The things you DON’T say to them can create a loud silence
We often engage in gendered or gender-affirming (or even gender enforcing) words and actions with our kids. We use this to bond with them (girls’ mani-pedi day, mall clothes shopping for girls, sports or cars or such for guys). I remember my mother taking me to watch West Side Story with her. I remember my father taking me to watch The 24 Hours of Le Mans with him.
We model behavior, we mold their young minds. We teach gender expression and define societal expectations. I talked about that at length in a previous article.
Often, when a child manifests as other than cisgender-hetero normative, parents continue the gendered patterns, to the detriment of the child’s wellbeing.
Click here to continue reading
