The Gender Battle

I was the last person that anyone would expect to get riled up over gender stereotypes.  I'm cool with the idea of women staying home to be mothers and men being the breadwinners.  It's a mutually beneficial arrangement for the majority of families and has been since the beginning of time.  However, I realize it isn't the only way to do things...pretty much so long as one parent is home with the child, I could care less if they are male, female, or anything in-between.

My issue with gender stereotypes cropped up after the birth of my daughter.  From the moment they are born, our kids are awash in stereotypes.  Little girls have pink dresses, frilly bows, anything and everything is emblazoned with the word "princess", and certain "girly" animals or characters.  Boys likewise have blue outfits with trucks, cars, sports themes, etc...while there are a few gender neutral things available....they are few and far between in an age where the majority of pregnant women know the gender of their child long before birth.

As they age, there are gender specific toys.  Boys have cars and dinosaurs.  Girls have dolls and tea sets.

But WHY is the line drawn there?  Girls drive and like dinosaurs.  Boys will be fathers some day and drink tea and enjoy social gatherings...so why the divide?  Girls are given art sets and craft kits...but there have been tons of male artists and crafters throughout history!  Girls are also free to play with play-kitchens...but the restaurant world is full of male chefs!  Boys are given video games, yet girls enjoy them too.  Boys are supposed to like robots and rocket ships...but there have been female inventors and astronauts.

I think the MOST infuriating thing for me is that we push the girly-girl image or the macho-man image on young children, but when they get older we then do a complete direction change and tell girls that they can do ANYTHING and should have a career....and constantly bitch about how unhelpful or insensitive men are.  We raised them to do the opposite!  Why are we shocked when we reap what we sow?

Girls and boys are different, yes....but the labels we have applied to different activities, colors, and clothing are ridiculous.

This is my Bear.  At the moment I generally pick out her clothes because she can't reach her drawers yet, but I am going to start letting her pick her own from a basket in the floor.  She picks her shoes and usually a hat as well.  Yes, she is wearing Ruby Slippers and a Fedora...also a jacket on a very hot day...her choice of course.

And then a more "boyish" day in swimming trunks, purple water shoes, an over-sized shirt, and Mama's sunglasses.

Is there anything wrong with these example of what my child wears?  Of course not.  She is a child simply living and being a child.  The color of her pants or shoes does not magically change her genitals.  Why does it even matter what she is at this stage in the game?  It really doesn't...all she knows is hats of any sort are cool and playing with a garden hose is the sweetest thing ever.  There will be plenty of time later for her to figure out the differences between men and women and I'm sure manage to fit into some gender roles.  I don't really care what she CHOOSES...so long as she decides for herself what she likes, what she wears, etc...I really can't complain.

In the meantime I'll happily watch her play with cars and trucks, care for her dolls, "cook" imaginary food, serve invisible tea, marvel over planes flying overhead, watch bugs and other creatures in nature, obsess over the garden hose, ride her bike, draw, paint, and dig in the dirt.  It's all good.