LolaSmiles
But the father didn't;'t clean the make up, he forced his child to take off nail polish he had told his mother he wanted to keep, would he have forced his daughter to do the same? I really doubt it!
gender roles are fiercely imposed by society, just look at the sickening ocean of pink toys in shops aimed at girls and from which boys are excluded by some idiotic marketing decision
when my boys were in child care there was a box of books for boys and one for girls, of course fairies and unicorns for girls, dinosaurs and diggers for boys
my boys like wearing their hair long, and are continuously asked, sometimes with derision, if they are girls, thankfully they are freakishly confident and just answer "no, I am not, what's your point?"
I remember one time when one of my boys wanted a purple and black pair of shin guards and the shop assistant was very reluctant to let him have it and tried to dissuade him saying purple is for girls
quite apart from all my anecdotal evidence, there is plenty of research that shows that male and female babies are treated very differently by people, even when the researchers use the same baby dressed in pink or blue, that is to say, people are not reacting to some innate female or male baby quality, just to the clothes!
but one mother dares allowing her boy use make up and she is imposing her views on him?!
truth is, ideas are imposed on our kids all the time, the best we can do is to talk to them about what's going on so they can understand the socialisation pressures, develop critical thinking skills and hopefully find a way to be themselves!