Beyond pink and blue: A need for gender-neutral parenting

Source: Indian Express 

Blue or pink, ribbons or bows, dolls or toy cars – it all begins from the day a tiny baby is born and its sex has been revealed. As every generation has been made to condition the mind with an approach that a gender quite clearly defines the roles and expectations from one's entire life, gender neutral parenting has been emerging as a rather new concept in recent years. However, this generation is slowly moving towards taking up ‘gender-neutral parenting’ techniques for their children.

Also Read | Avoid parenting mistakes

Gender stereotyping is a toxic and backdated concept that causes more harm than good. It encourages toxic behaviors like gender discrimination, negative gender stereotyping, limiting opportunities rather than harnessing equality among genders and even sex. 

It is necessary to grasp that sex and gender hold 2 completely different meanings. Gender-neutral parenting is disregarding gender stereotypes and concentrating on the natural behavioural pattern of children.  Dr. Brown has fantastically explained his book, ‘Parenting on the far side pink and blue’. She also mentions that a study by a pediatrics journal found that eighty-fifth of gender non-conforming children establish themselves as heterosexual by the time they enter adulthood.

Parents need to stop indulging in unequal and backdated gender stereotyping. One should start to treat children as just children and refrain from assigning them a gender based on their sex.