ALBA, KETH
LUTERO, GERLIE
SEBELLINO, CHRISTIAN J
The novel "X: A Fabulous Child's Story" is written by
Lois Gould. The narrative is about two parents who are
raising a child and have no idea what gender the child is in
exchange of 23 billion dollars and 72 cents for the cost of
raising baby X. The scientist instructs the parents to treat X
with impartiality. The goal of the test is to see if masculine
or female traits develop genetically or socially. The child
was reared in a happy environment and was allowed to
participate in both boy and girl activities. Whether only boys
were supposed to play football or only girls were supposed
to bake cakes, X was trained to be indifferent to the
distinctions and did both. In fact, X was raised to know no
differences and did both.
1. IDEAS, INSIGHTS AND LESSONS:
A Fabulous Child's Story raises the issue of raising a
gender-neutral child in a society that categorizes and
stereotypes people based on their gender and sex, as well
as how these gender roles are reinforced. Let me define
what gender neutrality is. So, Gender neutrality is the idea
that policies and other social institutions should avoid
distinguishing roles according to people’s sex or gender.
Meaning, in this novel there was no presumption about how
X should feel, act, or behave. Following the official
instructions, the child X was raised in a gender-neutral
manner. The children surrounding him, on the other hand,
were initially uncertain as to whether X was a male or
female, and how they should interact with him, but they
eventually accepted the truth that X is genuine and natural,
just like them. They realized that any judgment would be
harmful to X, therefore they understood and avoided gender
reveal curiosity. In short they accepted either baby X was a
boy or girl, in fact they were influenced by baby x’s gender
expressions.
On the other hand, the author of the novel intends to
demonstrate that we live in a world that instantly
categorizes a child's gender. In today's society, most people
want to know whether they are having a boy or a girl from
the minute they learn they are carrying a baby, and once a
mother gives birth to a baby, the first thing that is
announced is whether the baby is a boy or a girl. If you
asked any expectant family what they wanted their kid to
be, the majority of them would say a healthy baby first,
followed by either a boy or a girl; and those who say the
gender-sex of their child doesn't matter, in reality it does.
This is because we live in a society where society
automatically characterizes people by their gender. Gender
dictates what you should wear, act, feel, and look like in
today's culture. In Gould's X: A Fabulous Child's Story,
parents try to raise a gender-neutral child in a society that
defines males and females from childhood by how they
dress to the activities they participate in, and when a child
like X is raised to ignore and defy all of society's gender
classifications, there is an uproar from children's parents.
While the children are initially perplexed and intrigued as to
whether X is a boy or a girl, they eventually accept and
appreciate the reality that X is simply X and does not require
classification or definition. But the children's parents are
less accepting; they demand to know the child's sex, putting
pressure on the principal and the parents to have X
investigated by outside experts. It's difficult to cross the
invisible line that separates male and female duties in a
world where your gender seems to dictate how you should
act and behave.
2. At this moment, we agree with Gould on the aspects that
society has established, such as the invisible borders that
define what your gender enables you to do and what is
socially acceptable. It was highlighted in the novel on how
the parents react because they were upset on how their
own children accepted and influenced by baby x’s gender
expressions. Although there is a shift in society on the
responsibilities of women and men and what they can do, I
believe the school system reinforces gender norms as to
what society considers appropriate. Meanwhile, women are
now portrayed as heroes who occupy the same positions
as men and are caring mothers who look after their children;
as a result, the boundary between what males and females
are solely supposed to do has blurred and is becoming
acceptable, resulting to gender equality. On the other hand,
children are more accepting of change and differences from
individuals, according to Gould's X: A Fabulous Child;
nonetheless, it is the child's parents who influence the
child's perspective of differences and what is acceptable. I
think Gould proves a very valid point that we should let the
child in question, learn, grow and be who it wants to be and
not who we think it should be. And it would be fantastic to
live in a gender-neutral society, where there's no method to
label and define people, just like base defining someone
base on biological sex.