Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt Show Support For Shiloh On Her ‘Gender Identity’ Journey
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have busy careers as successful actors, but they have made a strong commitment to providing a loving family for all of their children, with an insider telling OK that the couple is supporting their daughter Shiloh on her “gender identity” quest.
Desiring to “identify as a boy,” the 10-year-old has a closet filled with clothing designed for boys, noted the source, who revealed that Brad and Angelina’s daughter does not own any girls’ attire.
“Shiloh’s so funny about her wardrobe and she couldn’t be more different from her sisters,” revealed the insider.
“She only wears boys’ clothes and is always stealing T-shirts from Pax’s wardrobe.”
Jolie and Pitt also recently allowed her to cut her hair noticeably shorter. In 2010, Angelina explained to Vanity Fair that her daughter “wants to be a boy,” with the shorter hair part of that desire at that time.
Angelina and her husband are “being extremely responsible about her tomboy ways,” added the source.
“[Jolie and Pitt are] committed to giving Shiloh a loving family environment.”
Consequently, the couple has obtained “professional help,” according to the insider, who revealed that Angelina and her husband are looking ahead to the right time to address any gender identity issues, which they feel will be when she’s ready to enter high school.
“Angie and Brad are getting advice from all kinds of experts on how to handle it carefully and not damage their child,” noted the insider. “They are worried she might get bullied, but she’s a tough little nut who totally knows her own mind. She’s a very impressive young person with a killer brain on her shoulders.”
“Brad and Angie have been doing everything possible to protect her from being bullied by her peers and outsiders.”
In addition, to serve as role models for their other five children, Jolie and Pitt are focused on “gently setting the tone” for interactions with the 10-year-old, added the source. Brad reportedly was concerned that Shiloh had been “influenced” by her big brothers when it came to her desire to identify as a boy and preference to being called “John.” However, the expert alleviated his worries, added the source.
“Brad was told Shiloh would have gravitated towards dressing as a boy, and being called John, even if her siblings were all girls,” revealed the insider. “There is nothing that they did wrong as parents.”
While both parents are “very accepting” of the choices that their child has made, Pitt did have a question about the future, added the source.
“Brad wondered if Shiloh was just a tomboy and would outgrow it.”
When it comes to how parents can know if their children are just going through a “phase” or coping with gender identity issues, clinical psychologist Linda Blair told the Telegraph that she feels it’s essential that parents avoid leaping to conclusions.
“It could be so many other things that I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion,” she emphasized.
Angelina has been candid about their child in terms of her hair and preference for boys’ clothes. In addition, it was Pitt who revealed during an interview that his daughter wanted to be called John, noting that she would interrupt him to correct him when he called her by her birth name.
“I’m John.”
The 10-year-old also made an impression by showing up in a suit and tie that matched her big brothers’ at a recent Jolie film premiere.
But Blair’s psychological analysis is that there are a number of possible reasons, from copying her older brothers to seeking attention from Angelina among her siblings.
“Usually, with a child, especially children with older siblings of the opposite gender, it’s normal to want to copy them and be like them,” clarified the psychologist. “A lot of times kids in the middle of a large family are looking desperately and legitimately for ways to get attention. So they’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”
In addition, Blair believes that it is “totally normal” for children to explore gender identity, and that the real issues lie in suppressing the quest.
“To explore what it means to be both genders is also totally normal,” emphasized the psychologist. “But the problem is we have suppressed it for so many generations, that people are still uncomfortable with it. You can’t become what you are until you know what you’re not.”
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
