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We live in a world where the gender of a person is considered one of the most prominent identities they possess. Activities like gender reveal only makes it more evident how we think our lives will be different depending on the gender of our child. Walk through the kid’s section of any mall, and you will get a clear picture of how we are manipulated into thinking that a girl and a boy deserve two different worlds. If you are a parent who wants to raise kids in a gender-neutral environment, we are here to help. Here are some easy tips for creating a gender-neutral environment for your kids so they have a broader mentality about gender and can carry this forward in generations to come. Read on to know it all.
1. Use Colors Without Gender Affinity
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Noone said pink is for a girl and blue is for a boy. But if you see a baby wrapped in blue cloth in a nursery, your mind will automatically assume it is a boy child. However, this mentality needs to be washed away. Blue and pink are mere colors; and like yellow, green, and any other color, they should be seen as gender neutral. So make sure you present your kids with toys of every color, so they have a bias-less preference of which color they like the most.
2. Give Your Child A Gender Neutral Name
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Gender-neutral names are super trendy now, but we are not talking in terms of trends alone. Since humans should be entitled to their own gender identity, naming something they will have a hard time relating to will only burden your child by changing their name on a thousand official documents. So to save all the work, keep something that doesn’t incline to a particular gender.
3. Set An Example
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You must practice what you preach. If you are all about empty promises, your kids will no longer trust you with what you have to say to them. So begin by setting an example. If you are going to a family picnic, you can keep the color theme pink, and everyone wears pink regardless of gender differences. This way, the kids will know men wearing pink is not a stigma.
4. Prescribe Interests
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As a parent, you need to open a world full of opportunities for your child. Be it the sports they like or the hobbies they choose, it should be according to their preference. However, showing your kids numerous opportunities helps them grow in person. So your daughter can like activities like fencing and boxing, and your son can love performing as an actor and taking part in ballet.
5. Give Them Choices
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As a parent, the best thing you can do for your child is give them a choice. For example, take your toddler to a store and ask them to pick the shirt they want to wear at the party. Don’t shrug if your little boy wants to wear a pink shirt with hearts; it’s his choice, and you as a parent need to love your kids the way they are. In the same way, if your daughter chooses to wear a dinosaur costume for Halloween instead of wanting to be a princess, you need to give your approval and help her choose the T-rex dress!
6. Practice Egalitarian Parenting
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As parents, you are also your child’s first and the most influential teacher. The values you instill in them at a tender age are what they will carry with them all their life. So you must practice egalitarian parenting for bringing up your kids. If you are blessed with a girl and a boy, ensure they are treated equally, and you make no difference in the colors they wear or the toys they choose.
7. Debunk The Myths
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As your child grows up, they start getting influenced by everyone around them. For example, you might have taught your son to be comfortable playing with dolls and cars, but society will tell them to pick the cars only. This is when you need to sit with them and teach them that no one can make them choose something they are not comfortable with. The fact that dolls are for girls and toys are for boys is a ridiculous myth. If they prefer some toy over the other, it should be solely because they like it, not because someone influenced them in any way.
Parenting is one of the most challenging roles you will ever undertake in your life. Now you have to look out for yourself and your little one and make sure nothing hurts them physically and emotionally. Thankfully the world is not as hostile as it was previously, but we are still living through the transition. And each of us has an important role to play in widening the mentality of the future generation. So, what did you think about our ways to foster a gender-neutral environment for the kids? Let us know in the comments section. Happy parenting!
