In the 21st century, gender neutrality is now a new choice for parents choosing to bring up their children as neither male or female, writes Ingrid Pyne.
Bugsy Ross likes his long hair. He thinks it makes him look cool. And so, when the six-year-old started kindergarten last year, his parents weren’t surprised that he didn’t want to cut it. What did surprise them was the reaction of a few older schoolmates. “You’re a girl, you’re a girl,” they taunted.
“We weren’t prepared for that at all,” Bugsy’s mum Michelle Glew- Ross, wife of comedian Tim “Rosso” Ross, tells The Weekly. At pre-school, Bugsy had worn jewellery, owned a doll named Brett, taken ballet classes and had plenty of girlfriends. He had also played in a soccer team, wrestled with boys and been obsessed with Lego bricks. “That’s just always been his personality,” says Michelle. “He’s open to all sorts of things.”
Like a growing number of Australian parents, Michelle and Tim are determined not to straitjacket their children into traditional gender roles. They encourage Bugsy and his younger brother, Bobby, to play with both “boy” and “girl” toys, keep their bedroom decor neutral, and allow the boys to pick their own clothes and hairstyles. “For me it’s about laying the foundation so that they have an open mind,” explains Michelle.
Unlike more fanatical advocates of the gender-neutral movement, Michelle and Tim still call their sons “boys” and use male pronouns, but they don’t want Bugsy and Bobby’s childhoods – or lives – to be restricted by traditional concepts of gender.
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の May 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Australian Women's Weekly の May 2018 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
