Raising a theybie

[HDDD]

A theybie? A theybie?
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/08/parent-raising-gender-free-child

Their bedroom is decorated with all sorts of oceanic motifs – fish, mermaids and especially seahorses (“Guys who have babies” are often given seahorse-themed gifts, says Doty, “’cause that’s how seahorses do”.)

Oh the irony.

'I am a special and unique snowflake and so is my child' - the article in a nutshell

So this child is allowed to choose which toys they are interested in, and what sort of clothes they like wearing. Wow. Mind blowing stuff

I just cant anymore with this utterly stupid, regressive, sexist nonsense

They have U for Unknown on their health card?? Isn't that kind of important?

Good grief.

I despair. My one year old DD is often mistaken for a boy, because I dress her in blue. Why? Because it's my favourite colour and most of my clothes are blue! And yet when we are out in matching t shirts noone mistakes me for a man... almost like my clothes have zero impact on who I am
And I do not care at all whether people think she's a girl or a boy right now, because what does it matter when all she wants to do it run around and eat grass. If she wants to wear pink or blue or bright orange (which I loathe ) then I will of course let her but it's not going to change her gender or sex!
If she gets told by anyone that wearing blue makes her a boy they'll be getting choice words from me.

I remember previous campaigns of "let clothes be clothes" and ditto toys. The underpinning idea of let the child play with whatever they want was the same but apparently new logic implies that the choice of toy defines their gender instead of being completely irrelevant. Why has that been dropped in favour of this regressive shit?

Regressive shit sums it up. I'm too angry for anything more cohesive.

Doty ... now identifies as non-binary trans – meaning they are neither a man nor a woman, and that their identity does not correspond with their birth sex.

I wonder in what way this person thought their "identity" (by which I assume they mean personality) should correspond to their birth sex?

Doty’s own parents switched from being conservative Christians to becoming proud members of PFLAG, an organization for supportive family and friends of LGBTQ+ people, back when Doty came out in 2006

There's a common theme here, isn't there? Conservative religious background, fixed gender roles, child thinks there's something wrong with them because they don't want to be shoehorned into those fixed roles...

How do they know that male seahorses give birth? What is it that makes them a male and not a female seahorse despite the fact they carry the babies? Oh that's right, they're the ones that produce the small gametes. And the female seahorse? Gosh, she produces the large gametes doesn't she. If the "guys who give birth" stop producing the large gametes and start producing the small gametes, then I'll be impressed. Until then it's the a bog standard perfectly unremarkable female pregnancy. The fact that the female in question may have grown a beard or had a mastectomy is neither here nor there. Its nothing like bloody seahorses. As for "theybies" - my daughter has an ocean theme in her bedroom too. And my son has a woodland theme. Unisex decorations are not a groundbreaking concept, and they don't make your child any less male or female. This is just regressive attention seeking twattery.

The underpinning idea of let the child play with whatever they want was the same but apparently new logic implies that the choice of toy defines their gender instead of being completely irrelevant.

The logic of this is ultra-Capitalist: you are what you consume.

I should add she isn't solely in blue, she has pink dresses and flowery and stripes and all sorts. (And if she were so what, it doesn't mean I'm raising a boy)
But a lot of the girls babygros were awful, with glitter (for a 6 month old?!) and twee slogans. In comparison the boys had rockets/stars/stripes and were much plainer and I preferred them.
The idea that only girls can wear pink and boys blue is so tiresome.

When Doty was born in the picturesque seaside city of Victoria, British Columbia, in the 1980s, a doctor assigned them as female, but the label didn’t fit.

when Doty gave birth in November 2016

And the Guardian wants me to pay to read this nonsense?

.. There's a common theme here, isn't there? Conservative religious background..

They should look into that more at these gender clinics. It could be called a CRB check or something..

Child pretends to be a wasp: child is ‘processing the wasp sting they got last Summer’ (as 2 year old)

The child is pretending to be a wasp FGS!

When Doty was born in the picturesque seaside city of Victoria, British Columbia, in the 1980s, a doctor assigned them as female, but the label didn’t fit. “When I was born, a guess was made [about my gender] because nobody knew better than to do that. And that guess was incorrect,” says Doty, who now identifies as non-binary trans – meaning they are neither a man nor a woman, and that their identity does not correspond with their birth sex. “It caused some amount of complication, upset and harm in my life.”

So when Doty gave birth in November 2016, they were determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

No words.

Well ,the parent must have taken hormones to get that beard and "dresses like a man" so aren't they ( she) reinforcing gender stereotypes?

This will blow their minds... my son and daughter share a bedroom! And it’s decorated how they both like!! I guess they’re both gender neutral.

I agree @CheeryTreeBlossom.
I have 2 DD’s, both have worn a variety of colours as babies, both have had clothes from the “boys” and “girls” clothes sections. Both have played with a variety of toys. Nothing is off limits here. They both know they are girls too.
Eldest is 6, she loves all things pink, unicorns, dolls and lives in dresses. That is her choice.
Youngest is 3, she has yet to nail down a “favourite” colour. Wears both dresses and leggings, loves dinosaurs and riding her balance bike.
Knowing sex is important, it has medical implications if nothing else. But sex does not determine personality.
Incidentally, I left the “let clothes be clothes” and “let toys be toys” facebook groups after being attacked for airing these views. Not by the creators, but by other members of the group.

the concept of “theybies” – a portmanteau of the neutral pronoun “they” and the word “baby”, referring to young children raised as neither boys nor girls – has gained currency

Another neutral word for babies is 'babies', but I suppose it doesn't mark your child (also neutral) out as 'special'.

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/08/denial-of-womens-concerns-contributed-to-medical-scandals-says-inquiry?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Messages

Even though being a woman isn't even a real thing? How weird.

I wonder if the Guardian would be interested in a contribution from my husband and I for their genderqueer series. I just replaced the window in my shed while my husband vacuumed the living room.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/parent-fights-to-omit-gender-on-b-c-child-s-birth-certificate-1.4186221

According to Doty's lawyer, barbara findlay (who doesn't spell her name with capital letters),

A big LOL from me.

The interesting bit for me is that this article is supported by Open Society Foundations (www.opensocietyfoundations.org/)

• an organisation founded by George Soros. This is absolutely being pushed by billionaires with an agenda.

According to Doty's lawyer, barbara findlay (who doesn't spell her name with capital letters)

What? What does this signify? Why?

What? What does this signify? Why?

"Look at me!!! I'm special."

I think that there's an extra layer of exhausting going on there!

We have gone from the stupidity of "don't let him play with that doll, it's a girls toy" to the new-fangled stupidity of "oh look, he's playing with a doll, he must be a girl".

Equally shit parenting.