Most people haven’t noticed this change in our society, but now when you go to retail stores like Walmart and Target, they no longer label toy aisles as being for “boys” or “girls.”: However, it’s still not hard to see which aisles will most-likely appeal to different genders, as one aisle may be filled with action figures and the other with dolls. However, clothing is still an area that many stores designate by gender, although for most of us, it’s pretty obvious which section sells clothing for boys and which one for girls. However, there is a growing parenting trend in which parents do their best not to assign gender roles to their children.
Indiana resident Christina Hise-Johnson and her husband Josh decided they will be “gender-neutral” parents. This means that if their boys wish to play with dolls or wear sparkly clothing, that it’s fine by them. They also don’t believe girls should be forced to participate in “girly” activities. Their three children are raised to explore different activities and wear whatever kind of clothing they want without conforming to gender roles. For instance, their oldest daughter Ashley likes wearing masculine clothing right now. At one time, their son Jacob wore his hair long and liked “girly” activities, although he’s currently into more traditional “boy” stuff.
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And their youngest son, Chandler, age 5, is encouraged to explore and enjoy anything he wants because of his mom and dad’s parenting style. For example, he really wanted to wear pink shoes when he was a toddler. But, as a result of their gender-neutral parenting, Christina and Josh say they’ve gotten some dirty looks from others in public as well as comments from strangers over the way Chandler dresses and his choice of toys.
“I have had people tell me how beautiful our little girl is and when they find out he’s a boy they shake their heads and walk away,” Christina told the Daily Mail.
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Some folks have even asked Christina if she worries that her son might grow up to become gay. This line of “logic” bewilders her since Chandler is only five years old. Christina explains that they are not trying to limit their children’s interests by the paradigms laid out by the media and other influences on what boys and girls should be like.
What do you make of Christina and Josh’s gender-neutral parenting style? Is it the way of the future or cruel to children? You can also learn more about their story in the video below.