Gender Identity

Boy or a girl? Generally one of the first questions parents answer about their lil ones, it's the one that Toronto parents Kathy Witterick and David Stocker opted to skip completely when their baby was born nearly one year ago, on New Year's Day. Named Storm, an appropriate moniker for a child that was the subject of more than a little controversy, the baby's parents publicly announced that they would not be revealing Storm's gender in The Toronto Star. Unsurprisingly, the family has faced its share of haters, critics, and detractors over the past year who feel that the family is more than just wacky — that they're doing actual psychological damage by imposing their extreme beliefs on their innocent lil ones.

Today, as Storm's first birthday approaches, the lil one is thriving. With two doting older siblings — including big brother Jazz, whom his parents identify as "gender independent" thanks to his affinity for pink, fairy birthday parties, and dresses — and a community of supportive friends, the family is sticking by their commitment to raise their children with "the freedom to choose who they want to be, unconstrained by social norms about males and females." What do you think? Inspiring trailblazers or irresponsible parents?

The Patrick Mohr show at German Fashion Week put expected gender appearances in a hairy predicament today. Some models walked the runway topless, but it was the lack of hair on their heads, replaced by hair on their faces, that caught the most attention.

Perhaps it's the bald heads set off with this wispy facial hair — which might not look so good on a man either — that makes the look unsettling. When French artist Jeanne Mordoj wore a beard out to bars in Paris, she got some positive feedback: many stared, but some men hit on her, intrigued by the unexpected hair on her face. She even felt more feminine, saying: "When I put on my beard, I feel my femininity so strongly, maybe even more than without it. I'll miss it."

Jeanne wanted to learn about the things women hide, like hair anywhere but on their heads, and found that a woman wearing a beard is both captivating and revolting. Do you think this runway show proves the same thing?

While some of us have irregularly waxed every last hair off our upper lips since high school, French contortionist Jeanne Mordoj wondered what it would be like to have a beard. Her hirsute dream came not from the desire to up her masculinity but from a curiosity about the things women hide — like any hair that's not on our heads — and things that are at once captivating and revolting.

One night she made a beguiling beard out of the idea and went to bars in Paris. Everyone looked at her. The women stared; the men ogled. Many men, obviously attracted, pursued her by saying things like "what else you've got?" Because that always works! While some women have said it's too revolting to look at, others have called it beautiful.

As for Jeanne Mordoj, she's reached the point where she prefers her jaw stubbly over smooth. "When I put on my beard, I feel my femininity so strongly, maybe even more than without it," she said. "I’ll miss it.”

Source: Flickr User Gabriel Camerotti