Angelina Jolie 's daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt often wears slacks when joining her mother on the red carpet. But on Monday evening at the Eternals premiere the 15-year-old resident modeled a dress.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Excuse the sketchy source (DM), but this article popped up on Twitter and it instantly made me think of Eduardo/the wider risks that come with questioning a child’s gender identity too quickly - not to mention publicly.
I remember how much the media speculated over the fact that Shiloh dressed in “boy’s clothes”, had her hair cut “like a boy” and there were people who tried to politicise this. With the exception of her parents.
Interview with Angelina in 2010:
“I don’t think it’s for the world to interpet anything. She likes to dress like a boy and wants her hair cut like a boy and she wanted to be called ‘John’ for a while. Some kids wear capes and want to be Superman and she wants to be like her brothers. It’s who she is. It’s been a surprise to us and it’s really interesting, but she’s so much more than that – she’s funny and sweet and pretty.”
I’m not saying Angelina is mother of the year, but what she and Brad gave their daughter was the freedom to write her own story - which includes changing the plot line whenever she chooses.
Jonathon has taken that from E2. He has (pardon the extended metaphor) stolen the typewriter from him. There’s a certain irony that he did that main character/wildest dreams TikTok challenge with E2, because E2’s narrative is entirely controlled by J.
If he turned around and said “I want out of this story”, would J honestly say “okay”? For E2’s sake, I want to believe he would. But based on everything we’ve seen I doubt it.
There is a possibility that this is not just a “phase” in E2’s life. Just as there was for Shiloh. Gender Dysphoria IS real and it is so important that it is taken seriously. But that is why support and resources needs to be going to help people who truly need it. What’s more, that we also don’t diminish it by saying that a boy wanting to play with a doll or wear make up is a girl in a boy’s body.
I think of a topic close to my own heart - mental health. We have gotten to the point where one bad day can be instantly labelled “depression”. Everything is given a label and - once the label is stuck - it opens a whole new chapter that is not always a true narrative. And can actually cause more problems than there were before: a self-fulfilling prophecy (look at the girl who cried Wolf).
I am really anxious to post this, as I don’t want to seem at all like I am belittling these issues. Far from it. It is actually because I take them seriously, that I get frustrated by rash and performative ravelling. I hope I’ve made sense!