I grew up an overly-sensitive, frail kid spending all my time drawing, reading, listening to music, daydreaming. My father loathed me. My only friends were practically all girls (though if the old man had known the games I played w/ them, he would have been re-assured I guess. Man, I had all the girls of the neighbourhood to myself because the rest of the boys didn't care for girls at that age!).
 
All in all, I didn't like the typical boy stuff and didn't get along with boys all that much. 
 
My little brother was the exact opposite of me - and all that my dad had ever dreamed of in a son. He was bigger than I ever was, confident, extroverted, dug all the classic boy stuff, the Rambo movies, anything with Schwarzenneger in it, he dug biking with his friends, going out, going hunting with my dad.
 
As it turned out, I went on to become quite the ladies man (if I may say so in all humility) while my brother eventually "came out of the closet". 
 
So much for the norms. 

I didn't really like any "gender specific" stuff when I was a kid. Didn't like playing with guns much, or reading war comics or soccer comics. Didn't like Spiderman or any other superheroes. Wasn't really into toy cars or toy soldiers or any of that. On the other hand, I had a dislike for girly stuff too. Hated pink, hated My Little Pony and all of the pastel shaded junk that little girls seem to surround themselves with. I liked girls from a young age however and in fact recall being something of horny little perv from a very young age (like maybe 5 or 6). Looking up girl's skirts, following them into the bathroom, that sort of thing. LOL! But even today I'm still not a fan of things that are overly feminine or girly - I have never dated a girl who wore makeup or high heels, for instance. And most of the "babes" that seemed to get my friends in a state never did anything for me. I was always attracted to girls who were good looking but not in a "doll" kind of way. I once got called gay because I said that Pamela Anderson does nothing for me. She really doesn't. Miss world contests? Don't find a single one of them attractive. Peta Toppano? Kate Bush? Hubba hubba! 
 
But yeah kids go through all kind of weird phases which don't necessarily define them for the rest of their lives. At the age of 6, I decided that I felt sorry for trash, and started hoarding it in a drawer in my bedroom. That lasted until my mother opened it and discovered hundreds of orange peels, rotting apple cores, half eaten sandwiches, candy wrappers etc. And she threw them in the trash immediately without letting me say goodbye. I was an emotional wreck 

Rain
I grew up an overly-sensitive, frail kid spending all my time drawing, reading, listening to music, daydreaming. My father loathed me. My only friends were practically all girls (though if the old man had known the games I played w/ them, he would have been re-assured I guess. Man, I had all the girls of the neighbourhood to myself because the rest of the boys didn't care for girls at that age!).
 
All in all, I didn't like the typical boy stuff and didn't get along with boys all that much. 
 
My little brother was the exact opposite of me - and all that my dad had ever dreamed of in a son. He was bigger than I ever was, confident, extroverted, dug all the classic boy stuff, the Rambo movies, anything with Schwarzenneger in it, he dug biking with his friends, going out, going hunting with my dad.
 
As it turned out, I went on to become quite the ladies man (if I may say so in all humility) while my brother eventually "came out of the closet". 
 
So much for the norms. 

Hello brother from another mother... I still tend to hang out with the females. I don't like to talk hunting, gardening, fishing, or other typical guy stuff. Actually I am pretty happy to be left alone. I was never in any clique in school, all the holes were square and I was round. Maybe I was actually more triangular...
I was in choir, was a voice major in college until I transferred to "PARTY" and joined a RnR band. I love guitar,I love LOUD guitar. Life is good, always has been... even when it is bad, it is GOOD!
 
It is what it is....
 
Julien

I have mixed feelings on this kind of things. I honestly have to say I find it strange that something as complex as sexuality can be accurately and definitively etched in stone by 5. At the same time I have no clue what it feels like to experience what this child claims to experience. I helped produce a tv show once that interviewed transgendered people and their stories gave me better insight but also made me realize just how much I still don't know. Sexuality and gender issues can be complicated for those that ( at least on the surface) have these things somewhat clearly defined. Can't imagine what it is like for those that nature made a little more ambiguous. I guess I am relieved it is unlikely I will ever have to deal with it directly in my life.

jbow
 
 
Hello brother from another mother... I still tend to hang out with the females. I don't like to talk hunting, gardening, fishing, or other typical guy stuff. Actually I am pretty happy to be left alone. I was never in any clique in school, all the holes were square and I was round. Maybe I was actually more triangular...
I was in choir, was a voice major in college until I transferred to "PARTY" and joined a RnR band. I love guitar,I love LOUD guitar. Life is good, always has been... even when it is bad, it is GOOD!
 
It is what it is....
 
Julien

:)

bitflipper
I don't know the specifics of this particular case, but there are legitimate reasons to prescribe a gender change for a child.
 
Birth defects can include malformed or incompletely-developed genitals, such that the attending physician has to take a guess at the sex of the infant. Sometimes, they guess wrong, and saddle that individual with a lifetime of gender confusion. Male/female psychological differences are profound and begin to show up at a surprisingly young age, long before puberty. 

You bring up some good points.  Unfortunately, that's not what this case is about.
 
The girl decided she didn't like pink, said she was a boy, said that when her family died she would cut her hair.  This started at age 2 and by age 5 the parents decided to treat her like a boy.
 
The parents say by that treating their child as a boy (note - the article did not explicitly say surgery) they hoped to save their child from pain and confusion.  However, I can't help but think that they are just kicking the can down the road.