To dress my son in girls clothes

[SleepingStandingUp]

By which I mean things like leggings and tops that have shimmer and shine, mlp, the girls off paw patrol etc rather than dresses.

Ds is 2, loves pink and glittery and ask the above characters but people act like its child abuse.

Presumably no one would care if s 3yo DD wanted to wear Thomas the Tank Engine

[ReanimatedSGB]

I also loathe the fact that secondary schools insist on shirts, ties and blazers. It's so unnecessary when hardly any jobs these days need people to wear tiresome, uncomfortable clothes that need a lot of maintenance.

[booboobutt]

My son is five and still loves pink, sequinned paw patrol tops (his favourite is Skye), painted nails and long hair. He's a super cool little dude.

[Winebottle]

okeydokeygirl

Of course they do but I'm slightly uncomfortable with pushing it through kids. Men can wear women's clothes if they want to drive that change but why put kids in the firing line? My daughter wouldn't have been wearing trousers 100 years ago but she does now.

I don't really have a problem with it. People can raise their kids according to their own values and can dress their kids how they want. It's unlikely to do the kids any harm.

I wouldn't want a future with men wearing sequin dresses. It is never going to happen anyway. Been allowed to wear what men wear was a victory for feminism but the there is no equivalent force the other way. If everyone is to wear the same clothes, it will be women wearing men's clothes. They are not going to meet us in the middle.

[SleepingStandingUp]

Winebottle how did he come to like unicorns? They're awesome, how could he not. He has a cool toy one, not aware it being a gendered cuddly toy. Then there's Ubercorn who as head of the Go Jetters is cool for boys and girls but def would traditionally be boys telly. MLP have chosen to have Unicorns too and that's principally what 2 yo cares about. Its a Unicorn and everyone should have them.
He has no money and can't talk so he can't buy them himself so I stand by the fact that I'm making a parenting decision to buy him something he likes.

I wouldn’t dress my son in girls clothes- I would tell him exactly that- they are for girls
At what age do they figure out there's a difference? I don't think he'd really understand and I don't know if that makes me a terrible mother or not. If I said no because they're for girls he'd just hear no. Which is fine, sometimes he has to. But over a pair of leggings when he needed some anyway? Why?

[UnicornsandRainbows1]

YANBU at all.

If that's what he likes and makes him comfy (I find leggings quite comfortable myself) then absolutely do it. So what if it's pink and shimmery? Clothes are clothes.

[MiddleClassProblem]

How did he come to like unicorns in the first place? He wasn't born like that.
😂😂😂😂😂

Omg this comment. Fucking genderising unicorns 😂😂😂😂😂

Is he only allowed to like ducks and bears? Possibly dogs? Cats are definitely off limits. He wasn’t born like that! 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

[MiddleClassProblem]

I’m sorry, I’m a bit drunk but the concept that a kid is born liking anything other than milk and sleep is a hilarious

[SleepingStandingUp]

MiddleClassProblem - I think I made the Busby love unicorns and now he'll Berber be right. How do I make him love dragons more instead?

[Valerrie]

My son is 11 and still likes wearing sequins, shimmery clothes and certain tops marketed at girls. Many of his t-shirts come from the women's section at Primark. He's not really a fan of pink but will wear the odd thing if it has a character on that he likes. He's really into Pusheen at the moment.

He only ever gets compliments. He has longish hair that he dyes black or dark blue, both ears pierced and an individual style.

I'm just proud that he is strong enough to wear what he likes rather than what society thinks he should. He's quiet and sensitive but can hold his own. Thankfully, everyone he has come across in life so far has been encouraging towards him. It's a shame that attitudes on Mumsnet are so archaic.

[MiddleClassProblem]

SleepingStandingUp you’ve ruined him. Men are only allowed to like equine creatures when they reach maturity and can appreciate polo or decided to dress like Mr Darcy. Although they are not born like that either...

[SleepingStandingUp]

Whatever Middle, you totally sound like the kind of parent who lets her DD play with dinosaurs. Yeah, I know your sort

[Valerrie]

Also, we've never, ever had any negative comments about what DS wears. The last time he was buying a pink Pusheen top in Primark, the lady on the till asked if it was for him and he said yes, then she told him how amazing it was and would he show her where it was as she wanted to buy one. He was well chuffed.

As a 2 year old he was very interested in clothes and loved choosing his own. He loved bright Scandi clothes with rainbows being a favourite. He's been painting his nails black since he was 3.

Although I can't predict it yet, he seems pretty straight to me. He still has a dick anyway - it hasn't shrivelled up or dropped off because he wears glitter or cats.

[MiddleClassProblem]

Dinosaurs? For a girl? Well I never.., next you’ll accuse me of letting her like planes!

DD casually neowing in the background like Baby Bear in Peace At Last

[Hairgician]

Omg this thread makes me feel so much better and that i am not alone! For the last year and a half my 4yr old ds has been obsessed with elsa from frozen and rainbow dash! His aunty even bought him the elsa princess dress which he refused to take off😂😂 wore it everywhere. Zero fucks given! We were in London last may and took him to Disney store. He made straight for the princess stuff and was after the elsa dress and sparkly shoes, he got putting the shoes on then screamed place down when we wouldn't buy them! Settled for an elsa doll which he still takes out with him, much to dp's dismay .
Always looking to wear my tops cos they are long enough to be a dress to him.
Asked for make up and glitter for Christmas. Does worry me sometimes. Not because I wouldn't like it if he wanted to be a girl but because life would be much harder for him if he chose that.

[MiddleClassProblem]

It’s really not a difficult concept that colour and sparkles are fun for kids. That’s all and why not?

[GlomOfNit]

For those who think that allowing your DS free rein in the pink department is a MN-only thing and never seen in RL - depends where. I happen to live in an area (semi-rural, SE England) where there are bloody LOADS of preschool boys happily pottering about in pink leggings/dresses/Elsa outfits etc etc Once a couple of brave parents 'let' their small boys exercise their taste and explore all the options, others follow suit. It's a nice place to live and bring up small children, round here.

MIL was once really perplexed by my wrap sling for DS2. It was a sort of teal green, unpatterned. Eventually, I got it out of her - she was flummoxed and a bit alarmed that nobody would be able to tell that her grandson was a boy, because all you could see of him was his little head and the sling. Which was not blue or emblazoned with testicles.

[dancingwithroses]

He is only little. I doubt he has any concept of gender etc at that age. He will likely grow out of it. Until the trans thing became a thing, no one thought it a big deal that kids went through stages like this.

[dancingwithroses]

To clarify my point above, I am obviously not talking about older children who have gone through or are going through puberty and who may be strugglign with actual gender dysphoria- that is a real thing. But for a little child? clothes are just clothes to a little child. Let kids be kids and wear what colours etc they want to.

[MiddleClassProblem]

because all you could see of him was his little head and the sling. Which was not blue or emblazoned with testicles. I’m really sorry but all I can picture now is MIL drawing a juvenile cock and balls on the back of his head before you leave the house 😂

[SleepingStandingUp]

He loves my Savage Garden CD so he must be an ok kid. I'm more worried with his obsession of shoving his hand down my top, his head up my skirt and his finger in my belly button. Not all at the same time I should add.

I say worried, I just mean slightly perplexed at having to explain in public that no one else wants to see haha

[MiddleClassProblem]

my Savage Garden oh dear. Of all the 90s filth to impose on him, you really haven’t given him a chance. Does he want to go to a mountain with you and then take a relaxing bob in the sea? Next you’ll tell me you’ve let him listen to Alisha’s Attic on cassette.

[SleepingStandingUp]

But hesso cute. He demands to be picked up and we cuddle and sway. I let him listen to Pink too if that helps

[bridgetoc]

My eldest son liked pink when he was little. It was his favourite colour. We thought that he just grew out of it, but it turns out he just got sick of other kids making fun of him. When he got older, about 11-12 he really, really started getting into fashion and clothes, and he felt strong enough to start expressing himself in that way again, and not care about what other kids said.

Both my DH and I supported his choices. It wasn't always easy though....... Trying to find pink underwear for boys was harder than you think.

[laudanum]

It's completely fine.

[BothersomeCrow]

Agree it depends where you are. My part of non-posh but gentrifying London has kids in all sorts of clothes - mine take the principle of 'fit for the weather' to extremes - but in solid white middle class Surrey character outfits get tutted at and in Brixton boys in rainbows get tutting.

Given my ds has ASD and fixed views on clothes, I've explicitly taught him comebacks for when someone takes the piss and warned in advance that someone might if he wears ☓ - sometimes he wears it anyway, sometimes not. But at school at least after a couple retorts of "what do you know anyway", no-one has given him hassle.