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Children of same-sex parents share their views on gender
Same-sex parents have taken to social media to share their children’s views on gender.
As part of a new study, started by the samesexparents Instagram account, children aged between four and ten years old were asked a series of questions around gender, including whether boys and girls had to do specific jobs because of their gender, what they should look like, and whether they should like certain colors.
The idea behind the research was to build on the 2014 research carried out by Dr Simon Crouch from the University of Melbourne, who found that children from same-sex parent families scored around 6% higher on general health and family cohesion compared to children of heterosexual parents.
So far, 14 parents have shared their children’s honest and open-minded responses.
When asked ‘What jobs does a girl do when she grows up?’ one child, Rainer, responded: ‘Any jobs that boys can do. And boys can do hair salons if they want, and make up styles.’
Emma said: ‘Any kind. Teach ballet classes or karate classes or anything they want.’
The children were also asked how they would feel if they were told they could not join in a game because of their gender.
Jacob, who could teach us all a thing or two about self-acceptance, said: ‘I would say you can’t necessarily say that because everyone is different and I shouldn’t listen to what you say because I like myself and you should care about other people.’
Samesexparents’ Gemma told Gay Star News she was surprised by the children’s maturity displayed in their answers – although she expected them not to have a stereotypical view of gender as a result of their upbringing.
‘Not one of the children listed a stereotypical male or female job when asked what jobs a boy and a girl do when they grow up,’ she said.
‘This is extremely uplifting to know that the children believe they can be anything that they want to be and do not have to default to gender stereotypes when it comes to deciding what career they wish to pursue.
‘The responses to the question “Is it okay for a boy to dress up as a princess and a girl to dress up as a pirate when playing dress up games?” are by far our favourite.
‘All 14 children agreed that this was okay, this was acceptable and this was nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.
‘You often hear of adults criticising other parents for letting their child dress in clothes “for the opposite gender”, in fear that the child will get bullied or teased by other children, but you will find that children are very open and accepting, and in most cases it’s only the adults who are unaccepting of it.’
Gemma and samesexparents are still accepting submissions via their Instagram account from children of same-sex parents aged between four and ten.
Read the full list of questions and a selection of responses below:
The post Children of same-sex parents share their views on gender appeared first on Gay Star News.
Mel Spencer
www.gaystarnews.com/article/children-of-same-sex-parents-share-their-views-on-gender/
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