a parent's reflection on "gender rules"

boca · Post by **boca** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:27 pm

I found this parent's reflection on her kids and how societal "gender rules" really don't apply to her children.
http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=62984b ... 91973074cf

Skirt Chaser · Post by **Skirt Chaser** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:48 pm

I like reading about parents willing to let their children be themselves. The part about playing with trains was funny. When I taught five year old kids everybody liked dinosaurs and playing dress up. These things don't have to be given up to gender differences as they age and become self-conscious.

The thing that I don't get in the article and elsewhere is that a boy in a skirt is considered showing a 'feminine side'. It seems to me that anything a boy does is part of being a boy just as anything a girl does makes it a girl thing. Traits and interests of men and women overlap a lot. The need to categorize behavior as only male or female is a disservice to everyone.

Quiet Mouse