Comments on: Bubblegum Pink Polish

By: Hopscotch Kids

Hopscotch Kids — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:02:13 +0000

[...] few weeks ago I talked about painting my son’s toenails pink. The backstory is that I received some Hopscotch Kids Nail Polish from my friend Sue at Raspberry [...]

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:41:05 +0000

I would have done the same thing There’s nothing wrong with experiencing painted toes Just as long as he doesn’t suck on his toes of course LOL
Pink is also just another color. It’s great when they don’t identify a color with gender. Jack actually has a favorite pacifier for bed time, and it’s pink. I don’t know why he prefers it, he has 3 other ones in the crib with him. He does use them all, but for some reason pink is his first choice.
I think it’s great to expose kids to everything no matter what we feel is not gender appropriate.
My husband has issues with boys having dolls. He doesn’t think it’s something they should have. But stuff animals or figures are different. We actually call the little figurines/characters Dudes. Maybe we would have called them dolls if we had a daughter. But calling them dudes is just as fun, especially when you hear a little toddler saying DUDE all the time
Sara’s last post … big boy undies

By: Lady M

Lady M — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:14:30 +0000

Yep, agree that society is “allowing” girls to bend traditional gender roles, but not so much for the boys. I encourage all their singing and dancing, to balance out the shooting, smashing, and battling that goes on around here.
Lady M’s last post … Sealife- the Real Kind

By: Francesca

Francesca — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:05:54 +0000

In my (small) experience, my kids have shown differences based on gender from early infancy. Not in the colors they like, but in the way they play: loud banging, throwing, lots of action and movement for the boys, which lead to ball games and fast bikes etc, vs the gentle playing and interest in all the subtle details of everything that my daughter shows, which leads to dolls to dress and undress etc.

By: Kirsten

Kirsten — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 05:28:06 +0000

If one more stranger looks down at my tangle-haired, primary colours wearing girl and randomly asks (after the usual “what’s your name” and “are you starting Kindergarten next year” questions) “and do you like PRINCESSES?” my head is going to fucking explode. (Can i swear on your blog? Seems like such a polite place…)

Explode. Boom.

What’s done to kids’ (and adults’) self-esteem in the name of heteronormativity is unconscionable.

Hey did you read about the doctor in Florida who has developed a treatment that will reduce the chances that your in utero girl will become a lesbian?

Explodey. My head.

By: karin

karin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:49:53 +0000

I think about this all the time too. When my boy 4 year old S chooses pink (his current favorite colour) I find I encourage this, or at least acknowledge in a positive way. When my girl 2 year old M chooses it (probably emulating big bro) I find that I am more neutral. I have always been frustrated with clothing for kids, and am Very Picky at the thrift store. No logos, no disney, no specific gender distinctions. So all the clothes we had for our first are totally used by our second. I’ve made some clothes too. I still haven’t gotten them into Dress-up (I have guilt about this!). M knows exactly what she wants to wear and changes / layers many outfits at a time, S prefers hte same old same old every day. I am bemused when I see “traditional” gender splits between my boy and girl. And wonder why that is. Could there really be a difference at this preschool age?!?

just found your blog, looks interesting! My sister is making a life in suburban vanc, too, despite herself. She is doing an awesome job bringing some soul to the suburbs!

By: allison

allison — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:50:24 +0000

Oh god, I can’t count the time Angus was painted – fingers and toes – and he didn’t have a big sister. He used to grab for purple nightgowns in his stroller as we wheeled through the clothes departments. He’s worn Eve’s nightgowns on several occasions. My friend has a fabulous story about her five-year-old son coming out of his room naked except for pink high heels, looking at her, saying ‘princess meeting!’, walking into her daughter’s room and closing the door. I circled the toy store five times looking for the broom and mop set Angus desperately wanted before I realized I had to go down the ‘pink’ aisle, and yes, I was pissed.
allison’s last post … Pardon my ungraceful re-entrance

By: clara

clara — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:37:15 +0000

If I tried to paint my toes without including my boys there would be hell to pay.

It irritates the crap out of me that toy isles are segregated, that there are still people who say “oh no that’s a boy/girl toy,” to whom those isles appeal. Like a woman at the park one day years ago who referred to the sand digger thingee as “kind of boyish” when her daughter wanted to try it. Seriously? WTF? Nothing in our house, except my bras, the stove and various poisons, are off limits to my kids. (And the bras are because they’re the one thing that is exclusively mine, not because of any Cross Dressing Panic.)
clara’s last post … Annual Review- Year Four

By: J - Alternative Housewife

J - Alternative Housewife — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:10:21 +0000

Whenever this topic comes up I have to brag about my husband, as it is HIM who notices these things in the way stores are set up and toys are marketed. I grew up playing with bugs and other toys from the blue and green aisle of the store, but it is more acceptable for girls to be “tomboys”. There is no equivalent to the term tomboy that isn’t offensive.

Our son will grow up watching Dad make dinner and Mom scoop bugs out of the house, so I’m not too worried about gender neutral role models. I can personally say that I WOULD think to offer nail polish to the boy, pink or otherwise. Perhaps that comes up as growing up with a brother seven years my junior – a little boy who spent a great deal of his childhood in dresses and bonnets, yet grew up to be a normal (and very masculine) young adult.

I’m interested to see what sort of toys and activities my son, as the oldest, will be naturally drawn to!
J – Alternative Housewife’s last post … Sunday Link Love

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:05:31 +0000

I have painted my son’s toes pink…although technically it was more red than pink. My son is the older of the two kids so we had a lot of boys baby clothes when Em was born. I originally planned on dressing her in all of his old cast-offs – after all she was a tiny baby and wouldn’t care. But after I did it once or twice I stopped because I realized that I didn’t really like dressing my daughter like a boy. If she wants to wear boy clothes now she could but when I was choosing for her I liked the boy-girl division. That’s just me.

As it turns out my kids are very boy and very girl. Case in point Em burst into tears this morning when I tried to put her in a t-shirt instead of a dress.

I don’t think a little gender mixing is a bad thing but I also don’t think it’s necessary to try to smooth it all out. I think it’s ok for there to be boys things and girls things. That said if a boy wants to dance ballet that’s fine and if my daughter begs to watch the Monster Trucks on TV while wearing her tutu that’s fine too.
Marilyn’s last post … Stepping Back in Time at the Burnaby Village Museum