Parents are over-protective of their children but if the matter is as big as gender bending, their concerns seem all the more valid. How to teach your children to be gender sensitive is the question that haunts their mind. It is every parent’s wish to have his/her children perfectly groomed and well-behaved – a boy growing into a strong wise man and a girl blooming into a pretty feminine lady. The thought that your child has gender-bending potential can be scary but dealing with it in a right way is your challenge.
As per experts, children investigate with stuff only to kill their curiosity like little boys cross-dressing and girls choosing to play with boys instead of their gender fellows.
Reacting to situations like this with exaggerated anger, fear and shock can scare your children as well as you. Give them a little freedom but as a parent it is your responsibility to let them develop their full potential as they grow up. Don’t raise your children with gender biased viewpoint and teach them to respect both genders but being a parent it is very important that you inculcate the sense of gender sensitivity into your children. Teach them, make them learn and do not be harsh with them. Practice compassion and encouragement.
Discuss with your children and tell them the positives of their gender. Give them gifts that highlight their gender value. Ask them questions that are gender related like picking random questions during watching a TV program or a movie. Questions such as how many girls and boys were in the show and what they were doing and dressing up like and why? Ask them questions like why do girls do what they do and why do boys need to appear masculine and their gender.
These questions subsequently raise questions in your child’s mind and pave way for them into becoming a gender specific adult. Always present a brighter prospect of their gender and the endless opportunities and perks they enjoy being their own gender and hopefully your child will love being what he /she was born to be.
All parents want their children to grow into perfect and healthy adults. It worries them when a girl shows the signs of a tomboy and the boy shows feminine characteristics. It is indeed alarming but the big question is how you, as a parent, should react t
