Irish politician raising baby gender neutral with 'they' pronouns

He mentions sending the kid to creche without a gender. The other children will know what sex they are and will tell Juniper that they are a boy/girl depending on whatever they play with

And his peers will see his Willy when he goes to the toilet!

I just don't get it, this child has a sex, they know he has a sex . He will know he has a sex.

Why are they making gender an issue?

But Juniper IS a boy?

Why can't his parents accept that and let him know that as a boy he can achieve whatever he wants?!

I feel for you viques!

Poor child

This is what makes life so unfair. I only had an older sister so only inherited her handmedowns. Sometimes I wore the same dress for three or four years, deep hems let down, sewn up, let down again, smocking on the bodice accommodated body size increase. She also gave me all her old toys - except for the doll she immediately claimed back as it was her favourite ( and mine) . What chance did I ever have of growing up a balanced, rational , human being.

'I don't see why he can't tell the child that they're a boy, but reaffirm that he can play with whatever toys he wants, wear what he wants, be friends with whomever he wants, etc.'

I guess because thats too normal and boring and makes too much sense. He wants a big shiny 'brave and stunning' badge for himself, hence talking such utter wank

But will Paul allow Juniper to call him Dad, what with all the loaded meaning that comes with the names, Dad,Father,Daddy, Pa ,Mum,Mummy,Mother, Etc surely Juniper will refer to his egg and sperm donors as Parent as they care for him in a totally non gendered fashion.

There is no way one can be 'born' with a gender. It's something we learn. The idea that children will somehow alight on which set of arbitrary sexist stereotypes they feel somehow mirror their inner being is so illogical.

This is too much! WHY?

For goodness sake. There are certain things children need in their lives as certainties in order to feel secure, grounded, included and nurtured. Part of understanding your own identity and self begins right at the start as a tiny child learning your name, your sex, where you came from, how you fit into your family unit.

Cause its not woke enough

I don't see why he can't tell the child that they're a boy, but reaffirm that he can play with whatever toys he wants, wear what he wants, be friends with whomever he wants, etc.

So I think it's potentially counterproductive.

He mentions sending the kid to creche without a gender. The other children will know what sex they are and will tell Juniper that they are a boy/girl depending on whatever they play with, and Juniper won't have the tools to hold against that.

Juniper: Dad, I'm a boy. I like playing with cars and the boys in creche like playing with cars so I'm a boy.

Paul: Well, not all boys play with cars...

Juniper: So I'm a girl?

Paul: Erm...

yep.

Isn't it also completely within the realms of usual parenting to dress your child in a wide range of clothes and to ignore 'gendered' clothes and toys. Shite! My mum must of been well ahead of the curve as I got my brother's AND my sister's hand me downs - clothes and toys.

What a time to be alive, eh?

kids are evolved to notice signals and assess them and go through various phases of embracing, rejecting, playing with and accommodating the ideas they see around them, in the media, from peers, from family, general society.

Possibly the best way of dealing with it, as a parent raising kids, is just not taking it all so bloody seriously. Other than the fact of their sex, most of it is not all that important.

Yes, this.
To use the terminology of the Cass report, I don't think this is a neutral act by Juniper's parents.

I noticed the father uses male and female to mean biological sex, but boy or girl exclusively to mean gender. I know we've had the same with 'woman', but I hadn't seen this redefinition of language applied to babies before.

When a lot of people ask is it a boy or a girl, really, they mean, is it male or female?”

'When a lot of people ask is it a boy or a girl, really, they mean, is it male or female?'

Yes, mate. that's exactly what they mean.

Actually I think if there was a politer version of 'it' that we could call everyone until we knew their sex, it would be better. A bit like how letter start with Dear Sirs, but gender neutral. That would be better than using them and they and save all the pronoun hokey-cokey.

A pattern I've noticed over and over again, and now because someone I know is bringing up a girl "gender neutral "
If the child is a boy, GN seems to mean pink and sparkly and barbie
If the child is a girl, it seems dungarees and footballs are the toys required.
I bought my friend a pretty dress for her girl, girl noticeably wants to wear it, it's pretty and frilly and definitely not jeans or dungarees, not allowed, cant wear it right now cos getting dirty in the garden, would ruin dress. Never seen that dress again.

I do think that when these children get older a fair few will rebel. It just seems so mean to do this to a child. Let them be children. If that means a girl wants to wear jeans and boots and dungarees and nary a dress in sight (me as a child) then fine, still a girl. If a boy wants to do ballet fine, still a boy.

Ffs

The thing is, this sounds daft and a bit harmless, but I think it's going to be very confusing for a child.

'“Obviously, the vast majority of parents do gender their child and I’ve no criticism of that whatsoever, no judgment. But it is true that if you put the label, boy or girl on your child, you definitely increase the chances of them going down one road or another.”'

Your child is irrevocably on one road or the other; they will never change sex. Sex isn't a 'label', that would be gender, and it's not a label so much as a set of stereotypes, traditions and expectations. Their pronouns refer to their sex.

If you want to express this in genderwaffle: Your child is born into a highly gendered world, rightly or wrongly. How will they feel to hear virtually everyone else around them referred to by their sex, with 'he' or 'she', yet with them being 'they'?

I'd suggest they will feel confused, and othered, and out of step.

But anyway, Paul sounds like he's at the stage of parenting where you are at the best parent you're ever going to be. When I had a newborn I was definitely raising them screen free, sugar free and they would play happily with only organic painted wooden toys. It's gone as well as you can imagine.

**

Whatever they's gender, children remain the property of the father, I presume.

Silly man.

I rolled my eyes so hard at this I nearly fell out of bed this morning. Such idiocy.

The Burkes are Pentecostalists afaik?

As for the name Juniper , I actually quite like it. Not sure it works in Tallaght mind you.

Florence is a boys name in Cork and Kerry in certain families. It's all very culture bound? Being a boy Florence is Dublin or Belfast would be hellish.