STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

studies have shown that toothbrushes featuring felines have altered sexual preference in boys. (I'm being sarcastic, if anyone is in question)  ok - I'm going to be vulgar here, but maybe the husband would be more accepting if it the cat was referred to as a pussy?

people can be so ignorant and homophobic sometimes. I don't think there's anything out there that supports this theory.

now - that's my american influenced opinion talking.

In French Polynesia, it is common practice to raise one boy as a girl.  There is a name for them, and they are, either as a result of the upbringing as a girl or expectation from that society, very promiscuous homosexuals.  So if you use that as a case study, there could be validity to the hello kitty paranoia.

ah - found something - they're called mahu's

"Tahiti's Third Sex
Polynesia's mahus, or third sex, bear little of the stigma attached to female impersonators in the West.
A young boy may adopt the female role by his own choice or that of his parents, performing female tasks at home and eventually finding a job usually performed by women such as serving in a restaurant or hotel.
Usually only one mahu exists in each village or community, proof that this type of individual serves a certain sociological function. George Mortimer of the British ship Mercury recorded an encounter with a mahu in 1789.
Though Tahitians may poke fun at mahus they're fully accepted in society, seen teaching Sunday school, etc.
Many, but not all, mahus are also homosexuals. Today, with money all-important, some transvestites have involved themselves in male prostitution and the term raerae has been coined for this."

http://www.tahiti-explorer.com/index.html

-- Edited by detroit at 13:49, 2005-10-21

-- Edited by detroit at 13:58, 2005-10-21

I don't have kids, either, but I do feel strongly on this issue.  I don't like it that some parents force their children to conform to antiquated ideals of what each gender represents.  A Hello Kitty toothbrush for a little boy is reasonable, and his father shouldn't get upset because of it.  It's not as if he just told his dad that he was flying to Denmark to get a sex change operation.  Small children are trying to establish their identity and I think that defining their gender for them in a stereotypical manner may hinder their process of self discovery.  Little kids can be impressionable.  If you tell a little boy that Hello Kitty is for girls, he might internalize that and later feel guilty for liking cats.  If you tell a little girl that blue is a boy color, she might later in life feel insecure/ashamed of liking blue.  Gender is a societal concept.  A child that does not conform to that concept isn't abnormal, she or he is blissfully ignorant of the contstraints we impose on ourselves.

(A side note, my mom still can't get over the fact that I dislike the majority of "chick flicks" and happily get in line to go see movies based upon whether lots of stuff gets blown up. )

I have 2 boys.

my oldest one is going to be 10 and a few x-mas back he wanted a doll. I had to talk my huband into it and tell him to lets get him one, im surprised he finally agreed. what we ended up getting him was a boy Cabbage Patch kid doll. he hardly paid any attention to it, whatever.

my 3 year old is into Dora and has a Dora ball, and Dora spoon and fork. of course hes also into cars and thomas the train, thank goodness. certain things i will let them get by with and others i dont know if i will. dont know till and if that happens.....

I can say this for sure, I wouldnt let Zane (my 3 year old) wear Dora clothes!

and when he hangs out with the girls he plays kitchen and house with them.......

-- Edited by Tati at 14:19, 2005-10-21

he's two! he sees a toothbrush with a kitty-cat on it and wants it. what's the problem?

i can totally see this happening to me as our 2 year old son adores anything with a kitty on it. a lot of times i think that it's the father who has a bigger problem with their little boys going for a "girl" item than the mother. i'm very sensitive to this — i know my husband squirms a little when he sees our son pretending to blow-dry his hair or trying my shoes on etc. but he doesn't discourage it. afterall it's just a bit of healthy role-playing. if i was in that situation in the toothbrush aisle, i would probably make a few other suggestions to our son. "oh, did you see this sponge-bob one?" "do you think you might want this elmo one instead of the kitty?" if he chose the kitty after seeing all of his options, that's the one we would get for him. i know my husband would do the same in the end even if he wasn't 100% comfortable with the choice.

the more unfortunate thing in BCs story is that the mother was letting her kids pick out toothbrushes and then took that choice away from her son when he chose "wrong". ouch!

I think it's silly to think that kids won't want toys made for the opposite sex - i think they want what they see other kids playing with - no matter what it is!

My niece didn't want a barbie car so she's getting a John Deere tractor (that you can ride) for her birthday. She says she wants to be a farmer (she is almost 3)

And this reminds me of a funny story - my friend has 2 little boys & when they would go over to a friend's house to play, the kids would play house. The other couple's little girl would make her son vacuum - she laughed & said he's going to make someone a good husband one day!

Dr Phil was about this exact topic yesterday.

Parents were really freaking out about their 4 year old boy playing with dolls because he was going to be a queer.  It was kind of appalling to me.

I think making a big deal out of it is almost even worse. Just let them brush their teeth with whatever they want to as long as they are brushing thier teeth.

 

That is so funny that you asked that, I am in a process of writing a paper on the socialization process of young kids.

When I was little I still played with my dolls, but also enjoyed my brothers legos, matchbox cars, and G.I. Joes.  But they didn't like my dolls, so I don't know!  When my brother was about 8 years old, he let me and my sister put him in a dress and put makeup on him!  He turned out alright!