Analyzing Lois Gould's Short Story 'X'

Hannah Hope
Mrs. Mills
ENG 3U1
10/04/13
The Genderless Child
Does anyone remember the old skipping song: “Girls go to Mars to get Candy bars, and boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider?” Why did the girls always get to go to Mars instead of the boys? Were the girls somehow superior compared to the boys? Boys should not be compared to girls nor should girls be compared to boys. This subject relates to the theme that is present throughout the short story “X” written by Lois Gould. “X” is based on the innocent childhood of a kid in which their gender is never truly revealed. Throughout the story, we witness how this unique child changes most gender based stereotypes that are created throughout young children’s lives. X changes the way his
classmates feel about gender stereotyping. These classmates no longer choose their toys based on their gender, but choose them based on what they like. They wear what they are most comfortable wearing, not what their expected to be dressed in. Finally, the teachers are now aware of the gender based stereotypes that they create at school. The short story “X” strives to inform the readers about the limitations of gender stereotyping and the effect it can have on the younger generation. X significantly changes the way most of his classmates look upon their toys. Not only do the kids want to play with each other, they enjoy new toys in which they have never been offered due to their gender. Parents who only buy their children toys based on their gender, are not considering what their children really wants to play with. Throughout their childhood, X’s classmates are only exposed to toys fit for their gender. Not once did little Susie think of playing kick ball instead of house. Her parents never directly encouraged her to play sports. Once X arrives at school, things start to change. X plays with every kind of toy you could possibly imagine. The Joneses want X to be exposed to every kind of toy imaginable. Gould states exactly what the Joneses bought in order to keep his/her gender a secret:
So they bought all kinds of toys. A boy doll that made pee-pee and cried ‘Pa-pa’. And a girl doll that talked in three languages and said, ‘I am the Pres-i-dent of Gen-er-al Mo-tors’. They bought a story book about a brave princess who rescued a handsome prince form his tower, and another one about a sister and brother who grew up to be a baseball star and a ballet star, and you had to guess which (30).
The Joneses buy toys which are desirable to every child. These toys are meant to appeal to both girls and boys. They also create a feeling of alliance; two different genders coming together as one big group. Once the children start playing with the opposite sex, things start to change. One of the toughest boys in the grade started showing a more feminine side to him. Gould explains young Jims change, “Then Jim, the class football nut, started wheeling his little sister’s doll carriage around the football field. He’d put on his entire football uniform, except the helmet. Then he’d put the helmet in the carriage, lovingly tucked under an old set of shoulder pads. Then he’d jog around the field, pushing the carriage and singing ‘Rockabye Bay’ to his helmet” (34). Not only is the star football player running around singing lullabies, he’s also stealing toys from his sister. It only takes one person to make a difference and in this case it is X. He didn’t want everyone to stop playing with their gender based toys and pick up the opposite sexes; he/she wants to be able to play with everyone and not worry what people think. The toys you choose for your child may limit his/her experience as a child. They should be allowed to play with whatever they please without feeling embarrassed due to their gender. Children should be allowed to make some decisions about themselves rather than have their parents always do it for them.
X is showing the other kids that the clothes they wear doesn’t have to reflect on their gender nor should they be judged on what they are most comfortable wearing. Starting from birth, boys and girl clothes is based on gender. Girls wear pretty pink dresses whereas boys wear mostly blues and greens. Why does is matter if a boy wants to wear a pink dress instead of a T-shirt and if a girl wants to wear a baseball cap instead of her new pink sunglasses? X is never forced to wear something he/she didn’t like. X wears comfy red and white checkered overalls every single day. At first the kids though it was really weird that he is wearing something so unisex but once they realize the reason behind his overalls, they decide that they want to wear them as well. One of Xs classmates, Susie, ran up to her parents begging for these overalls. Gould states that, “Susie, who had sat next to X, refused to wear pink dresses to school anymore. She wanted to wear red and white checked overalls just like X.” (34). Susie decides that she wants to be more like X. Before X enrolls into school, the kids all dressed in clothes fit for their gender and not their personality. Slowly after X showed his/her personality the children slowly start expressing their own feelings with their own personalities. X proves that by wearing what he/she pleased, it destroys all limitations that tag along with dressing by gender stereotyping. During recess, X starts to feel more comfortable being a genderless child. School was now a safe place without any judgment. Instead of choosing the ignore X’s condition, the teachers decided to embrace X and eliminate all gender based activities in order to accommodate X.
The Joneses are concerned that X will be left out when he is at school. During the story Gould states a list of limitations the school has for a genderless child: “The school library would have a list of recommended books for girls, and a different list for boys, teachers would tell boys to form a line, and girls to form another line, there would be boys’ games and girls’ games, and boys’ secrets and girls’ secrets, there would even be a bathroom marked BOYS and another one marked GIRLS” (31). All these situations scared the Joneses. They don’t want poor little X to feel left out. Their solution is to have the teacher line the children up in alphabetical order and to have X use the principles private bathroom which was only marked bathroom. As for the books, X would choose books that he preferred from each section. Instead of limiting X due to his genderless condition, the teachers found a way to make X feel at home. They destroy most gender based limitations that can be created while you’re at school. X proves that it is possible to eliminate a lot of gender stereotyping in his/her
school.
Let’s return to the skipping song. In reality girls can be just a stupid as boys and boys can be just as smart as girls. We shouldn’t base everything on our gender. Boys are just as capable of going to mars as girls are. We learn from a young age that gender differentiates us but in reality we are all human just with different body parts. The short story “X” does indeed inform the readers about the limitations of gender stereotyping and the effects it has on the younger generation. Thanks to X, the children no longer choose their toys based on gender, they wear what they feel is most comfortable and finally the teachers are aware of the gender based stereotypes that can arise while attending school. The idea isn’t supposed to encourage the reader to eliminate all gender based stereotypes; it is only to bring awareness to the situation we have placed ourselves in. We live in a world of stereotypes and it is up to you to encourage the ones you truly believe in.

Works Cited
Gould, Lois. “X.” Literacy Experiences Volume One. Ed. John E. Oster. Scarborough: Prentice Hall Canada, 1989, Print.