Interview with lisa ling biography book

You are raising two girls.

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Was gender something you thought about before you had them? And honestly, I am so glad that I have these two children, because they are the light of my life. There is nowhere I would rather be and nothing I would rather do than be with these kids. We were pretty content with just having one child, but when we decided to try and have a second child, I did want a boy because I wanted one of each.

And my husband had always wanted to have a boy. So, when we found out we were having another girl, his disappointment was really palpable and really sad for me. I wanted him to feel really excited about having this child, irrespective of the gender. But as soon as she could, as soon as she saw the color pink, my oldest daughter was just drawn to it in a way that was out of my control, completely.

This happened when she was around 18 months old. Not only did she insist on wearing pink, but there had to be some sparkle in what she wore, as well. Magic Johnson, whom I interviewed in our gender fluidity episode, is the perfect example of someone who had expectations for his son. They put him in every sport—T-ball, basketball, baseball—while all EJ wanted to do was play with dolls.

When it comes to gender fluidity, a lot of people are intimidated by using new pronouns. What is exciting about this gender revolution is kids these days increasingly have the tools and they have other people whom they can share their feelings and experiences with. I think that has given young people a lot more confidence in being able to express where they fall on the gender spectrum and even experimenting with gender.

To many of us, the notion of experimenting with gender seems so foreign.