Kaleidoscopic Thoughts

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But how will my son know he’s a boy unless he learns all the ways he’s different from a girl?” and vice versa. “

But my daughter might turn out masculine if we don’t teach her to be feminine.” and vice versa.

In a society that favors either/or simplifications, such concerns make sense. But stop and think for a moment and they become suspect: Why do sex differences alone inspire such paranoia? Parents show absolutely no concern about teaching children about everything else they’re different from. No one asks, “How will my son know he’s different from a dog, or my daughter know she’s a person, not a houseplant?” No one worries that without intervention children might think they are chairs.

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Reblogged from lgbtlaughs

Growing Up Free: Raising Your Child in the 80s by Letty Cottin Pogrebin