We live in a developing and progressive new world. As we grow, we learn to be more accepting and tolerant. We have just begun to accept more than two genders but we’re still learning more about it. The LGBTQ community is receiving a lot of support from everywhere including the law. Moreover, it’s normal for people to easily get carried away by gender and gender roles but you don’t want to teach your kids the same. This is the new way of bringing change to teach the new generation the importance of acceptance and gender fluidity. A gender-neutral environment is good for your kid’s growth and their personal lives as well. It allows them to accept their gender or gender identity and it helps them to break the cycle of gender norms. Here are a few gender-neutral things that you should teach your child.
1. Teach your child that boys can cry. There’s nothing wrong with men expressing emotions. Teach them crying is not only meant for women and that it does not make you weak. It is just another emotion.
2. Don’t associate genders with colors. Men can like pink and women can like blue. Genders don’t have colors or shades. It is colorless.
3. Don’t put your child into gender roles or norms. Keep them away from gender stereotypes and set a good example for them. Tell them that women do not belong to the kitchen and that men can also raise kids. Teach them that it’s okay for a woman to be the breadwinner of the house.
4. Don’t hide or protect them from gender stereotypes. Every time you see it happen or if any statement is made about it don’t ask your kid to ignore it or close their ears. Point it out to your kids and tell them that it is wrong and tell them why it’s wrong.
5. Give them talk about the gender-neutral environment and gender identity and so on. It’s just as important as the talk about good touch and bad touch as well as sex education.
6. Let them have access to the gender-neutral people or people from the LGBTQ community. Don’t hide it from them, instead normalize it. Allow your child to read up about it or communicate with people about it. Perhaps make them mee your friends from the community.
