Tuesday, December 23, 2014

See John

Much has already been written about Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Which is crazy, because, you know, Shiloh is 8 years old. Most of it has to do with how Brad and Angelina’s fourth child dresses. I’ve been guilty, too, five years ago when the world realized the then 3-year-old was a bon fide tomboy. Over the years more has been said. It has been reported by The Telegraph that Shiloh prefers to be called “John.” Which is, of course, perfectly fine. So I’ll use John. I do not know for certain what gender pronoun John prefers at this point, so I’ll leave that to him or her to decide in the future.

I think mostly what all the attention on John Jolie-Pitt reminds us how fascinated and frightened we are by the otherness can exist in gender. The binary of man and woman can be so blinding that some react primally to anything that doesn’t fit into the rigid this or that. I have to say most of the coverage of little John recently has been pretty good. I haven’t seen too many people with torches crucifying the Jolie-Pitt family for letting John be John. Though, granted, I haven’t visited any torch stores recently, so I don’t know all the scuttlebutt around those angry cash registers.

Mostly what I want to say is how proud, and a tiny bit jealous, I am at how much John gets to be John. While I have always identified as female, I yearned to wear what the boys did while growing up. I hated all dresses and skirts and frills. Lace made me itch and want to die. My parents were OK, but there were always those special occasions where I had to wear a dress. I hated those special occasions. So it’s lovely to see what when John goes out on (albeit much more glamorous) special occasions – like the red carpet for mama Jolie’s new movie – John gets to wear what John wants. Let people be people, it seems so simple. And on this 8 years old, it looks fantastic.

7 comments:

Carmen SanDiego said...

Totally, good on Angie and Brad
I hated those special occasions when I had to wear dresses. I even remember my father saying if I didn't wear a dress I was not going and then proceeding to not go when I got a little older...
Lucky kid...

Anonymous said...

Even now, at 22, I am still a bit worried about Christmas day because my family will like to dress nice. Dressing nice is synonymous in my head with dressing more femme. Which I don't hate as long as I'm in th mood. So I'm jealous of having the freedom and confidence to try different styles around my family. Friends is easy, family i cant hear their 'judgement' and have arguments with without them saying a word. Its unfair on them but its still in my head.

So this was less of a useful comment than expected. But i think i had to write it. Merry Christmas guys!

Anonymous said...

I've always been a frilly girl, myself, but I also had a strong, STRONG admiration for the girls that wore jeans in our 1970s childhoods, who cut their hair short without looking bad (I looked bad, y'all, BAD), who could strut around as tomboys or "tomboys" all they wanted in high school and college. It was never my style or nature, but it looked so amazing on those who did it. John Jolie-Pitt looks just like one of those other girls and "girls," the ones I envied for their utter ownership of themselves. Now I have that ownership and it feels great, and I'm still girly in it, and I'm married to a woman much like the ones I daydreamed about as a six year old. Go, John! Go, Angelina and Brad! That's good parenting.

Anonymous said...

I guess I was lucky. My mom let me wear little suits when I was young. I even wore a bow tie in grade nine...lol and this was 30 years ago. She didn't care and also I didn't figure out I was gay for a long time after that. I hate wearing dresses and haven't for a very lone time. But I still love my long curly red hair and wouldn't dream of cutting it short.

Anonymous said...

I too have been surprised by the general acceptance in mainstream media.

I suspect this would have not been the case if this had been one of the Pitt boys wanting to wear a dress (see The Cement Garden).

Still disappointed in you reporting on a CHILD DS.

imadreamer said...

I admire this kid for being so strong about what he wants (or don't). And I am so happy that Brad and Angelina prefers staying by their kids instead of caring about the society judgement. To the contrary of too many parents, they understand a kid is a person with her/his own tastes, feelings and expressions. I respect them for that.

Anonymous said...

I think John is going to be quite the looker no matter what your looking for....