From the time we learned that our Sprout was female, I felt like I had to take a stand against the proliferation of princesses and pink. I felt the need to buy gender neutral clothes to counteract all the dresses and hearts and bows. I got annoyed that puppies were supposed to be only for boys and that (purposely) gender neutral clothes were non-existant after about 6 months.
So now that she's 19 months old, how is it going? I'm sitting in our living room now, which is Sprout's main play area. There are books, a rocking horse, puzzles, animals, cars, a doll. While it would only take someone a split second to see that a toddler lived here, they'd have to look closer to guess that it's a girl. The biggest clues are a pink blanket with letters of the alphabet and the doll buried in her toy bin. Oh, and her sandals sitting on the end table. That makes me happy.
Maybe I try too hard. Maybe I'm denying her "girl-ness." I figure that she will have a whole life of being bombarded by what society expects of girls and women. When she begs for the princess doll, we'll go there, but why push it on her now? For now, she loves building with blocks. I love seeing her develop her own interests and opinions (though I'm not sure I was quite prepared for her to have opinions!). And I love that her favorite thing to do is to read.
But I also realize that this is only the beginning. The real tests are ahead of us. She doesn't watch TV or go to school. I can protect her now, but I know that she will eventually face all of the stereotypes and mixed messages that our culture has to offer. I hope that I'm able to guide her through them and help her gain the confidence to be herself and be proud of whoever that may be.
4 comments:
I think all we can do is parents is not deny our children their personality and likes, but while doing so not force gender stereotypes on them.
Children don't know what a gender stereotype is all they know is what they like!
Thanks for taking part! Please read and comment on the other entries when you get a chance!
You're right, but I think it probably gets harder as they get older and you have to deal with all the messages they are hearing. I hope that I'm able to talk to her about all of those things in age appropriate ways as she grows up so that she can recognize them, too.
Congratulations and I think it's amazing you're not pushing princesses and pink on her. She'll have a better chance of being true to herself knowing that you accept her whatever her choices!
I think by the time that she's to the point where she may be influenced, she's already going to have an inner confidence. She's getting such a great start to life right now!
I like how you said you can't tell by looking at her toys that she's a girl; that's a great way to look and make sure that you're not pushing towards one side too much.
Post a Comment