The theme of “X.- A Fabulous Child’s Story” by Louis Gould is that gender conflicts are learned, but they can also be unlearned. In society today, although we strive to move away from the stereotypical gender norms, we cannot seem to leave the idea of “men” and “women”. We are so accustomed to being classified as either a “male” or a “female”, and thus the “gender norms” is created. To illustrate, when Mr.Jones goes shopping for toys, he is dumbfounded as what to buy, since X is neither a girl nor boy, but an X. However, the sections in the store are labeled as “Boys’ Fire Engines” and “Girls Housekeeping Sets” (p.18). This demonstrates how women are presumed to be the ones to raise the children, and men are the breadwinners of the family.
