplewithgreenspots]

It wouldn’t have been a problem for me. Better than her being dressed in pink with all these pink things and ‘oh what a lovely little boy’ just because she was going through the bald phase.
Grr those woke parents in the local paper “oh, we aren’t telling anyone if our baby is male or female”! Yet again dressed really feminine/ really masculine.

[AngryAttackKittens]

I'm trying to imagine this conversation playing out in real life.

"So, Confused Stranger, how has the form of your child been culturally interpreted?"

"...As a child, generally?"

[Threewheeler1]

That's unintentionally funny. And Butler never helps anyone make a point, ever.

'How has the form of your child been culturally interpreted?' ......
What a complete mouthful of tippy-toeing nonsense.

If someone asked me that I'd have to respond with a concise 'eh?', cos I wouldn't have a clue what they meant.
I thought language was supposed to help us understand the world around us.

userschmoozer
Give her a few years and a couple of kids and she'll be shoving them in front of the telly with a packet of Wotsits like the rest of us
Exactly. God bless the tellybox and those cheesy snacks.

[Knicknackpaddyflak]

I think the answer to that is a firm 'get your head out of your bottom and grow up, dear'.

[AngryAttackKittens]

I thought language was supposed to help us understand the world around us.

Nonsense! The only thing language is for is making people feel affirmed in their gender identity. Who needs to communicate clearly?