Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Support their daughter’s Wish To Be Called “John”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Support their daughter’s Wish To Be Called “John”

Angelina Jolie’s entire family recently stepped out on the red carpet to support the actress’s new movie, Unbroken. The superstar couple’s oldest biological child – daughter named Shiloh – joined brothers Maddox and Pax wearing sharp suits and short haircuts.

Pitt and Jolie have been fairly open over the years about Shiloh’s interest in all things considered masculine. In an interview with Oprah in 2008, Brad Pitt discussed how Shiloh wanted to be called John.

The eight-year-old’s family fully supports her decision to self-identify — from an affinity for suits and ties to shorter hair to the name change.

joliepitt-embedJolie told Vanity Fair in a 2010 interview that John has been exploring her identity since the age of three. “She wants to be a boy,” Jolie said. “So we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys’ everything. She thinks she’s one of the brothers.”

The Telegraph used the Pitt-Jolie story as an opportunity to educate adults on how to handle a child’s cross-gender explorations. It’s easy to dismiss a child’s tendency to gravitate toward toys and clothing generally assigned to its opposite gender as a phase.

The Telegraph spoke with clinical psychologist Linda Blair who advised parents to not jump to the conclusion their child is trans. “It’s normal for children with older siblings to want to copy them and be like them,” Blair explained. The healthiest and most respectful action a parent can take is to follow the Jolie-Pitt’s example and allow their child to go through a normal human experience exploring their own identity at their own pace and on their own terms.

Previous When IT Happens
Next THAT FIRST TIME IN OCTOBER

About author

You might also like

The Happenings 1Comments

Kelly Rowland says people should ask if their partners have had ‘past gay experiences’

Former Destiny’s Child star Kelly Rowland has spoken out on bisexuality, saying people should ask their partners if they have had any “past gay experience”. The star is promoting Lifetime’s

The Happenings 3 Comments

Anderson Cooper is newly single after splitting from longtime boyfriend

Anderson Cooper has separated from longtime boyfriend Benjamin Maisani. They were together for nine years. The CNN anchor confirmed the news with a statement, after the Daily Mail first reported

The Happenings 20 Comments

Azealia Banks, Iggy Azalea puts Beyoncé on blast over ‘Lemonade’

While many celebrities, including Demi Lovato, Uzo Aduba and Anna Kendrick, praised Beyoncé’s album and visual project, Lemonade, others in the industry didn’t take to it so well. Rappers Azealia

25 Comments

  1. shuga chocolata
    December 24, 05:50 Reply

    If only temilare parents and siblings were this exposed, they wouldn’t have lost her. Too sad.

    • pinkpanthertb
      December 24, 05:57 Reply

      Ok at the risk of being handed the Lastma jacket, who is Temilare?

      • B.A.D
        December 24, 06:25 Reply

        CEO Lastma inc :p me too I don’t knw. Biko who is temi??
        Btw pinky, u beta hv an XmASS special planned. Maybe 5 Xtra posts 4 xmASS, free pornhub premium subscription or UR nude pics. Any1 is fyn, especially d last 1 😀

        Merry xmas :*

      • Dennis Macauley
        December 24, 06:34 Reply

        Did I hear Nudes? From the Queen?

        Yes Yes!

        *carries banner*

        We want your nudes as a christmas extra

  2. yours_truly
    December 24, 06:08 Reply

    Well tell it to a Nigerian parent…u’ll visit evn the houses of men of God for serious deliverance sessions

    • chestnut
      December 24, 06:40 Reply

      If your 8-year old daughter told u that tho (YOU,’yours-truly), in ur house in Nigeria, how would u handle the situation?

    • B.A.D
      December 24, 07:25 Reply

      Typical 9ja parents:

      1. from 1 church 2 d oda, if dis doesn’t work;

      2.Special Cele deliverance sessions aka flogging 4 Jesus 😀

      3. Last resort = Babalawo

  3. Max
    December 24, 06:27 Reply

    Such a cute girl…got the mum’s legendary lips..

  4. chestnut
    December 24, 06:36 Reply

    Wow! Ok, I know how EVERYBODY on this blog is very “open-minded” and “modern-minded”, but me,(being the old-fashioned tool I am), I don’t know if I’d let my 8-year old start deciding that he/she doesn’t like the gender he/she was born with. At that age,what does he/she know about…ANYTHING,really? I’d rather insist that they become adults first, b4 deciding what gender to change to…but that’s just me talking though. *sits back and waits for the revolutionaries to come at me like a wrecking ball*

    • Sheldon Cooper
      December 24, 06:50 Reply

      My first time commenting. A friend sent me the link to this blog. For the past few days I’ve been doing nothing but reading the old posts. It’s been an amazing journey. It feels like home here.

      I cried through all the Kito stories. I’ve never experienced one though. I pray I don’t.

      I tend to agree with Chesnut on this. I think she a little too young to make such a decision. But again, at five I already knew I was different. Extraordinary. Only special people are born Happy (Gay).

      • chestnut
        December 24, 07:03 Reply

        At 5 I already knew I was different! But being gay is still a step behind changing ur gender; I don’t think it should be so fast, it has to be a gradual process,cos it’s kinda a bigger deal than just being ‘gay’.

      • Lord II
        December 24, 14:03 Reply

        Ah Sheldon where r our manners…welcome luv!!

  5. FKA Chizzie
    December 24, 07:09 Reply

    Omg but this girl is too pretty to be a butch lesbian in the making. She would make a gorgeous pin up lipstick lesbian tho; big blue eyes and blonde hair. ..

    • Alexander M.
      December 24, 15:35 Reply

      @s_sensei Thank you for making sense. People going “berserk” when it comes to transgender. Look in the mirror before condemning that little girl and what she feels is right for her. A lot of LGBT folks knew themselves when they were just 3 years old. #beat_that!

      First time commenting.

  6. Eros
    December 24, 08:44 Reply

    I totally agree with Chestnut on this one. When I saw this caption my first thought was “Oh crap, what is the world turning into?” Call me a Typical Nigerian or Old fashioned but try as I might, I really cant imagine my 8 year old cousin calling himself Daniella and saying he is a girl. That is just too weird even for me.

    • pinkpanthertb
      December 24, 08:47 Reply

      As opposed to your 8 year old cousin blurting out that he likes boys?

  7. Absalom
    December 24, 09:02 Reply

    I’d do the same were it my child. I don’t see what the problem is if a boy doesn’t feel like other boys or if a girl doesn’t feel like other girls.

    And it’s not new either, if you look at history.

  8. #TeamKizito
    December 24, 09:26 Reply

    Hey! Nigerian Parents aren’t as B.A.D as you guys think/put it. Haba! Cut ’em some slack.

    Please..

  9. Dennis Macauley
    December 24, 12:45 Reply

    Chestnut take a chill pill! Its not gender reassignment surgery! They are just letting her pick out the clothes she likes and is comfortable in! I don’t see the biggie!

    I would totally do that as a parent! I remember those baggy denim jackets my parents made me and brothers wear in the 90s

    ***shudders***

    • Absalom
      December 24, 13:55 Reply

      Dennis, I know right? As opposed to the fuchsia skirts you REALLY wanted to wear! *flees*

      • Dennis Macauley
        December 24, 16:41 Reply

        @absalom

        I see what you did there!

        Keep running!

        I will catch you!

        You will be sore…..erm sorry

    • chestnut
      December 24, 14:06 Reply

      (And here they are!). Dennis, I don’t know if u should be the best person to talk about how to raise a child (seeing as u don’t agree with the idea of fatherhood), but I’m especially looking at the Nigerian setting here. Would u really be d open-minded revolutionary when ur 8-year old boy insists he wants to wear skirts and pink ribbons to school and all over the streets of Port-Harcourt? I understand how important it is to u, to remind us of ur modern-mindedness, and allowing ppl to live their life “on their own terms”, and all that, but remember the setting u find urself in,and d mockery and taunting that child would face.

  10. s_sensei
    December 24, 14:57 Reply

    Its funny. If your 8 year old daughter wants a barbie doll and loves pink flowery dresses, will you think she is too young to like those things? i doubt it. But she wants to keep a short hair and wants to dress like a boy, now she is “too young”. When she chooses what is expected, she isnt too young. but when she chooses what isnt expected, she is too young. This is NATURE at work. Biko allow the child express whats on the inside…

Leave a Reply