Am I a boy or a girl?

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110524/ts_yblog_thelookout/parents-keep-childs-gender-under-wraps


I saw this story a few weeks ago around when we first started the girls studies class and it made me think about gender roles in our society; in this article the parents of this 4 month old baby are choosing not to disclose the baby's gender to the public including relatives. Their justification is that they want the baby to be able to "choose" what gender they want to be.

Now in some ways I understand where these parents are coming from in trying to grant their child freedom, however I also had to question my thoughts on how I felt about gender roles; should a child be free to choose who they are? i.e whether they are a "girl" by our societies standards or whether they are a "boy." should a child have some sort of guidance to explain to them how "boys" act in our society or how "girls" act? This question kind of stumps me as to what the right answer is. Also, aren't the parents still "choosing" technically for the baby; they are choosing not to choose a gender for their children. So my question to you all is, are there some aspects of gender that should be taught to a child before you allow them to chose their own way? or are these parents right in letting this little girl, or boy choose his or her own gender?

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