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Original poster

"Assigned female at birth" - gender neutral baby announcements

66 replies

BlingLoving · 30/08/2019 15:52

Someone on my facebook announced birth of her and her partner's new baby (they are both women. Although I'm not sure if they identify as women or something else). Gender neutral names. In the comments, in response to a comment, she has said "[babyname] was assigned female at birth" and I just want to scream.

I'm not hugely active on these issues but I do think that saying girls have vaginas and boys have penises is a pretty uncontroversial statement personally. And it makes me sad. I love that she'll try to bring up her child to not confirm to gender stereotypes, I just don't understand why to do that the child can't be called "her/she" or be accepted as a GIRL.

Sorry. Rant over. I know a lot of you will get it.

OP posts:
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MockersthefeMANist · 01/09/2019 16:53

....It's assign of the times.

All Sing:

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 01/09/2019 16:50

Mummy, and I a boy or a girl?
What do you think?
Ummmm boy?
Why?
Because I have a peepee.
But girls can have peepees too, you know? Maybe you’re a girl.
WTF have you been smoking mummy?
Please don’t call me that, it’s ‘significant caregiver A’ remember’

HeadintheiClouds · 01/09/2019 16:46

They’re going to fuck with that kid’s head and think they’re being so progressive. Poor little fecker.

ReasonedCamper · 01/09/2019 14:55

Surely a baby is born a particular sex, will be subject to the level of gender stereotyping that is the norm in society, mitigated or enhanced by the parental approach.

And as they grow, can develop their own gender identity .

The parroting of ‘assigned at birth’ may me no more than the misuse of ‘gender ‘ instead of ‘sex’ that became common a decade ago and has confused the debate no end.

Original poster
BlingLoving · 01/09/2019 14:50

@PerspicaciaTick That is the original announcement. In response to a question they mentioned the "assigned female at birth" thing.

OP posts:
AfterSchoolWorry · 01/09/2019 14:45

What a pair of cringeworthy twats.

Rachelover40 · 01/09/2019 14:28

Absolutely ridiculous. Unless they are intersex (which is rare), a baby is male or female.

user1573624 · 01/09/2019 14:25

I'm surprised so many people on here don't understand this birth announcement. It's what woke people say instead of the actual sex, because they don't want to be accused of assuming their gender based on their biological sex alone, because they are too stupid to understand the different between biological sex and gender. Or are unwittingly so sexist themselves they believe the two are intertwined. The baby is a girl, with a vagina. They haven't just plucked a sex for it out of thin air.

beatriceprior · 01/09/2019 14:10

If they had wanted to, even though the baby was clearly a girl, could they have said they assigned the baby as male?

Qcng · 01/09/2019 13:57

Their parenting sounds utterly toxic.
How awful.

Doyoumind · 01/09/2019 11:43

*neutrally not naturally. Bloody autocorrect.

Doyoumind · 01/09/2019 11:42

In reality it doesn't matter what they do because once that child hits nursery, and definitely school, whatever they have done to raise the child naturally, she will be surrounded by other girls loving pink and playing with dolls and they will struggle to do anything about gender stereotypes being foisted on her.

PerspicaciaTick · 01/09/2019 11:33

Surely a gender neutral birth announcement just says "We are delighted to announce that baby Zephyr was born on 01/08/2029 weighing 7lb. Parents and baby are all doing well."
Why mention sex or gender at all?

Original poster
BlingLoving · 01/09/2019 11:26

@LetsSplashMummy - No, the chances of the baby being intersex are pretty low. This woman is a vocal advocate of gender fluidity so I think it's just a desire not to have her child "labelled" female from the start. Whatever. It annoys me but will stay following as it will actually be interesting to see how this plays out.

OP posts:
Kilbranan · 31/08/2019 10:59

Honestly I think I would just block them, it’s just so tedious to announce a birth like this. Hmm

Fraggling · 31/08/2019 10:24

You wouldn't announce that your child was intersex on facebook!!!

HeadintheiClouds · 31/08/2019 10:08

It would hardly be necessary to announce it to all and sundry if that were the case, would it?

LetsSplashMummy · 31/08/2019 09:35

Is there any chance the child is intersex, as the "assigned at birth," language was originally used for intersex conditions (before being appropriated)?

I think I'd tread carefully until that was ruled out, I'd maybe act like I assumed that's what they meant. Obviously, you know them best, so can judge the motives, but just in case...

HeadintheiClouds · 30/08/2019 23:03
Grin
Antibles · 30/08/2019 23:01

Did they use a Hogwarts Sorting Hat?

Or a Hogwash Sorting Hat

Voice0fReason · 30/08/2019 22:57

I'm sure they understood the biological reality of sex in order to have their daughter.

I do wonder what would happen if a couple decided that they would like to assign their son to be a girl. As everything is all neutral it shouldn't matter should it. However, I suspect that they would be told that they can't choose the assignment, that the assignment is in fact, an observation of fact.

AlunWynsKnee · 30/08/2019 22:54

I'd be tempted to ask why they didn't go for assigning male to ensure better pay, safety etc. But as pp says, it's not worth replying

Original poster
BlingLoving · 30/08/2019 22:54

Lord - you are right. But I won't because a) it's a window and b) she makes me think on various issues. But yes, it might come to this later if the irritation continues!! 😀

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JanesKettle · 30/08/2019 22:54

It's just another way to set mothers up to be blamed. 'You assigned me female/male!'

It's also a bizarre projection of the tendency, in the gender-believing world, to be incredibly controlling. As if we peer at our newborns with full knowledge of their future social contagion, and willfully assign them a sex despite knowing that they shall one day come to view that as violence.

I cannot express how irritable gender nonsense makes me. (I have a gender critical psychotherapist now, so I guess I can and will be expressing it to her!)

Lordamighty · 30/08/2019 22:45

Just block them now & get it over with. You will be saving yourself years of irritation with their woke tediousness.