Nothing like every day sexist presumptions is there?'

[Autumncolourlover]

Considering it's a catholic school and last year boys and girls were angels then you'd think they'd have thought that some of the lads might want to be angels again. Angel Gabriel was a man after all. I hate this sexist stereotyped shit. Ds is 5 and is a natural for the part of an angel with his long blond hair and angelic devil in disguise looks. This sort of thing really pisses me off. I might be a bit cranky today anyway as he's being bullied because of his hair with the phrase "like a girl" used as an insult.

@BlueCatRedCat sorry, that's other people always telling me how angelic he looks rather than my particular view. As Catholics we do believe in angels though.

I do realise the PPs complaining about God’s treatment of Mary were probably just joking, but they really could have checked their bible to get their facts straight.
We don’t know Mary’s exact age, but we do know she was old enough to be engaged to marry Joseph. She freely gave her consent to the pregnancy when Gabriel first told her about it - “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy will.”
If she HAD simply got pregnant by cheating on Joseph, he would have stuck to his original plan of quietly dumping her. He only changed his mind when visited by Gabriel in a dream and reassured that Mary was indeed carrying a child begotten by God.
As for “why didn’t God raise his own son?” - you apparently fail to grasp that Jesus WAS God incarnate - ie in human form. And willing to suffer torture and death at human hands, rather than give Himself special treatment or a pampered childhood.

you apparently fail to grasp that Jesus WAS God incarnate - ie in human form

Given that the now orthodox doctrine of the trinity wasn't really formulated until some centuries AD, and isn't exactly explicit in the gospels I wouldn't really blame kids pondering the Nativity story for that.

My sister wasn't allowed to be an angel because she had black hair. Just as wanky.

DS was a "green biblical animal" one year. Exact which one was not clear

I do wonder if the Catholic teachers look at all the other schools doing more non-traditional Christmas plays with their space ships and zebras, while they are stuck with the same trad Mary and angels shizz all the time and think "please God can we jazz it up a little this year?"

You do know we were kids right...

Dissecting the bibles metaphors and true meanings to the degree of adults with religious studies degrees was a bit beyond eveb the most inquisitive and well read 10 year olds. Some of us were still trying to work out how it even fitted in with their belief in aliens and paranormal activity

The more I hear, the more I think I've been very lucky. When I was a kid, yes, all the girls were angels, and the boys shepherds (unless there was a huge disparity in number, when they'd move kids to the under-subscribed parts). Dark haired, chubby me never had a look-in as Mary, but I was Gabriel more than once...

My kids though - the productions they've been in have been completely mixed, parts carefully doled out so that everyone gets to say something (once of an age that was possible - group stuff before then) - if they had groups then it was more that class 1 would be the shepherds, class 2 would be the angels or whatever - outside of Mary and Joseph, anyone got any part (no innkeeper and wife either from what I remember, just an innkeeper of either sex)

To my surprise, at DS1's first school, it was also genuinely enjoyable - must have been a tuneful year, plus they'd bought in a script/music which was very good rather than the old, dry one I'd done throughout my childhood.

Throughout primary across multiple schools in multiple countries I was always Mary...because I had very long very dark hair. At Sunday school it was usually the same apart from one year when I had to be Gabriel as I was the only kid tall enough for the giant wings they'd acquired. One year we even had a female Joseph (British forces school abroad in the 80s...according to mum no one cared). As far as I can remember, there was always a mix of female shepherds/male angels.

I was: gabriel in first year infants and the star of bethlehem in second year infants.

Crowning glory though was being part of the Shepherds fire in reception year. There were 4 of us who knelt on the ground in red clothes waving orange and yellow pompom things to signify flames. Almost 40 years ago but I still remember it

Ah, in my teaching days in an RC primary I had a sex and race mixed bunch of angels... Simple cream muslin spangled with gold stars for their robes with medieval sleeves so their arms looked like wings when they spread them, and the simplest filet of gold curling ribbon round their brows for a halo, bare feet. Angels are sexless creations usually described as youths in shining white.

I designed the robes, bought the fabric, cut them out, sent then home with instructionsand the parents were asked to get them sewn up.

They looked.... angelic!

“We three persons who identify as very privileged male gender of Orient are...”

Just reminded me, for my kid's nativities, they three wise men weren't always boys, there has been a mix of boys and girls.
Was never the case when I was doing nativities, but that was almost 40 years ago...

Dd1 was cast as a camel one year. She had tonsillitis so missed it. They did have a girl play Bugsy Malone though. Not in the nativity obviously

Personally, I think they missed an interesting new angle and artistic interpretation of an old classic there that might have served to revive a stale and somewhat 'overdone' genre.

Although I agree OP you go on to day that your son is a natural for an angel with his long blonde hair, and presumably he’s white too
So well done for highlighting casual sexism but then have a think about casual racism as well