Gender-Neutral Parenting

Gender-neutral parenting was a topic of discussion this week. One article about parents raising their daughter in a gender neutral fashion voiced their concerns about the child’s grandma pushing femininity. One of the respondents on the topic stated, “In general the point of gender-neutral is to allow the child to make choices, and sometimes those choices will be inline with a typical stereotype.” Another respondent commented, “For some parents of girls, it can be really frustrating to see them sucked into a certain mode of gender presentation that feels so overwhelming in our culture. It doesn’t have to do with thinking pink and purple or girly things are bad, so much as it can feel like the only option for self-presentation for girls. We would push back on that to counter the messages our daughter was receiving everywhere else.” 

One parent featured their son’s new gender-neutral toys while also promoting a gender-inclusive parenting style such as letting their son play with toys typically separated by gender. 

Another article highlighted several tips for making gender-neutral nurseries such as adding prints or even educational patterns to the walls.