Mistook a boy for a girl

[justmakemeacuppa]

Was in the park with the kids and my youngest was sat at the top of the slide while a kid was sat behind her. So as any parents would encouraged my kid to go down by saying the little girl at the back of you wants to go down the slide.
Kid then turns round and says I’m a boy! Was a bit taken off guard and didn’t really know how to reply other than sorry. This kid had lovely long blond hair tied up in a ponytail and baggy shorts which could have been mistaken for a skirt but it was the hair that made me think he was a girl.
So now I’m wondering have I just come across a gender fluid family? Does SHE want to be a boy are in fact is he a boy that just likes his blond hair ? I’m happy to go along with anyone’s choices in life but surely if he doesn’t want to be mistaken for a girl you’d not have a girls hair cut.? Or maybe mum doesn’t give him a choice as he did have lovely hair? He did seem upset I called him a girl though. Just mentioned it as I keep reading about people bringing their kids up gender neutral and wondering if this is going to become more of a thing letting kids decide their own gender.

My son had long hair when he was younger, it was lovely. He asked for it cutting because he said he was sick of being mistaken for a girl, so we had it cut. It made me hate the world for a while.
My partner also has shoulder length hair but the beard avoids confusion.
It's not gender fluid bollocks, we're just a bit of a alternative 'rocker' type family.

One of my brothers had long, curly blonde hair. Mainly because he screamed like a banshee if he was within 50 foot of the barber's.

Kept it all his life until it started falling out. As it was the 1970s, his resemblance to Roger Daltrey/Robert Plant (but better looking) meant that he nobbed practically every 18-22 year old in town was never short of a willing date. No question about his preferences.

I had short hair aged 10. I didn't give a monkey's if people thought I was a boy or not. I was most pissed off that I wasn't allowed to have an undercut or mohawk, as I'd seen women that looked absolutely stunning. No confusion about my sex even if I thought being female absolutely sucked and I wasn't wrong.

As an aside I’m envious of the beautiful hair a man I work,with has
I swear it’s luxuriant and shiny

You must be very easily confused OP...

Sigh. Everyone thinks my dd is a boy because she has short hair. Even if she's in full on 'girl' clothing people still call her a boy. I can't grow her hair for her! I wish people would bloody use their eyes instead of going by hair. Such an odd thing to do.

My DS grew his hair long because he wanted to look 'cool'. At school he was supposed to have hair no longer than collar length, so he grew it into a sort of 'bob'. When they didn't complain it got longer. Now he is 17 it's well past shoulder length, and he wears it in a pony tail most of the time. My dad occasionally moans at him to get it cut, but he's the only one. He's never been mistaken for a girl though, but that's probably because he was about 14 before it got quite long.

I think you're making more out of this than is necessary.

It was a boy with long hair. You made a mistake saying he was a girl, child corrected you, you apologised. End of.

Nothing to do with gender fluid families.

Sometimes it is hard to tell with young kids whether they are a boy/girl.

Is this what it's come to now? My boy has long hair. He's a boy with long hair. Who doesn't need to have it cut so that people know he's a boy.

He was a boy with long hair. Simple.

I can't believe this thread.
He was a boy with long hair. He told you he was a boy. End of story!

My DS has very very long hair and loves it. It is absolutely gorgeous. Loads of people, men and women, have made 'hair envy' jokes .

He gets mistaken for a girl all the time, and he simply tells people he is a boy.

He is 100% a boy.
With long hair.

Maybe his mum wanted a girl, and just doesn't want to get his hair cut.

Oh FFS, what have I just read?

1. Who cares if you mistook a young boy for a girl? What does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Have you insulted him so much? Is being a girl such a horrific thing to contemplate - answer to that is sometimes, sadly, because people make it so.

2. No long hair does not necessarily mean a girl. It is perfectly ok for a male, boy, teen or man, to have long hair. Believe it or not, it grows that way, and keeps growing unless human intervention cuts it. In many societies, including our own just 20 short years ago, long hair was very very common on men. In other news, the best place to start reading is ABC, and the best place to start singing is doh re mi.

Good grief, what the fuck is happening in bloody Britain? Is there to be a screening every morning telling us everything we are allowed to wear that day and what exactly we are allowed to say??

"gender fluid"? Because long hair? -- not envy.

I’m happy to go along with anyone’s choices in life but surely if he doesn’t want to be mistaken for a girl you’d not have a girls hair cut.?

What the hell??? Have you actually never met a boy with long hair before? Do all the girls have long hair where you are? Where on earth do you live?

You mistook a boy for a girl. It happens. He corrected you. End of story - stop with the gender fluid/choices in life/girl's haircuts etc.

What the actual fuck

You meet a boy with long hair and think you have come across a gender fluid family 🤦🏻‍♀️

You don’t see half as many little girls with short hair as little boys with long hair. Interesting that.

For goodness sakes!
It was a boy and he didn't like being called a girl cos girls have coodies 😂
You've REALLY over thought this! 🤦🏼‍♀️

Do you think so, seren?

My MN baby group seems to have loads.

DellaDella I love this!

“he doesn't have girl hair, it's boy hair because he's a boy.”

As well as having his long hair my DS has a gender neutral name. I see it as a very masculine name (more so in America than here) but it most certainly is a common girls nickname. And I think whenever we get told “but that’s a girls name?” We’ll be saying “it’s a boys name, because he’s a boy!”

You know, this thread is reminding me of my MIL.

MIL, my female partner, and my DD all have short (cropped) hair; so do I, and so do DD's aunts. Her uncle has long hair.

Every time we cut DD's hair, MIL objects, because 'she's a girl!'

I think the OP would get on with my MIL.

YABU for being part of the problem.

Because he had long hair he MUST be a girl.... or at least "gender fluid" right?

Wrong. He's just a boy with long fucking hair.

(Dave Grohl and Jason Mamoa must really blow your mind - long hair AND a beard? Wtf?)

It sounds as though you mistakenly thought a boy with long hair was a girl, and he corrected you. Why does there have to be any more than that to the situation?

DD8 had her hair cut short because she wanted short hair. She's still a girl, even though she wears trousers and often chooses clothes from the boys range - she prefers the colours/patterns and isn't interested in unicorns, llamas or cacti. But she's still a girl. She's regularly referred to as 'he' by people who don't know her but isn't bothered... unless they persist and go on about how she must be a boy . On one occasion she eventually yelled back, "I'm a girl... I've got a vagina. Ok?!"

There are very few primary school girls with short hair these days but lots of boys with long hair.

Boys can have long hair, it's easy, they just don't cut it. Like girls with long hair. Same premise.
Girls can have short hair. It cuts with scissors like boys' hair.
Did you really not know this OP?

Why would it matter?

wow...just wow.

gender stereotypes must be actual laws where you are OP....

My son (10) has long hair. He always liked to have long-ish hair, and last year he decided he wants to grow it long. Ever since last spring he just had a couple of trims, to keep it neat, and he wears it down his shoulders. Hair very seldom in a pony tail.It suits him. However, he's definitely a boy, he likes his Lego, building games, cars, tech, playing with his mates (he has a couple of female friends too, but most friends are boys). A few male relatives/friends in our circle have long hair, even his dad cut his hair short not that long ago so DS has seen lots of photos of him with his hair in a pony tail or just loose on his back. My DB has long hair still, BIL had long hair at some point. We listen to rock/metal music, we go to rock gigs, so long hair is no big deal to him, he likes it, it suits him, and he decided that "this is his style" at the moment. Not gender fluid at all.