Yahoo LifestyleFive-year-old raised ‘gender neutral’ says it’s ‘silly’ to differentiate between boys and girls
The parents who kept their five-year-old son’s gender a secret have posted a video of him on the internet in which he says it’s “silly” to talk about the differences between boys and girls.
Sasha Laxton, whose parents chose to bring him up as ‘gender neutral’, is seen giggling in the video with his mother, Beck, as she questions him about colours associated with girls and boys.
Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper kept Sasha’s sex a secret from birth until recently revealing their five-year-old is a boy.
In the video Beck asks Sasha if he thinks boys and girls are different. Sasha smiles and replies: “No”. His mother then asks: “What do people sometimes say to you about colours?”
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Sasha says: “Pink and yellow are girls’ colours and blue and green are boys’ colours. I think that is really silly.”
Referring to a picture taken of Sasha dressed in a fairy outfit his mother asks: “What about dressing up in a tutu and being a fairy? Do you think people would think that boys are meant to do that or girls are meant to do that?
Sasha replies: “Girls were. I think that is so silly.”
Sasha’s parents decided to conceal his gender in the hope that it would let his ‘real’ personality develop. However, they had to reveal it after it became harder to hide when Sasha started primary school.
When Sasha was born they waited 30 minutes before asking medical staff if their baby was a boy or a girl.
To avoid referring to him by his gender they described him as ‘the infant’ and encouraged Sasha to play with dolls as well as Lego and dress in boys’ and girls’ clothes at home.
Beck and Kieran took this approach to avoid stereotyping. Beck told The Sun: “Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?”
[Relevant: Meet the parents who are raising a 'genderless' baby]
Sasha’s father Kieran supported his partner adding: “We wanted to challenge gender stereotypes.
“So if Sasha wants to dress up in girls’ clothes then so be it. He has cars and Lego and he also has dolls. The girls’ clothes are fancy dress and for fun at home. We don’t make Sasha go out in girls’ clothes. We are not forcing it.”
Beck and Kieran’s decision to raise Sasha as gender neutral is similar to a couple in Canada who wanted to raise their newborn baby ‘genderless’ and were accused of forcing their own ideas on to their child.
Beck insisted her son was happy and enjoyed his life.
She said: “I wouldn’t push him in any direction. As long as he has good relationships and good friends, nothing else matters, does it?”
