My 4 yr old daughter says she 'hates' boys.

[appu]

This has been going on for a while but now that she has started school and almost everyday she will tell me something about her class followed by 'but boys are really bad. I don't know why they have boys in my school. I really don't like them'.
She doesn't want to play with them, talk to them or even have any little boys visiting our home.
I have tried to give example of 'nice' boys and explained that daddy is also a 'boy' and of course you like him but she is not convinced.
I am just wondering if their is an underlying cause for this behaviour.

Yes, there is, being 4. Ignore.

My friends 3.5 year old boy who has always been best friends i ends with my dd has in the last month decided all girls smell and refuses to talk or play with them but continues to be his normal happy self with all boys and all mums.
Think it's just a phase.

Just expressing opinion, because they have learned how to. Often it isn’t even a real opinion, they just enjoy saying "I hate", or I love.."
"I like" or "I don’t like" is normal in our house and DD says it about anything. Awful moment a few months ago when DD (around 3 and a half at the time) said "I don’t like people with dark skin". Shocked at the time and had to have a talk with her, but later realised she doesn’t in fact dislike anyone based on their appearance, and her comment didn’t mean anything. She also has said " i don’t like people with short hair", “I don't like fat people” and “I don’t like boys” but after I overheard her conversation with a friend which went “Do you like my top/black hair/dark skin" and to which the other replied “Yes/No, but do you like my..” and so it went on for at least 15 minutes. I realised then that this is a normal part of beginning to observe differences between people and also to have conversations and express opinion, even if the opinion linked to the observation isn’t a real one that the child actually has and the things they say they like or dislike change daily or weekly!
Also realised that some of the “I like/don't like comments are actually just observational comments. DD went through the observational comment at the same time as the “I don't like/I like” phase, so often linked them - saying “Look at that fat girl” then “I don't like fat girls” as well as saying “Mummy that man’s got funny hair, I don't like men with that hair” - observational comment, linked to opinion, said because they want to say something but don't know that it's considered rude to comment on appearance etc. If you ask your child “Why” and they don't know why they don't like something, then I would suggest it's just a phase and not a real opinion based on anything.

In ten years' time you'll have the opposite problem.

My DD's just discovered the word 'hate' but I doubt she really means it. She does have a twinkle in her eye when she uses it though, like she's really stamping her authority. I agree with gourd.

My 3 and 5yr old boys are exactly the same about girls. It started when the older boy started school and has rubbed off on his brother. I do challenge them regularly and really don't like them using the word 'hate' so my focus is on finding alternative words/feelings.

Oh yes, and "I hate this tea!" is also used even when it's her favourite (ribs or roast chicken) and then she eats the whole plateful..