Hum Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 TORONTO -- ?So it?s a boy, right?? a neighbour calls out as Kathy Witterick walks by, her four month old baby, Storm, strapped to her chest in a carrier. Each week the woman asks the same question about the baby with the squishy cheeks and feathery blond hair. Witterick smiles, opens her arms wide, comments on the sunny spring day, and keeps walking. She?s used to it. The neighbours know Witterick and her husband, David Stocker, are raising a genderless baby. But they don?t pretend to understand it. While there?s nothing ambiguous about Storm?s genitalia, they aren?t telling anyone whether their third child is a boy or a girl. The only people who know are Storm?s brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby in a birthing pool at their Toronto home on New Year?s Day. ?When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ?Is it a girl or a boy??? says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table. ?If you really want to get to know someone, you don?t ask what?s between their legs,? says Stocker. When Storm was born, the couple sent an email to friends and family: ?We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now ? a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...).? Their announcement was met with stony silence. Then the deluge of criticisms began. Not just about Storm, but about how they were parenting their other two children. The grandparents were supportive, but resented explaining the gender-free baby to friends and co-workers. They worried the children would be ridiculed. Friends said they were imposing their political and ideological values on a newborn. Most of all, people said they were setting their kids up for a life of bullying in a world that can be cruel to outsiders. Witterick and Stocker believe they are giving their children the freedom to choose who they want to be, unconstrained by social norms about males and females. Some say their choice is alienating. The moment a child?s sex is announced, so begins the parade of pink and barrage of blue. Tutus and toy trucks aren?t far behind. The couple says it only intensifies with age. ?In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, ?Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s (he) wants to be?!.? Witterick writes in an email. more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
]SK[ Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Oddballs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+John. Subscriber¹ Posted May 25, 2011 Subscriber¹ Share Posted May 25, 2011 Don't use your damned kid to reinforce whatever **** poor principle you're trying to establish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I worry that a child raised without any defined gender is going to have problems later in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djnv2010 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 poor Storm, Jazz and Kio...stuck with ridiculous names by "hipster" parents...obviously their is a hermaphrodite situation going on... :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhell Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 God I hate new age hippy douchebags. :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLegendOfMart Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I worry that a child raised without any defined gender is going to have problems later in life. The flip side of that is what if they raise it as a boy and in a few years time it turns out its personality is that of a girl and vice versa, surely its going to do more harm then than it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMonolith Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 guess they really believe in gender identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted May 25, 2011 Veteran Share Posted May 25, 2011 at first i though this was about a truly genderless baby, not a gender hidden child with nutball parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonkwell Bogtrotter Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Idiots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechronic Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 This will only hurt one person, and that is the child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I read this about two weeks ago ... it's disturbing for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 The flip side of that is what if they raise it as a boy and in a few years time it turns out its personality is that of a girl and vice versa, surely its going to do more harm then than it is now. Exactly, i agree with what they're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Pushing their own non-conformist agenda is not a bad thing per-se. Doing it using their child is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Who thinks Storm will turn out gay .... :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I have no problem with an individual of any age identifying with the social norms of the opposite gender. That said, there's no reason for parents to basically use their children as science experiments -- as they're clearly doing, judging from the message they sent out to their friends and family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Kinda silly :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven P. Administrators Posted May 25, 2011 Administrators Share Posted May 25, 2011 Idiots +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmatic Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 i dunno, but didnt parents dress girls AND boys up as girls back a long time ago? like all the children wore dresses and had long hair, it wasnt until just a couple of decades ago that boys started dressing like men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 i dunno, but didnt parents dress girls AND boys up as girls back a long time ago? like all the children wore dresses and had long hair, it wasnt until just a couple of decades ago that boys started dressing like men Short hair for men, was the norm, at least from the 1920's to the 1960's. Before that, you'd have to go back to the Civil war, the old West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shock Doc Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Maybe it is actually a hermaphrodite, meaning "it" has both male and female reproductive organs, which the parents could be hiding. Well I hope it's a hermaphrodite, either that or the parents are complete nut jobs for failing how to see how this could potentially screw up a child's mind and childhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salty Wagyu Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 If it really is genderless then I'm intrigued in how "it" is going to the toilet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De.Bug Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 at first i though this was about a truly genderless baby, not a gender hidden child with nutball parents. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmatic Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Short hair for men, was the norm, at least from the 1920's to the 1960's. Before that, you'd have to go back to the Civil war, the old West. ah ok... so its almost a century old already i dunno, but this story kind of brings up memories of all those unpleasant times i had when i was young from all the pressure to 'be a boy' , like daily masculinity contests between the other boys in my school which consists of everything from arm wrestling to full out fistfights... couldnt even sit down and have a meal in the canteen without being heckled by the other boys challenging me to do things like stick my hand up the vending machine and not get electrocuted or pull some stupid prank on a teacher which would be sure to get me in trouble, and that was when they were feeling friendly... as a result from that i had a few years when i pretended to be homosexual so that the other boys would leave me alone... im just so glad i dont have to go to school and meet them anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Maybe it is actually a hermaphrodite, meaning "it" has both male and female reproductive organs, which the parents could be hiding. Well I hope it's a hermaphrodite, either that or the parents are complete nut jobs for failing how to see how this could potentially screw up a child's mind and childhood. I'm fairly sure that it is a boy. Would be great fun if everyone who sees Storm, would say, "what a cute little boy", or "how is your son doing". I bet that would irritate the parents into admitting the sex. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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