CNN Understands: Gender is Complicated

We can’t say that we’re always pleased with the publicity we get - a lot of people hold different opinions about how gender issues should be addressed with children, and they’re not quiet about it. But we’re pleased to say that our most recent mention, in an article at CNN.com, is a different story entirely.

The article starts with the widely publicized story of Bobby, the child who “likes girl stuff” but “has boy parts,” and was given some mixed signals upon attempting to join a local Colorado Girl Scout troop. But it doesn’t stop there. Bringing in reports from family therapists and developmental psychologists - and our own Director of Education, Joel Baum -  it deals with the idea that more and more children are expressing discomfort with traditional gender roles at an early age, and the complexities that arise for parents in handling these issues.

There’s a quick crash course on the different usages of terms like ‘sex,’ ‘gender,’ ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation,’ and nod to the fact that many people think that discomfort with gender is confusion that will only lead to trouble for kids as they mature. But the article’s main take-away is that children need to decide for themselves the person that they’re going to become, and a parent’s job is to listen and support them to the best of our ability.

That is a sentiment we can get behind, 100%!

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