to ask so what if people think that?

[pinkbluegreenyellow]

Friend recently had a baby boy. Her DH goes on about how 'strong' he is, how big and tall, how much bigger than other baby boys he is. Fine. He is a big guy himself.

What irks is any suggestion that his son might, god forbid, appear 'girly' to others. For example, his son was gifted a t shirt that had a pink stripe in it. It's being given to charity as 'no son of mine wears pink. Don't want you being mistaken for a girl'. Friend's cousin allows her small ds to dress up in both cowboy and princess outfits and this is met with a sneer too.

Leaving aside the notion that pink is for girls, I want to shout so fucking what if people think he's a girl?? Like being a girl is weak and pathetic? I get that you might want people to assign the correct gender to your child but is there the same fear attached to people thinking your child might be a boy? As in , I can't dress her in blue, I don't want people to think she's a boy?

manly values? intrigued.

joysmum, well said. :)

Blahblah, have you passed thsse values on to your DC?

Will they be the ones, pointing and laughing about someone being a pansy?

Because I think that's the issue here, not the colour of style of someone's clothes.

Tolerance should be being passed down, not prejudices.

Yes what is manly, my dp is 6ft tall has a number one hair cut so iguess thatmay beconstrued as manly? He is also a hands on dad, a mean cook and works with children, does that mean he isn manly?!

My boys arekind, caring, fun and loving, they all habe varied interests from reading, science, maths, lego to fairies, dress up amd crafts...they are all individuals forst amf foremost regardless of their gender.

'Manly values' because we all know that manly men don't take care of babies... They leave that to women and pansies...

WTF are manly values?

I can't believe how many posters sound like Gene Hunt, how depressing.

Tolerance should be being passed down, not prejudices.

^

this.

'No wonder we are raising a bunch of bloody pansies'

YES. I hanker for the days when men would be men, together- dressed as cowboys or gladiators, in leather chaps and harnesses, wrestling each other naked, or taking communal showers , flicking each other's backsides with towels. Not bothering with these nasty wimmin and their wimmin's stuff.......
It is a FACT that boys who wear pink go on to menstruate,. And possibly breastfeed.

If you guys want to wear contraversal clothes that are not the norm - go ahead and do what you want, but dont pioneer your children to lead the way at gender dilution at their expense!

WTF is "gender dilution"?!

Is that like women being allowed to vote and stuff?

Blahblah, have you passed thsse values on to your DC?

Yes! My son doesn't wear dresses!

WTF is "gender dilution"?!

It's saying that kids are all the same whether they are little girls or little boys, which is not the case as children and certainly not as adults!

Amazed at some of the views on this thread. If you wouldn't allow your son to wear pink or so called girly clothes in case he got teased, then that says a lot about your own narrow mindset and what you are teaching your kids. If my kids ridiculed a child who dressed unconventionally then I'd be deeply ashamed of them and of myself for teaching them to be such bigots.

blahblah - do you teach your DC not to mock others for dressing in an 'unusual' way? Or do you think those DC who do are fair game for mocking and bullying?

That poor girl, Sophie Lawrence wasn't it, who was killed for being a goth, has just popped into my head.

So what exactly makes a baby boy so different that he absolutely cannot be dressed in pink (or girl in blue)? I haven't noticed any peculiarties in pink babygrows that make them physically unsuitable for accommodating penises.

Pmsl at gender dilution, it wasmt long ago that men wore dresses and fancy hair and make up was more of a mans thing.

My boys have been allowed to play dress up and wear dresses, they all still have a penis and appear to be boys. Tho 14 ur old ds1 has long hair, really thong think heavy metal rock style, maybe he is turning into a girl?! Or maybe he just likes havign long hair...

My children are individuals, their gender doesnt define or limit them.

We have a friend who is married to a not so charming man. Years ago when ds2 was 2 they visited shortly before Christmas and asked me what I'd bought the dc. I told them that I'd bought ds2 a dolls pram and doll, to which wanker friend's husband said in a horrified tone "Christ, do you want him to grow up a poofter?". (Obvious response was, "I don't care how he grows up as long as it's not as a bigoted tosspot").

Its not gender dilution, its about not pigeon holing and stereotyping kids according to their gender. Children like adults are individuals with different likes and dislikes, these are not dictated by their gender.

I'd like to ask the "let's break down gender stereotypes" brigade... Whould you shave your daughters' head for the sake of gender neutrality? Like, give a 2mm buzz cut?

It's so funny, that caring for a baby doll and carting it round in a pram might be seen as an indicator of future homosexual tendencies (as if that was a negative anyway). Can these people not see the irony? That the little boys are playing at being Daddy? Probably the most "manly" thing a man can be?

Most Muslim girl babies have their heads shaved Nataleejah, whats your point?

Not babies, i mean when they naturally (can)have long hair

I was about to say the same as uri

And again you are missinf the point, its not about gender neutrality, its about lettting children be individuals and not constrained by their gender.

My daughter wont let anyone near her haor with scissors, her brothers were similar at this age, am sure she will choose to get it cut at soem point, maybe even very short, of she wants a buzz cut that will be easy as dp can do it with his clippers!

I would absolutely be angry and disappointed in my DD if she bullied another child.

The reason for this would be because bullying is devastating. It can ruin lives. So why PROVIDE something for other children to mock and laugh at?

In any case, I just have a negative reaction to boys dressed up in girls' clothing - sorry. I recognise that is society's conditioning but if I saw a little boy running around in a dress I would think he looked absolutely ridiculous outside the context of fancy dress. An 8 year old in a feather boa and high heels would strongly suggest issues with identify to me.

In the future (I think this baby is a boy so for arguments sake I will refer to it as such) I would happily dress a DD and a DS in jeans and t shirts. I would not happily dress my DS in a dress and nor would I put DD in a tux and now tie for a wedding. Nor would I wear bright colours to a funeral unless previously stipulated by the deceased's closest fanily, white to a wedding or jeans to my workplace. They aren't 'only clothes' - they are about society and how we fit into that society.