Gender Reveals and "Theybies"

One of the biggest ironies of our day is that more people think children should be "gender neutral until they decide—at about age four"*—what they want to be. They are "little humans, theybies," not boys or girls. But, ironically, we also have the most elaborate gender reveals of all time.

In the 1980s when I had my children, it was debatable if ultrasounds were good for pre-born children, so I opted not to do them at all. My children's genders were surprises. I intuitively "knew" the first time around, but I had no clue with my second pregnancy. No one did parties for gender reveals, although some of my girlfriends told people whether their child was a boy or a girl.

But nowadays, the cake is blue or pink inside, there are balloons, explosions of color, and all the rest. It seems that each reveal is "top this." I've actually taken part in guessing the sex of babies on social media before the reveals. (I've been wrong most of the time, so don't ask me!) They're a lot of fun and certainly add to the anticipation.

My question is why these amazing gender reveals at a time in history when many want gender-neutral children? "Don't call a little girl a princess or a little boy a tiger." Umm … excuse me. You used the terms girl and boy. We don't use those words, remember?

From what I understand of genetics, the difference between genders all boils down to Xes and Ys. Children are either boys or girls. It's in their DNA, in their chromosomal make-up. Maleness and femaleness even determine the way we think, speak, and express ourselves. Men and women have always been different. And, this difference manifests itself way before age four—when Ms. Aren says children should be able to choose whether they want to be a boy or girl. Imagine mere "theybies" making a decision like that, at such a young age!

Our daughter ran with her hands before her. Our son charged ahead with his hands behind him. Our daughter never made a motor sound in her life. Our son made motor sounds before he could talk. There were differences all along that my husband and I could hardly believe—including the noise level. Any parent who has both boys and girls will tell you the same thing. They are different. They just are. The difference in genders is in the DNA.

So, what about people who identify as the opposite sex? What about those who genuinely have gender dysforia? They are in the minority, of course.  And, they're biologically either male or female.

A biblical view of gender helps. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27). From the very beginning, God created male and female.

He didn't make "theybies."

He didn't leave it up to four-year-olds (or any age) to decide.

So, go ahead and celebrate your baby boys and girls! Call them Princess and Tiger. Encourage your children be what God designed them to be.

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31).

___________________

* All quotes from an interview with Cathy Aren from the group, The Liberal Sherpas, on Fox News.