In an era where political correctness reins, gender identity is at times a hotly contested debate. As many like to point out, everyone should have the right to choose if they identify as male, female, transgender and everything in between.
However, did you know a Florida woman is raising a gender-neutral chid? What does this mean? This means the 11-month-old baby is being raised in such a way that they can decide their own gender when they are older.
Ari Dennis, the Florida mother, describes her child as a ‘theyby’, which is still a relatively new term.
Ari and her partner decided to raise their youngest child as a ‘theyby’ and use pronouns such as ‘they’ and ‘them’ when referring to 11-month-old Sparrow.
This parenting philosophy, which is rather unusual to some families, means that only the child’s parents and caregivers know the child’s anatomy. They also believe gender only comes later in the child’s life and it is left entirely up to the child to decide.
During an interview with Ari, she would not reveal baby Sparrow’s biological gender. In fact, the infant’s birth certificate says ‘sex unknown.’
But what makes a parent decide to raise their child in this fashion?
Ari and her partner claim their family was inspired to raise Sparrow in this way, after their oldest daughter, Hazel, discovered gender at around the age of four.
She further explains Sparrow will not be prohibited from having a gender or be forced to select a certain gender. While Sparrow does have genetalia, Ari says Sparrow was not assigned a sex at birth, because she and her partner chose to acknowledge these genitals do not indicate anything.
As strange as this might sound to some, Ari is not alone. There is a Facebook group called Parenting Theybys: using they/them/their pronouns for kids from the start’. This group sees a community forming for parents who are raising their children outside the gender binary norms.
While claiming they do not want Sparrow to grow up in an environment void of gender, Ari explains she and her partner simply want little Sparrow to experience all the genders and seeing how diverse the world is.
Currently, there are not many studies surrounding gender-neutral parenting. Because of the lack of studies, there is not much pertaining to the potential psychological or developmental pros and cons in raising a child in this fashion.
What is your view on parents raising their child as gender-neutral? Do you think raising a child in this way will minimise homophobia and stigma around those who do not conform to social norms in regards to gender identity? Or do you feel it will affect the child in the long run?
If you are curious on Ari and her parenting skills, she has a Facebook page called Ari Not Sorry, which educates people on her view of life.
