Summary:
In the past decade, gender neutrality has become a more exposed topic to children starting with the acceptance of their parents. A mother had purchased her son dress-up clothing because he liked to put on theatre shows. It started with primarily men clothing and eventually sparkly dresses and skirts were added to vamp up his theater wardrobe. It became clear that he loved wearing that sparkly green dress. It started with wearing it around the house and slowly moved to wearing it out running errands, when people came over, the park; all over!
First grade was close to starting and his mother had to decide if she would allow him to continue to wear such outfits or if she would purchase him pants and t-shirts to wear to school. Her son had come to the decision that he didn’t want to stop wearing dresses and skirts, and he would continue to wear them to school.
Ethical Analysis:
This past week we talked about the true definition of happiness along with the meaning of virtue. Aristotle says that happiness is 3 things, but at the same time, they are not. In this case, I would have to disagree with Aristotle that happiness is pleasure but not really because that person will over indulge in that pleasure to seek out happiness. In this case, the little boy finds happiness in the pleasure of dressing the way he chooses to. I think Aristotle’s statement can be somewhat wrong based on the specific scenario. This little boy finds happiness and pleasure in being and dressing the way he chooses to and fulfilling the gender identity he chooses to use. He found happiness in choosing to be who he wanted to be and with that came the pleasure of being himself.
He also says that virtue is a state of character (good and bad), but children the age of 6 don’t have a grasp on what virtue is. Even his mother had trouble deciding what to do. You love your children so much that you battle between protecting them and unconditionally supporting them. When the boy first went to school, he was teased by some and accepted by others. Do some of these children hold good virtue by being open-minded while others show poor virtue by being judgmental? These characteristics stem from their upbringing by their parents. These intellectual and moral skills must be learned somewhere. Over time, being exposed to this difference in the little boy (who eventually stated he would use her/she pronouns) made it more acceptable to her peers. She grew out her hair and continued to wear skirts and dresses, and instead of being known as the boy in a skirt she started being a girl in a skirt instead.
Source:
phi325 