Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, the daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie recently introduced himself as John, creating a discussion about children and gender.
At the Los Angeles premier of Unbroken last week, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt showed up wearing a suit and introducing himself as “John”. It’s no secret that the daughter of Brad and Angelina has always worn boys clothes, but this is the first time he has ever really ‘come out’ with his adopted moniker, leading me to ask if John Jolie-Pitt is considered transgender.
My answer for that is yes, but based only on the very basic breakdown of the word, meaning that he transcends gender.
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In my opinion, all children should transcend gender, until the point in time when gender ceases to exist. Our society is set up to box people into either male or female, but people rarely fit exclusively into one of those two categories. Telling children which one they have to be based on their sex hampers their self-expression, and denies them the ability to be who they actually are.
Gender and sexuality are two different things, so its important to remember that being gay or straight has nothing to do with whether you identify as male, female, or something new all together.
I find it refreshing that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are so supportive of their children, whether they choose to identify as a son or a daughter. The more parents like this that exist in the world, the better off our children will be.
I will say this though, it is a really good thing they named him a gender non-specific name like Shiloh.
