It's making some people livid but to me, this is a great, innovative and beautiful experiment. I don't think it will in any way harm the child (on the contrary, it allows the child to make choices based on natural desires and not gender constructs). I don't think it will alter the child's innate sexual orientation (again, I think it will help the child develop a healthier sexuality, unencumbered by expectations tied to a sex). I think this is a very lucky kid who will naturally develop into a very strong, self-confident person whose sense of self is based on self, and not social expectation.
Keeping the Gender of a 2-Year-Old Secret
One couple in Sweden...are refusing to tell anyone whether their toddler is a boy or a girl.
The child — called Pop in Swedish papers to protect his or her identity — is now two-and-a-half-years-old, and only a handful of close relatives (those who have changed the child’s diaper) know the sex. Pop’s parents, who are both 24, say they made this decision in the hope of freeing their child from the artificial construct of gender.
“We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mould from the outset,” Pop’s mother told the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet last spring. “It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.”
Pop wears dresses, and also “male” styled pants, and Pop’s hairstyle changes often, from traditionally feminine to traditionally masculine.
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