[split] Names, pronouns, articles... and gender

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I read an article not long ago about a couple who would not refer to their child as a boy or girl (I forget which sex it actually is,) hoping that the child will come to terms with its gender identity on its own instead.

A number of people consider it cruel, including the couple's parents. I haven't formed an opinion but I think it's a great idea for an experiment. Though no doubt the child will go through much confusion and difficulty from society. It would be interesting to hear what the child thinks about this when it gets older.

I've been thinking a lot about gender identity recently. There is so much behavior that is considered to be typically "male" or "female" which seems completely arbitrary to me. The subject I study at university, religious studies, is very small nearly exclusively taken by women. In my first year, I used to say that I was 10% of the first year students of religious studies all by myself and 50% of the guys attending it - and that's not a joke, it's the literal truth. Although the other guy very rarely showed up. I sometimes get questions from people I know - "Don't you hate it, to have only girls around?" Which I never understand - it's not like girls are from another planet. (Although, yes, some conversations you can only have with other guys. I've had some pretty weird conversations involving sexuality.)

I don't want to keep blathering on about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I think a show like that is a step in the right direction. The main characters are strong and nearly exclusively female and run the whole spectrum from "girly" to "boyish" (There's the expected behavior again), while stereotypes like "girls who are obsessed with fashion and boys" are mercifully absent. (There is one pony, Rarity, who is into fashion - but she's a designer with her own clothing store.) It certainly doesn't teach girls (Still the primary target audience, despite all the adults like me watching) the old stereotypes.