Baby X

Baby X

This week in class, I thought it was very interesting to read the "Baby X" article- a fictional short story written about a child raised with no definite gender. I think in theory, this is a wonderful idea. In my opinion our society focuses much too strongly on gender norms. We should each be able to simply do what makes us happy, act without worry of what others will think. It is silly that there is a stigma against little boys playing with dolls, or little girls loving hotwheels- each child should be able to be themselves, without worry or self conciousness. But although I think this is a lovely idea in theory, in reality I think it would be far too confusing for a child. When I was a kid, my parents essencially raised me without a religion. I was taught dozens of different creeds, and was told that I could use that knowledge to decide what I believed. As I look back, I think this idea was awesome-instead of merely being fed information without a choice in the matter, my parents gave me freedom to do what I liked. But this was not the way I felt as a child: I hated that I didn't fit in, that I didn't have an answer for what I was. I hated that other kids were christian, or jewish, or muslim, but I was nothing. And although now I understand the intention of my parents was never to make me feel this way, I couldn't help it. And I think the Baby X would feel the same, maybe even more so because it was a more extreme case.