How did Shiloh Pitt the worlds most beautiful couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt‘s first born biological daughter turn into a beautiful little girl who looked like a doll to a four year old tom boy that looks like Ellen Degeneres?
I get how Angelina wants her kids to express themselves and she has spoken about Shiloh’s boyish style by saying: ”Shiloh, we feel has Montenegro style. It’s how people dress there. She likes tracksuits, she likes regular suits. So it’s a suit with a tie and a jacket and slacks, or a tracksuit. She likes to dress like a boy. She wants to be a boy. So we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys’ everything. She thinks she’s one of the brothers.”
There’s nothing wrong with a girl wanting to dress like a boy and being a tomboy. Eventually she’ll grow out of it or she may not and that’s okay. Growing up my older sister hated anything girly and loved wearing baggy clothes and I loved everything that glittered and was such a girly girl and was obsessed with fashion. She grew out of it as she got older, but my mother would never have allowed her to transform into a boy. There’s a different between dressing like one and starting to look like one. Now, I don’t have children of my own I am just stating my opinions…I get her daughter didn’t want her hair long for whatever reason but I also find that hard to believe that hair would be bother a little girl so much, however the way it is cut SO short just isn’t right and is confusing because she looks like a BOY! It takes away the essence of being a little girl, she isn’t going to be fashionable and girly like Suri Cruise but what I am trying to say is there are many ways to dress her if she doesn’t want to be in dresses. Kids don’t know any better, they see what they like and they want it and it’s up to you as a parent to decide on if it’s the right or wrong thing to grant. She has brothers and she wants to act and dress like them, which is normal. She wants to look like a boy or Angelina wants to think she wants to look like a boy and she is running with it, she can dress and allow her to be a tomboy but she has gone so far and has totally transformed her.
Everyone already thinks she is going to be a lesbian, maybe she is, maybe she won’t. But I don’t think anyone should be having discussions about it, she is too young to be subjected to so such topics. You already have Chaz Bono saying how she is in the wrong gender which I think is wrong for him to say and it’s not right or fair to question and label little girls. Who knows and who cares what she will be when she gets older. For now, she is a little girl and Angelina Jolie needs to not allow the media to have so much speculation about her daughter and dress her differently then what she has her wearing now. It’s too boyish looking and it went way too far when Shiloh swims with boy trunks. That doesn’t sit well with me. Kids are going to scream, cry and throw tantrums when they don’t get what they want but you are the parent and you know better and the key is: they’ll get over it!
If that were my daughter and she wants to dress like a boy and refuses to wear dresses. Fine. I’ll let her pick a piece of clothing and I’ll put the outfit together. That way she gets to pick something she wants and I get to choose how I want her to look. I’ll respect my child’s wishes to express themselves but I would have it be limited. She wants to look like a boy? I’ll make her think she is. Skinny ripped jeans and a loose top with with combat boots and a fitted studded leather jacket. Or if she wants to wear a tie like Shiloh has on the top picture, I would allow her to have it with a white a cute girly top, jeans and flats. I’ll have her put on a black tutu with boots and a tank top. She doesn’t want her hair long, I’ll cut it a bit shorter, like a bob and just make sure the cut doesn’t make her look like a boy! I would be incorporating what she wants and allowing her to express herself and be cautious on how my child appears. I wouldn’t want anyone judging or labeling her and I sure as hell would want my girl to look like a girl and when she is old enough she can dress and be whoever and however she wants to be but for now Angelina has control and she clearly knows what she is doing.
Update:
I have gotten a lot of heat for this post…I want to start by saying I am sorry if I offended anyone. I in no mean tried to do that or try to say that it’s wrong for little girls to want to dress like boys and what the outcome of that may be in the child’s future. Like I said I respect Angelina and Brad for allowing their children to express themselves but I don’t agree about the radical change they did to their young daughter, for example chopping off her hair like a boy and wearing boy trunks to swim. This was just my opinion, I am not a mother and I understand how a mother is passionate about this because they go through it all with their children and I read what you all had to say and I learned a lot from that. It was just my opinion and I shared how I felt and I understand the flaws in my opinions.
So Starry, Sasha, Cheryl, Kat, Federico, Chenoa, Cindy, Anna, Nicole and Carol (you weren’t preaching to the choir, thank you for understanding where I was coming from, I know you stumbled on my blog on accident but I hope you’ll come back!), thank you for your feedback and taking your time to tell me how you felt, very much respected and appreciated whether it’s good or bad I love reading what others have to say.
Update:
Here is Shiloh Pitt and younger sister Vivienne over the weekend. Shiloh is 5 years old and Viviene is 3 years old. Would you ever guess that Shiloh is a girl by looking at her? Look at her hair cut! Look at what she is wearing! You see the difference between the sisters? No one is the same and its a beautiful thing when everyone can be original, be their own person and express themselves but Shiloh is an example…it’s been taken way too far. I am sorry to say but we hardly see Angelina’s kids be very well put together. I know it must be hard to have 6 children, but she has nanny’s and there are no excuses. I really do not agree with having your little daughter look like how Shiloh is looking! I cringe when I see it.
Wow, this article really pisses me off. What’s so wrong about respecting this child’s identity whether they’re transgendered or not? Maybe they were put in the wrong body and maybe it’s a phase, but which ever the case, as a parent it’s far better to let a child express themselves in which ever way they see fit than to impose gender roles upon them that they clearly don’t want. From what I’ve read, there’s a big chance that Shiloh is transgendered and the blatant transphobia by the media is just gross. Let the kid be who they are and decide what they want. I’m proud of Angelina for doing just that in the face of constant attention.
Thank you for responding, I value everyone’s opinions whether bad or good. And I respect what you said and I actually agree with you. But my point is, Shiloh is in the media and it’s a cruel world for her and for her parents. Even if she grows up to find that she is in the wrong body, right now she is too little to understand that. She is a little girl after all and like I said, if she wants to dress like a boy she should have control over dressing her how she wants by letting her choose an item of clothing and than putting the outfit together myself. I do respect Angelina for allowing her to express herself however she wants but again, my thing is don’t have your girl looking like a boy.
I have a boy about Shiloh’s age. He has a little sister and these days, he often says like: “I wish I would have been born a girl”. Sometimes, he wants to use his sister’s hair clips or hair bands. I let him do that, as I thougth it was funny. I do not know about other kids, but my son does not choose his clothes by himself. I buy him his clothes and he just wears that. He has never said like: “I dislike this.” or “I want to wear this.” He just don’t care at all. Maybe it is different with girls, my daughter is still too small, so I cannot say, but as far as I know from my friends, they choose clothes for their daughters (about 5 years old), too. I can hardly believe that 4 or 5 years old girl just goes shopping and picks her own style.
Zuzana from Czech Republic
What is wrong about a girl dressing like a boy? In the early 90s when I grew up, every girl tried her best to look like a boy, wearing boy’s shirts and having hair short. In the late 1990 or early 2000s, it was also fashionable for girls to dress like men rappers. If Shiloh wanted to dress like a boy for whatever the reason is, it is a choice of hers that we should respect. And we, at any age and of any background, deserves the same respect. You may be concerned that she will be embarrassed or it would somehow affect her self esteem if she grew up seeing pictures or media reporting of her out-of-the-norm childhood fashion sense. I believe many girls/boys of similar age out there are doing the same thing and it was not anything unusual in the first place. Having myself dressed like a boy when I was younger, I did not grow up feeling embarrassed of looking ugly or weird when I was 5 or 10 or 15.
Congratulations for growing up to feel comfortable in your own skin. I applaud you, but unfortunately, the circumstances here are very different. You and your parents weren’t constantly on display, inspiring scrutiny at every turn. While I do not believe in “stifling” children, I do believe in “guiding” them. After all, is that not the role of parents everywhere. Even the animal kingdom believes in “parenting.”
Everyone is trying to be so tactful and politically correct. The fact of the matter is that Angelina is trying to push her agenda on the kid. Each kid will play a certain character in her family movie. She labeled Shiloh from the start. Shiloh is playing the role of lesbian chic. Perhaps in the future she’ll ask her mother why she made her dress that way.
If you raised your kid right, it’s not going to matter how they look and what they wear. Only YOU know who they are and you know you’ve done a good job raising them, so why are you afraid of people judging and scrutinizing? People are going to do that even if you dress them “properly.” Defend them, but don’t steer them into a direction opposite of what they’re comfortable with just because you’re afraid that complete, ignorant strangers might judge them wrongly.
She has more than one kid, you know. She’s doing a pretty fine job for someone constantly in the limelight.
Thank you for your comment and for visiting my blog! I agree with that you said. I really do and your feedback actually changed my point of view so I thank you Cheryl. It shouldn’t matter what anyone says, they already will always have negative things to say and just allow the child to be whoever and however they want to be…because it’s true, in the end you know who you are and you know how you are parenting them and that’s all that matters. Hope to hear you from again soon!
This is true but really, if her son wanted to be a girl would Angelina let him wear dresses and grow his hair out and put him in pigtails? If she did, would think it was OK?
I agree! I guess its double slandered. Did you see the recent picture of Shiloh with her hair EVEN shorter? I’ll post that up too. I just don’t agree in turning her into looking like a boy just because she likes boy stuff. If it was the other way around, I am sure they would never allow the boy to dress like a girl. Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope I hear from you again soon!
When I was a wee girl I was exactly the same as Shiloh. I wanted to be a boy and as such dressed and acted like a boy/ I understand the torture of being made by a mother who was desperate for a girl to wear pink dresses and attend dance classes when I was growing up when all I wanted to do was play football and climb trees. Now that does not mean I am transgendered in fact now i have reached the grand old age of 22 I am happy as a woman and all that tailless. When you are a child gender roles are much more stereotyped and black and white. I was eger to prove i was as capable as all the boys were at being the fastest and strongest ect. I ermeber the running battles I had with my mother as she tried to bully me into dresses ect. I can say for a fact I would raise my daughter the way brad and angelina have done and let her chose her own clothes and style and not worry about what others think because I know exactly what it feels lke to be her. I knew i was a girl i was never once confused
Thank you Kat for your comment and for visiting my blog! I agree with what you said, I am just looking at it differently. Did your parents have you swim in boy trunks? Even if you wanted to, they wouldn’t allow it. As parents there should always be limits. She is so young and she has a future ahead of her, who knows and who cares what she will be. It’s her life, who knows maybe tomorrow she’ll start wearing dresses again but Angelina is famous and so is her daughter and of course people are going to have their opinions about how she dresses her daughter. Shiloh isn’t the one shopping for her clothes. Thanks for your comment and visiting my blog!!
this is so wrong, please says something coherent, we are contributing to damage the internal image of a girl, when it should be cared for. Brad and Angelina should go to a psychologist to see what is happening, not because they are seen as men but to cut her hair, encouraging this, and Angelina had to show a very troubled with this girl, blow it calls the attention of her mother. When a teenager to dress and choose the pair you want, while you have to take care
I understand and respect your opinion. Angelina and Brad allowed a radical, shocking change in their daughter’s appearance, I think it was a little over the top. Personally, I was a major tomboy growing up. I wore everything boy from flannel shirts, t shirts, boy scount uniforms (laughs) but my father and mother refused to cut my long, beautiful hair. In many ways I wish they did because it would have been easier to care for but again I am happy they didn’t because it left me with some gender identity. As for these swim trunks with Shiloh, I don’t like it. Once she hits puberty, she can’t go around exposing her breast in public because it is illegal for a child and socially unacceptable, I don’t even like to see a female child’s bare chest out in public at this age either.
Thank you Chenoa!! And that is exactly what I am trying to point out! It’s okay to be a tom boy, we all go through phases but they have done a radical change in her appearance! My sister was a tom boy growing up and I was a girly girl, my mom let her dress is baggy clothes but she never allowed her to do play football with the guys or cut her hair short or anything like that. Y ou are the parent and children are too young to truly know what they want and it’s up to you to grant their wishes by controlling it. A girl’s body should be covered, no matter how old she is. She is 5ears old in swim trunks! That is just crazy to me!
People are born with all sorts of DNA inperfections. Some are born blind; some without limbs; some with various diseases; some with both male and female sex organs; and SOME are born one gender on the outside, with the opposite gender on the inside. It’s SCIENCE, not about Christianity.
Chaz Bono is now the man he always knew he was inside….and Shiloh might just be a tomboy, or she may be lesbian, or she may have more male DNA in her than female, and want to transgender someday.
Either way, she is a sinless, perfect creature, as is Chaz. And any self-respecting “true” God would be proud of what SHE/HE created.
Gender constructs are social constructs. A dress, long hair, the color pink, all of those were for boys in various times in the past. Look, they are not allowing their kid to dress like a prostitute. She’s a little kid and feels comfortable in what we term boys’ clothes and hairstyles. Her parents allow that. There is zero and I mean zero evidence that allowing a child to express themselves via dressing as a different gender from the one they were born as, turns them gay or psychologically damages them or causes gender confusion when they are older. Zero.
In Europe, little girls rarely wear tops when swimming. Some don’t in this country either. There is no rule that states that little girls should have to wear tops to the beach or a little girls’ bathing suit. At that age, they are basically the same as boys up top. Who cares?
I think your real problem is that Shiloh looked like a stunningly beautiful little girl and now just looks like a tomboy. Well, thank God her parents are not as shallow, with all due respect, as that. Because while there is no evidence that allowing a kid to express themselves via gender bending clothing and hairstyles is damaging, there is a ton of evidence that forcing a child to adhere to socially constructed gender stereotypes, is very damaging, whether a parent forces them to wear the clothing of the opposite sex as themselves or clothing of the same sex. Forcing gender stereotypes on children can damage their little psyches.
I dressed as a full boy in junior high. Hacked my hair off, wore Greek fisherman caps, boys button downs, my brother’s old jeans, etc. I grew up to be a pretty feminine looking and very happy woman, though. Had my parents forced me even into your modified version of a girlish tomboy, I would have felt very sad, very confused and bad about myself.
We need a ton of education about gender and child psychology in this country. A ton. The most important thing is that Shiloh is raised by two parents who love her to pieces and accept her for who she is, whether gay, straight, trans, whatever. Children are not supposed to be reflections of ourselves, our own biases, or our own desires, likes and dislikes. They are supposed to be little people that we cherish as separate entities who we are designed to care for and respect. Once you have your own kids you will likely see that and will understand that forcing a kid to appear in the manner you desire, according to prescribed, gender constructs, can make a kid very unhappy and unhealthy. It’s not about tantrums, it’s about picking your battles and not forcing your own narrow-mindedness onto your kids.
And by the way, Shiloh looks absolutely gorgeous this way as well, as a tomboy, with short hair and boys clothes. I think she is still a complete doll and I think she looks cool as hell.
I have a 7 year old daughter who started dressing like a boy since she was 4 years old. Until you are a parent of a child that identifies with the opposite gender you may find it hard to understand and think we are crazy for letting them dress how they wish. My daughter was very strong about wearing only boy clothing…underwear, swim shorts, suits, shoes jackets and all sorts of boy clothes. Yes I can fight her on it and force her to dress like a girl but it is not worth it. The look on her face when I let her cut her hair really short 2 years ago was priceless. After cutting her hair (and removing her earings from her ears that I pierced when she was a baby who knew lol) she had this amazing boost in her confidence. She became more outgoing, happier, and secure about herself. When people do find out she is a girl they are shocked (because she looks just like a boy now) and then they are always apologizing meanwhile her face lights up and she has a smile from ear to ear when they mistake her for a boy. So I always tell them “its okay she is a little girl that likes to look like a boy:)” I asked her how she feels about that and she said she doesnt care if they think she is a boy. She knows she is a girl but she likes to dress like a boy. Will she grow out of this? I dont know. I only want her to do what makes her happy. And seeing how happy she is identifying herself more as a boy than a girl I would never take that away from her. She is who she is and she is the most amazing little girl ever!!! When she grows up if she still wants to dress like a boy then obviously that is what makes her happy. She wouldnt be doing that if it made her sad. And by doing that she is not hurting anyone. I have to worry about what my daughter thinks and how she feels about this rather than others around her. I support her 100 percent and am so proud of her that she is who she is. I also have another daughter who is 2 and a half years older and she is very girly. So its not like I did anything to push them one way or another;) I love them both so much and am so proud of both of my girls!!
I’m glad that you appear to have changed your opinion since originally writing this blog post. I don’t imagine you expected to get so much grief from it! I do understand what you’re saying about them being in the public eye and that causing problems for Shiloh in the future but my feeling is if they start changing their behaviour around their children because they are in the public eye then this will do more damage to the children in the long run.
I think this has been seriously blown way out of proportion precisely because they are in the public eye. I could show you a picture of my daughter at two years old wearing trousers and a jumper looking very similar to shiloh, (although she’s not blonde) simply because I refused to ‘feminise’ her. Short hair was more practical at that age, as were trousers ( and she didn’t care, she was just enjoying life). I decided early on I would only buy her dolls or ‘girlie’ toys if she asked for them (she didn’t). I bought her toys she seemed to show interest in and I never forced anything on her nor did I deny her anything she showed an interest in. I let her decide what she was interested in.
This brings me to my main point, which is: “my thing is don’t have your girl looking like a boy.” When children are three years old, what exactly constitutes ‘looking like a girl’? You are either a girl or you’re not. Do you have to have long hair, wear dresses, wear make up? I do find this quite offensive but I understand that you almost certainly didn’t mean it that way.
My daughter is now a well-adjusted 20 year old at university, straight (not that that matters but just to show that not deliberating feminising women doesn’t make them gay!) and she is in a stable relationship. She doesn’t wear much make-up, she mostly wears jeans, but she is a beautiful attractive female and a credit to society with a lot of male and female friends.
I don’t really know why I’m saying all this because I get the feeling I’m preaching to the choir, but anyway, I stumbled across your blog by accident and I will check it out properly tomorrow. Peace.
its easy to say what you “would do” when you don’t have kids. the 2nd the kid pops out ur puss all that goes out the window. don’t judge a mother on the way her kids act unless you are one. this is supposed to be an story about Shiloh not what you would do if you are a mother, i don’t really think anyone cares how you raises your imaginary children. thanks.
Did any one really expect anything normal and healthy to come out of THAT va-jay-jay?!!
Seriously Shiloh was so cute !!! It’s disgusting how they let her wear that boy bathing suit. I get that she is a tomboy but there taking it to the extreme obviously Shiloh is confused. She is a little kid and doesn’t know any better and that is why it is up to the parents to be like NO you must wear a proper bathing suit.
I never liked Angelina she is disgusted and weird. Hello people don’t you remember when she tounged her brother.
Who cares if Shiloh wants to be a boy- but there is a point when enough is enough- I totally agree there is a proper way to dress your daughter in cute girls
Tom Boy clothes and I honestly feel that Brad has nothing to do with this….. It’s all Angelina and her f**** up ways.
Well, I agree with you 100%. If Angelina Jolie is trying to make her daughter look like her brothers, why do they have long hair? This is stupid. A five year old child does not know her own mind well enough to think she is a boy inside of a girl’s body. But, if they keep catering to this absurd look, she will grow up very confused. And, the boy swim trunks is definitely too much! You were right on target.
I grew up being a tomboy (mainly because I had 3 brothers) and what made things difficult for me was that my mom was too lazy to brush and do my beautiful hair that she decided to chop it off without me having a say in it. Even if I did, it was too bad for me. Boys didn’t like me because, well, I looked like a boy. Finally when I was a teenager I was able to grow my hair long and do it myself and told my mom to F! off. I didn’t start dating until I was almost 17 and then my mom thought I was a lesbian. Seriously? This woman ruined any chance I could have had with boys and I had zero self-confidence. I am a straight woman and I still love sports.
Well, i think i rather tomboy Shiloh, than conceited Suri cruise.
she looks happy. let her be.
How is Suri conceited? She is only 5 years old. She is a girl that loves to be girly and loves fashion. Shiloh is a girl that looks a BOY, not just dresses like one…there’s a difference. Her hair is cut like one and she swims in boy trunks like one. All children are happy, it’s up to the parents to let them be however they want to.
She is obviously not too little to know that she wants to dress like a boy. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of kids having to reach a certain age before they know their own gender identity. Sexuality, now, that can be a different thing, because a child may have to reach puberty before realizing they’re gay/lesbian, but gender is something you are aware of from the start.
As far as I can see, her parents aren’t forcing her to do anything, they’re simply allowing her to be herself. I think this is awesome and they are great parents!
I respect your right to state your opinion, but honestly, it’s nothing to do with the media or you or me or anybody, what this kid decides to do or how she wants to dress. It’s completely and totally her decision, or at least, it should be.
Never apologize for stating your opinion! Every person says you’re entitled to one until someone decides to disagree with you, then you’re NOT– APPARENTLY. Anyway…I agree with what you said. I have 5 kids…1 who happens to be gay. Being a child can be confusing as it is, especially when you grow up in a super rich household where the sky is the limit. I realize the parents do great acts of “charity”, but being a parent also means being a disciplinarian. When you have the attitude of letting your “child decide” all the outcomes…well, that makes some outcomes limitless. Children need boundaries and limits…something you may think is fine ( ie your girl child wanting to be a boy) may progress into something more heinous in early adulthood. What I just said will make people mad..but I don’t care. When you love your kids you try and instill in them moral values, decency, a loving heart and virtue..when they’re adults they get to decide for themselves what to take or make of those principles.
It is insightful and very enlightening. To the people who bash the article and comment on how transphobic the writer is, get a grip you guys. It’s her personal blog, and this is her own unique parenting style she is describing. I’m gay and I never thought about wearing girl clothes now that I’m grown up, but I’m glad my parents did not consent to my sisters putting make up on me or braiding my hair in ponytails when I was a boy (with long hair) because I would simply have been to young to defend myself or express myself when someone would go around questioning why I was in a dress and why I have rouge on my face. I think Angelina and Brad are playing it by ear and are trying to give their kids what they want. If cross dressing is such a big issue among grown ups, how can kids defend themselves and express their preferences to save themselves from being ostracized? As much as I am 100% homosexual, I would not allow my future children to take it too far.
I cannot believe ANY parent would allow a child to inspire comments such as all of these. I respected Jolie and Pitt previously, but not now. Riding motorcycles like a kid himself, losing weight to the point of skeletal comparison as she has, denying the responsibilities of parenthood by allowing children to know what they want at 5 and younger, clearly we are not dealing with adult parents! Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt, please do humanity a favor and cease additions to your already unmanageable family!!!
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/27/health/transgender-kids/index.html for those of you who believed young kids are to not able to tell their gender.
How long will it take for people to understand that gender is a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT.
The problem I have is that Angelina has herself said she “doesn’t believe in too many rules for the kids, let them do their own thing”…. well, she needs more parenting classes because kids need boundaries. But, besides that, I never really ever felt she was close to Shiloh… she was quoted as saying that when Shiloh was a baby, she felt like she was “this blob”… you can see a difference in the way she interacted with Zahara seeming warm and doting, but every time I have seen her with Shiloh, she doesn’t look at her or something seems off, and distant. I remember that I could see the love she had for Maddox, and I never could see that with Shiloh.. Then we hear that Shiloh had her front tooth knocked out when playing with her older brothers… where’s the supervision… My opinion is that Shiloh did not “bond” with her mother the way she should have and she “bonded” with her brothers…. she bonded with boys and began to identify herself as a boy. Kids need guidance and structure and these kids aren’t getting it and that’s a very bad parental mistake that will show up later. They walk around holding bags of cheetos, eating junk food. I heard that if they want cake for breakfast, they get it… what the heck. Don’t get me wrong, Brad and Angie appear to love their kids, they just don’t know how to be a good parent… Angie didn’t exactly have good role models.
Whoever wrote this article has no clue. OBVIOUSLY the child wanted her hair cut that shot, the parent didnt do it because THEY wanted it that way! As a mother of three i am almost positive i can imagine how it came about, the child whines and carries on for several months about wanting her hair cut short, the parents are reluctant, thinking its just a phase and she may regret it, but after enough time (and begging) goes by, they realize its NOT a phase and the child truly wants this, so despite what the public (and morons such as the author of this post) may think, they do it because it will make their child happy.
If you knew how to read and read entire comments with intelligent comprehension, you certainly would not be judging others by yourself!!! Who’s the moron here??? No one is berating the parents for a short haircut…most of us women had short haircuts at some point in time, but we didn’t “become” boys!!! Look at the entire “look!” If a parent isn’t required to provide guidance to a child, who is? Perhaps you, oh mighty
intelligencia!!!