The mother of a 4-year-old kid who does not want to reveal if the child is a biological male or female and says she wants the child to decide their own gender has stated she’s been accused of child abuse.
Kyl Myers, Ph.D., who is originally from Utah but now lives in Australia made a post on MamaMia saying:
“I’ve received hundreds of messages and comments on Instagram and e-mails from people I don’t know, telling me my child should be taken away from me.”
“My partner, Brent, and I do something called ‘gender creative parenting. For us, this means we didn’t assign a binary girl-or-boy gender to our child, Zoomer, at birth; we don’t disclose Zoomer’s genitals to people who don’t need to know; we used the gender-neutral pronouns they/them/their for Zoomer until they could tell us what pronouns and labels fit best; and Zoomer learns about and explores gender without stereotypical expectations or restrictions. Brent and I are just two among thousands of people doing gender creative parenting all over the world.”
Image: Instagram
“I do gender creative parenting for two main reasons. First, I believe gender is up to an individual to determine and does not need to be assigned at birth. I know a lot of people who are intersex, transgender, or non-binary,” she noted.
“I, myself, am a genderqueer woman who uses they/them and she/her pronouns. While there have always been people whose gender exists beyond the socially constructed binary, in the last decade there has been an exponential rise in awareness, visibility, and affirmation of the gender spectrum. I didn’t want to make assumptions about what my child’s gender identity and interests would be; I wanted to let my kid tell me who they are, instead of the other way around. Secondly, I do gender creative parenting because I don’t want to perpetuate sexist stereotypes and oppression that children are inundated with from birth.”
“The sex does not tell us anything about the child’s personality, temperament, favorite color, dietary preferences, sense of humor, attitudes toward climate change, or any of their other unique traits. Just like the fact they have two arms doesn’t tell us anything else about them, except they have two arms…”
Image: MamaMia
“Generally, when people know the sex of their baby, they assign one of two genders: penis = boy, vulva = girl. As soon as a baby is assigned a gender, people tend to treat them in specific, gendered ways. Gender socialization contributes to sex segregation, sex stereotypes, and micro-aggressions that result in gender inequalities in childhood and adulthood.”
Image: Instagram
Myers has also said:
“We simply don’t believe that is our decision to make on their behalf. By not revealing their sex, and by treating them in a gender creative way, Z will have the freedom to explore and create their own identity, outside of the restrictions and expectations of traditional gender norms.”
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