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Original poster

Everyone thinks my little boy is a girl because he has long hair!

67 replies

Hogu · 15/12/2021 20:01

Now I know the majority of boys have short hair but not all boys do. My little boy has longish hair. It really suits him and we all love it. I dress him like a little boy but not one single person refers to him as he. It's always she /her/little lady / princess etc! I used to correct people but I've stopped doing it now.

Has anyone else had this?

OP posts:
Hopesakiller · 15/12/2021 20:37

Young children all look the same, if I dont know the child I take an educated guess based on hair length and clothes. Even names came be misleading. It's a 50/50 guess a lot of the time, and just say a quick sorry of I get it wrong 🤷

Deadringer · 15/12/2021 20:38

No op, your son is the first ever long haired boy in the world to be mistaken for a girl.

Scandisaurus · 15/12/2021 20:40

Nope, not for many many years. Not in the UK though. Noone would bat an eyelid here.

MrsT84 · 15/12/2021 20:43

My son had long hair until the second term in Reception. That's when he decided he wanted it cut (peer pressure I think). When he was a toddler he was often called a girl, even though I always dressed him in "boy clothes". I even had people question me when I said "he's a boy!". My husband has long hair (and a beard) and was devastated when son wanted his hair cut! Our son is now 7 and still has short hair, cut regularly. The first hair cut went to a cancer charity for children x

DobbyTheHouseElk · 15/12/2021 20:45

A girl who is always late to school has long curly hair. It’s actually dawned on me after 18 months that this girl is a boy.

Very pretty face. I’m so embarrassed I didn’t speak to them, but as a causal observer he looked like a girl. Skipping along. The name wasn’t helpful either.

Even now I know, my brain still thinks girl. It’s more than the hair, but the hair isn’t helping.

Scandisaurus · 15/12/2021 20:45

I’d say where I live that half of small boys have their hair in either a bun or a pulled away from their face by a hair clip. No difference from girls. I suspect this is in your head only, especially if your boy doesn’t even have long hair. Not many people actually care what your child looks like.

thetinsoldier · 15/12/2021 20:45

Dd always had short hair as a baby - took ages to grow. One day a passer-by called her a boy. She was head to toe in pink, including glittery wellies.

People just see hair and form an opinion! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your only option is to cut his hair, or ignore people!

Shmithecat2 · 15/12/2021 20:51

Yes. Even as a baby when he had little hair, people thought ds was a girl Confused. His hair grew and has been long his whole 6 years, and he's still mistaken for a girl even though his hair is only shoulder length now and not down his back. It's just because he's so beautiful 💅😂. It doesn't bother either of us. Sometimes one of us will correct the person, most of the time we don't.

santabetterwashhishands · 15/12/2021 20:58

My little girl was wearing pink dress and too pig tails but got called a boy four times in one day!

Sexnotgender · 15/12/2021 21:05

My toddler has the standard riotous blonde toddler curls. He gets mistaken for a girl regularly 🙄

TigerDroveAgain · 15/12/2021 21:13

DS had long surfer type hair when he was about 10. We were camping and (remarkably!) the queue for the men’s showers was huge but not for the women. So I took DS in with me and called him by the female version of his name. It all went very well until he took forever in his shower cubicle so I called out “Gregoria, what are you doing, hurry up”: and Gregory replied: “I’m just washing my testicles”

[Xmas Grin

LillyLeaf · 15/12/2021 21:13

I get this most of the time with DS, he has longish curly hair, he's only 17 months so not that long. Everyone thinks he's a girl. I've given up correcting them as they seem really embarrassed and apologetic but I don't care. His clothes are mostly unisex but not typically 'girly'.

Whatiswrongwithmyknee · 15/12/2021 21:14

I think it's practically impossible (well maybe actually impossible) to tell the difference between very young girls and very young boys so people rely on traditional cues which clearly are full of holes. Their bodies differentiate more as they get older so right now I'd just focus on the fact that it matters not one jot whether someone thinks they are a boy or a girl. That might help to deconstruct some rigid socialisation anyway.

shinynewapple21 · 15/12/2021 21:15

I remember when I took my son in for induction for reception class I met a lady with a beautiful child with long blond wavy hair. I asked if her little girl was also due to start at reception ........ as you've probably guessed, it was a little boy, and I was really embarrassed!

They obviously weren't offended as he and my son have been best friends for 16 years now! And he still has long hair .

Orphlids · 15/12/2021 21:19

Who cares? No one is getting it wrong on purpose. They see your kid, and he appears at first glance to be a girl. They don’t have the time, need or interest to consider the matter any further. You will have done it yourself to other children in the past without knowing. It’s not an insult to assume the wrong sex. I’m always surprised that anyone cares two hoots about this.

Underthestairsbears · 15/12/2021 21:19

DS had that a few times when he was a toddler. He just has some baby curls and ridiculously long eye lashes. He was dressed in pretty stereotypical boy clothes though. He's still rather pretty.

underneaththeash · 15/12/2021 21:22

I don’t like long hair on any small children (boys or girls) it’s more difficult.
But if it bothers you cut it.

Sally872 · 15/12/2021 21:22

My dd gets mistaken for a boy as she often wears tracksuits, despite her long hair. I think mistakes are easy to make. It's annoying but different people will make different assumptions based on many things. Won't always be right.

flippertyop · 15/12/2021 21:31

Elves can get very arsey can't they?

bedheadedzombie · 15/12/2021 21:32

Why is this a problem for you?

It happens all the time and to everyone. DD was referred to as a cute boy while wearing a frilly red dress. I just said thank you.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 15/12/2021 21:34

All the time. My DS is 7 and his hair is mid back. I don't matter if it's up, down, clipped back he gets mistaken for a girl. By everyone. He wears typical 'boyish' clothes but it doesn't matter. He even had blue thick rimmed glasses now actually and it's not made a difference. My dad who is a 6ft 6 biker who also has hair down his back never gets mistaken for a girl so it does stop at some point 😂

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 15/12/2021 21:37

It doesn't matter that was meant to say

NiceTwin · 15/12/2021 21:42

My dd has been called a boy since she had her hair cropped in year 1, now year 11.
We used to correct people but don't bother anymore.

Lemonmaiden · 15/12/2021 21:44

Stop being so precious. It's often really hard to tell when kids are young and generally girls and women for that matter have longer hair.

Camembear · 15/12/2021 21:47

My baby is always assumed to be a boy. Her hair like a typical boy hairstyle.

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