1. The scientists named the baby "X" to keep its gender a secret. They didn't want anyone to know if it was a boy or a girl.
2. Many people were turned down as parents for baby X because they couldn't follow the rules. They had to promise not to tell anyone X's gender or treat X like a typical boy or girl.
3. People reacted to baby X with confusion and curiosity. For example, when the Joneses told people X was neither a boy nor a girl, "Nobody could answer that, except Baby X, who had just finished its bottle. Baby X's answer was a loud, satisfied burp" (Gould 109). This shows that while adults were puzzled, X was just being a normal baby.
4. The Joneses were worried about X starting school because they thought other kids might not understand X or be friends with X. They wondered, "Nobody in X's class had ever known an X before. What would they think? How would X make friends?" (Gould).
5. The other children began to act more like X because they saw that X was happy and free from gender rules. Two examples are:
-Some boys started playing with dolls
- Some girls got interested in sports
The story says, "the Other Children stayed mixed up and happy and free, and refused to go back to the way they'd been before X" (Gould).
6. Most other parents were upset because their children weren't following traditional gender roles anymore. They didn't like that boys were playing with "girl" toys and girls were doing "boy" activities.
7. X's parents read stories like "Sleeping Handsome" to give X a mix of traditional fairy tales. They wanted X to hear stories about both princesses and princes, not just the usual gender roles.
8. When the children say "by the time it matters which sex X is, it won't be a secret anymore" (Gould 6), they mean that X's gender won't be important until X is older. By then, everyone will know naturally, and it won't be a big deal.