A five month old baby girl can be ladylikereally Prince William.

[goodiegoodieyumyum]

Am I being unreasonable to find this the most ridiculous thing to come out of Prince Williams mouth. Princess Charlotte may be a very different baby to Prince George but ladylike at 5 months old that is utter tosh.

It's only on MN that I hear about 'gender stereotypes'. I have NEVER heard it even mentioned outside in the real world

It was code for "George is a chav".

Fascinating, this:

But them again, I do remember reading about that study which showed how people interact differently when presented with a baby to play with. Same baby for all adults, but for some it was handed over using female pronouns and some male. And then the interactions were filmed. And the difference in language used was striking - boys strong, exploring, into everything, cheeky; girls sweet and cuddly.

It jarred me too but I expect he just has to trot out anything, it must be akward having to come up with stuff and knowing it will get put all round workdl

I hate the word ladylike but I imagine he just meant that she's a bit more delicate and gentle than George.

"ladylike" behaviour in a 5 month old

• farts silently
• self-winding, again silently
• yet to have a poonami
• smiles and gurgles, and attempts a Royal Wave

I wish Prince William had said "This monarchy business is a load of old cock and I will have no truck with it".

I think my DD1 was quite 'ladylike', she was just very gentle, made lovely little sounds, was never sick, sat in a 'ladylike' way. It's hard to explain really... We used to say 'she's such a little lady'

DD2 growls, moans, throws herself around... We call her The Chunker. She is decidedly Not ladylike

calling a baby "ladylike" is daft.

May her nappy leak on him.

"It's only on MN that I hear about 'gender stereotypes'. I have NEVER heard it even mentioned outside in the real world hmm"

Good lord. You must live a very sheltered life among not very well educated people! Might I suggest branching out a little?

It's usually 'careless gender sterotyping' I keep hearing about. usually in relation to important matters like party bags.

You don't hear quite so much about gender sterotyping in "real life" because it often involves some sort of criticism, which is impolite.

At the school gates today, standing with my friend who has had twins recently, a boy and a girl. She has a double Bugaboo thingy, and the car seat version she has toys hanging from the bar. The boy twin has a robot hangy plush, and the girl size has a dolly hangy plush.

Obviously a 2 month old baby doesn't have a preference for robot vs dolly. That's something society may impose on them from an early age, like err say 2 months or before.

Causing them to grow up and base their preferences on that which is familiar.

But to saunter up to her and say "WTF will happen if you swap it round, will his willy fall off?" is both combative and slightly deranged.

And so on so forth.

I am glad that the baby/primary school thing is behind me. Hopefully I didn't make any terrible mistakes with the DSs WRT it all.

That sounds a lot like my son - it never occurred to me that any of things were 'girly' - why is not liking having dirty hands 'girly'?

Because boys stereotypically are rough and tumble getting into mud and bringing in bugs, and girls are graceful and gentle having tea parties with their stuffed animals.

So it's easy to see how not liking to get dirty is seen as a more girly attribute. I get the whole "all toys are for both girls and boys", but growing up in the society we have, I know you understand the reference.

I really don't think giving gendered crap is hurting babies. I was showered in pink stuff, but as I got older and I expressed preferences I was given ninja turtle action figures, bug nets, and jeans to wear instead of dresses. To be honest, I did love wearing dresses for a while too. I'd go climb trees in them, and my parents had to get me play dresses with shorts to wear underneath. As long as you respect your child's preferences as they get older what you do with them as a baby isn't hurting them so long as you make sure you love them and their needs are met. It's not like you can tell a baby's preferences. To them it's just another medium to grace their vomit art on.

Prince William is a media trained incredibly senior public figure. He really should not say stupid things.

Oh, and Benedict Cumberbatch said something stupid about BME people recently and was justifiably told off for it.

"I have NEVER heard it even mentioned outside in the real world"

That's one of the strengths of an Internet community. It takes you beyond your immediate RL circle (who may well have a particular take on life, either deliberately chosen or just crept up, because there's an affinity to people, you see as like yourself).

And unnecessary gender stereotyping is a bit shit, really. Five month old babies aren't going to be showing much, if anything , in the way if preferences. Much safer to stick to 'he's gorgeous' or 'she's gorgeous' as that could mean anything.

William never strikes me as the shiniest stone in the tiara.

*"It's only on MN that I hear about 'gender stereotypes'. I have NEVER heard it even mentioned outside in the real world hmm"

Good lord. You must live a very sheltered life among not very well educated people! Might I suggest branching out a little?*

Bertrand that really is quite rude.

I have never met a small girl that isn't happy to push the odd truck about to see what it does, etc. I honestly think they see vehicles as gender-neutral until we indicate otherwise.

Bertrand it's a bit much to expect William not to say stupid stuff.

"Bertrand it's a bit much to expect William not to say stupid stuff."

Really? Highly media trained, well educated, carefully nurtured, well paid heir to the throne? He has, as they say, one job.........

They always trot out the "spirited George" line and the press always guess on about how exhausting it is to look after a toddler and baby. I'd bet he's reasonably well behaved for his main care giver (isn't her name Nanny Maria or something?)