Lois Gould X: A Fabulous Childs Story brings up the factor of raising a child gender-neutral within a society that categorized and stereotypes people by their gender and sex and how these gender roles are reinforced in society.

 In today’s society from the moment parents find out they are expecting a child most people want to know whether they will be having a boy or girl, and once a mother gives birth to a baby the first thing that is announced is if the baby is a boy or a girl. If you ask any expecting family what they wanted their baby to be most people the first thing they would most likely say is a healthy baby and, then they would say either a boy or girls; and for those who say the gender-sex of their child does not matter, in actuality it does. This is because we live in a society where society automatically characterizes people by their gender. Gender in today’s society predetermines what you should wear, how you should act, feel, and look. Gould’s X: A Fabulous Child’s Story is an example of parents who tried to raise a gender-neutral child in a society that defines males and females from childhood by the way they dressed to the actives they participated in, an when a child like X was raised to ignore and defy all of societies gender classifications there’s an up roar from children’s parents. Although the children are at first confused and to curious as to if X is either a boy or girl, that later accept and embrace the factor that X is just X and does not need to be classified and defined. The parents of the children are not as accepting; they demand to find out the sex of the child, pressuring the principal and the parents to have X examined by outside experts. In society where your gender seems to predetermine how you should act and behave it is difficult to cross the invisible line that is in places for roles of males and females.

I agree with Gould on the factors of how society has put in place, invisible lines of what your gender allows you to do, and what is acceptable in society. I also believe the school system does reinforce gender roles as to what society feels is acceptable, although there is a shift in society on the roles of women and men and what they can do. Today women are portrayed as heroes who hold the same positions as men and are, caring mothers, who take care of their families; because of this they line of what males and females are only supposed to do is crossed and is becoming acceptable. Gould’s X: A Fabulous Child also proved that children are better accepting to change and differences from people, it is a child’s parents that changes the child’s perceptions of differences and what is acceptable. To live in a gender-neutral society would be ideal, but I feel society would just find another way to classify and define people.