Would you ok your son wearing a dress?

My son can wear whatever makes him happy.
Of course he has to wear school uniform but doesn't have to be a boys uniform.

I just want him to feel happy and accepted. He will never be judged by me. This world is a crazy place and I like to think he could come to me about anything and I'd be his safe space.

Honestly, he will be whoever he wants to be and my love for him wouldn't change.

*Most of these responses are really depressing. Everyone who thinks their son would get bullied, have you discussed with him that people should be able to wear what they like without ridicule or judgement? Ask him what would happen if his mate turned up in a dress & what he &!others would say?

Be part of the change if you acknowledge that society is the problem*

I can try my best to make sure my own kids aren't bullies and accept others however they dress etc etc. There is fuck all I can do about other peoples shitty attitudes though.

My boys would go everywhere in joggers, goodies and worn out trainers if I let them. They certainly wouldn't wear their school uniform.

I’m laughing at the absolute belief that ALL men who wear thobe, dish dasha, shalwar, sarong are Muslim (here in the UK obviously) as though it was some religious symbol. The rational??? I’ve seen them at mosque so must be true! . Is non-western dress just shorthand for Muslim???

It may not now, but it certainly did when I was a child

Although even today look at how few girls do physics ( in England anyway) that's clearly social . You get many more Scottish girls doing physics

Or do your believe that a woman's brain just isn't made that way? It social or nature.not sure there is another option really

Does being good at maths break a societal accepted basic 'norm'?

No it doesn't.

I don't like dresses at all & have only ever bought 1 for my DD when she was a baby & we had to go to a v hot summer wedding. I avoid buying dresses for any of my DC!

My DS's favourite colour has been pink since he was old enough to express an opinion. I suspect partly because he knows I don't like pink & he likes to tease me. I genuinely don't care & have bought him pink clothes from the "girls'" section. Mostly PJs though because I'm v conscious that he has ASD & can be quite vulnerable & I don't want to make him an easy target for bullies. He can wear what he wants in the house though. He's probably owned more pink things than DD!

I grew up in the 80's when men wore frilly shirts and makeup so I don't think I'd be that bothered.

I'd be ok with it. But draw the line at a hot pink spandex number. More like the harry styles look or the 90s grunge dress and big boots c.f. Kurt Cobain. Some people can pull this shit off.

My son has a dress, he wanted one, I bought if for him.

@Savourysenorita you asked if I was concerned that my son would be a target for ridicule. Yes of course, because I care deeply about my son's wellbeing. I balanced up the pros and cons of letting him wear something that made him happy. On that particular occasion we were going to soft play where I would be with him the whole time and if he got any comments I could defend and reassure him. As it was, no other children batted an eyelid and he had a great time.

If you don't wish to use it, that is of course your choice.

Cheers.

I agree with the people who say that it depends on the age of your child and what they are like as people. I wouldn't buy dresses for my son who was too small to have genuine clothes preferences. I would discourage (not ban) them for a primary aged child who doesn't read peer responses well and is likely to get bullied. Confident child who can fend for themselves, sure. And child old enough to make own decisions also fine.

In the house wear whatever you like. I do agree that the better world would be one where you can wear a dress and be a boy, without having to have big existential questions about the why of it.

Dresses are very socially gendered clothes, even women have existential questions about them. So many women will say "I'm not at all girly, I never wear dresses". I think I never wore them as didn't see myself as the sort of person who worse dresses (subconsciously, I have no conscious judgement of people who do!) Then when I was pregnant and they were the only thing to fit I realised they are just clothes and make no difference. Love to wear dresses now. This is a long winded way of saying that dresses are socially entrenched as not just female, but female in particular ways. This attitude holds us all back from wearing the comfortable, versitile garment we all deserve.

We had ginger people hung from railings by their underwear in my school, it was an actual issue. The worst I got was name calling and lewd comments, but that was more than enough to cause me considerable upset as a socially anxious teenager.

Anyway, enough of this derail. Suffice it to say, I don't think boys who choose to wear dresses will be automatically bullied in this day and age.

Appols , four rings, I lose track, and this is a bit weird

Yip, children will bully others, and it's hard to predict the excuse.

Candy

"Stealth-ginger"

Priceless 😂

I was bullied got being ginger. Tried dying my hair. Sadly any other colour than ginger makes me look like a corpse. So I'm stuck with it. Even at 51, I'm still bright ginger. Thankfully, being 51, and a woman. I'm now invisible so I am merely a stealth ginger.

I realise this adds nothing to the debate, but I thought I'd offer my ginger thoughts anyway!

I could do without all this religion stuff. Isn't there a place on this site where they could take that?

The religion board or summat?

Well it's obvious where all these apparent bullies get their attitudes about the clothing choice of others from...

Lot of red in a ginger, and my family are more blond ginger than brown

Whereas the ginger root is pale brown

Yes, I don't like the term myself. Actual ginger is pale brown so it's annoyingly inaccurate too.