It's Ok To Play!

Gender is currently a topic gaining much attention. One's gender is how one identifies across the spectrum of gender, not by a person's sex at birth. Expression can occur simply as in color preference, clothing choices, pronoun usage, changing names. More involved expressions include socially transitioning as a different sex or changes made permanent with surgery to match a person's body with their gender thinking. Gender has moved from being a static concept to a fluid one. Previous research has studied older populations (adults and adolescents) in the development of gender and its variations. Until recently, little research is known about young children aged 3-5 years old. The purpose of this project is to open discussion with parents of preschoolers about gender identity as more children are identifying at earlier ages as gender variant. To do this, a workshop for parents was developed with an interest in gender variant young children to open dialogue between Preschool teachers and parents of preschool aged children about gender and its development, gender identity, and the various expressions of gender identity in gender variant children. As families experience change in how children express their gender, this change may cause stress often experienced as an ambiguous loss. Introducing families to discussion and education about the topic of gender identity and its variations of expression (gender variance) may reduce their stress. When families experiencing an ambiguous loss redefine what gender roles, expectations, and boundaries are for their family, they will be able to begin a path to a more balanced life of acceptance and understanding of their child