I once had a cultural studies prof gripe, “Why is the first question someone asks you about your new baby, ‘Is it a boy or a girl’? Why don’t they ask if the baby is healthy or how the mother is doing? Why is gender so important that it trumps everything else?”. And he’s right- why is the gender so damn important? It’s a baby- it is going to do baby-like things without any regard for it’s gender. But everyone is dying to find out the sex of their baby, and those that find out the sex before the baby is born will already start to prescribe what the baby wears, plays with and rooms in relation to this unimportant factor. Parents are terrified to have someone approach them to declare, “Oh, what an adorable little boy!” when they are pushing their stroller out and about, and will go so far as to piece their infant’s flesh to …
