Here's some excellent insight into the absurd, possibly dangerous nature of the cover story, from Jezebel's Dodai Stewart:
This story should be called, "Once Again We Are Going To Make A Big Deal Out Of A Little Girl's Haircut." Shiloh's hair is super short again — much like Michelle Williams, or Carey Mulligan, or Mia Farrow — and psychologists have been asked to weigh in! One says, "This is a culture where kids get picked on if they don't look like other kids. Shiloh's already different — being the daughter of superstars — and she may already feel ostracized because of that." An insider offers: "Shiloh definitely suffers from middle-child syndrome. Everything she does is to get attention because she craves being the center of it all." But! Also! She might want to be a boy! See, Shiloh keeps changing her name — from John to Ben to Gregory to Shax (which she chose because all her brothers' names end in the letter X — and she only does "boy" activities like gymnastics (?!?!) and rock-climbing (?!?!), which ladies shouldn't do since there are no fainting couches involved. Brad's "fear" is not that Shiloh might identify as a boy but that she'll get picked on. Like, maybe by tabloids.