Interesting Discussion from Amazon.com

[Bob]

I found an interesting discussion on gender and gender norms in our society. It touches on some topics we talk about from time to time.

http://www.amazon.com/Boys-and-Girls-Ar ... 0007232748

Also:
http://www.amazon.com/that-girl-acknowl ... _ef_tft_tp

and:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/Fx3W0FFJ3GQ ... cdItems=25

[Pythos]

Interesting and sad discussions.

It would seem gender bias is alive and strong, at least when looking at these posts.

Actually, the hasty generalization is alive and well. These posts are full of them.

Men and women are different, but not in the ways that are normally thought. What is the usual result of the boy that shows interest in "girly" things? Well just watch that video of the view ladies and that one ignorant and limiting woman stating "these are for boys, and these are for girls".

When I wore a slip that I saw laying on my parent's floor I was laughed at mercilessly, and called a fruit loop, by both my mom and dad. I was really young that day. If I were a girl playing with my dad's work boots, I would have been concidered "cute". Double standard, which is also alive and well.

When my niece was born, her normally liberal parents had all the "gender apropriate" stuff in the child's room. From day one she was bombarded with girly things.

There needs to be a lot more research in this arena is all I can see.

[SkirtedViking]

Precisely Pythos, girls are allowed by their parents to play football and fight with boys while a boy is always laughed at if he si different from the pack.That double standard comes to adults and fashion in our case.

[sapphire]

I'm pretty sure that my brother, who is 5 1/2 years younger than I, tried on some of our Mom's clothes and some of mine. It was just the curiosity of a little boy. I do know for sure that one time he poured my perfume all over himself. There was no ridicule, only a lecture on respecting other people's property.


In fact if he had asked, I would have let him try my stuff on. My quarrel was that he did not ask, he went behind my back. It was the lack of respect for my space and my property that made me angry.

[Peter v]

Interesting and sad discussions.

It would seem gender bias is alive and strong, at least when looking at these posts.

Actually, the hasty generalization is alive and well. These posts are full of them.

Men and women are different, but not in the ways that are normally thought. What is the usual result of the boy that shows interest in "girly" things? Well just watch that video of the view ladies and that one ignorant and limiting woman stating "these are for boys, and these are for girls".

When I wore a slip that I saw laying on my parent's floor I was laughed at mercilessly, and called a fruit loop, by both my mom and dad. I was really young that day. If I were a girl playing with my dad's work boots, I would have been concidered "cute". Double standard, which is also alive and well.

When my niece was born, her normally liberal parents had all the "gender apropriate" stuff in the child's room. From day one she was bombarded with girly things.

There needs to be a lot more research in this arena is all I can see.

Yes Pythos, and it begins with the parents, simply because it is easy to govern things, but how do you react to things that are different to that which you are aware of?

It is back to basics, you can't help your kids with maths if you don't understand it yourself. So you don't help or find an excuse not to.


To think that each child could be male in a female body, or vice versa, etc etc, straight from the birth, is asking much of the parents. That can only be done by parents who have a high learning ability, or have learnt about that beforehand. Otherwise I think that the parents will as most do, define the boundarys, not for the sake of the child, but for the sake of the parents themselves.

"Darling, our son is playing with dolls," "O no! we don't know how to deal with that! Take them away! Give him a cowboy gun and a model car, quickly!" "That's easier for us. When he's out of our house, he can see what he does, but in MY house No matter what he wants, he's a BOY!!!" "I can't deal with any other "" crap."" "

If you can follow...

When parents would be more and better educated as to gender identity, adn just personal tastes, feelings, emotions, and stand open to other options than black and white male and female boy and girl, then there would be hope. Not only the parents, but the community as a whole, because then "nice doll you are buying for your daughter, " "no it is for my son" Oh really? that is very creative of him, "my son wants a pink bycicle"
and so on, meaning to say that it would not be abnormal, but others would be able to understand it. If the community does not understand, then the parents would tend to hide the fact and force their kids to act as the others do, which is no good for them.

So educating the children of today well, makes better parents tomorrow, and gets hopefully healthier children in mind and body.

Getting men in skirts well known in the streets helps the youth and older of today who want that too, to go out there and also wear skirts.

There is much to be done and learnt, of which respect is very important, because I think that respect amongst other things is also looking at the individual and trying to see and understand him / her as he / she is, thus learning about them, and at the same time, giving them all the room they need to be themselves. And not pushing others into a box of your choosing.

Peter v.