Gender Stereotypes

Someone asked me on Friday if I thought that it was appropriate to worry about a 2 year old boy who likes to wear high heels and play with barbies.

Um, no. He's TWO. Not TWENTY TWO.

But that's all he ever wants to play with! Not regular shoes, just high heels!

Has it ever occurred to you that maybe high heels are more fun? I wouldn't know, seeing as how I don't even own a pair, but I can easily see how a kid would prefer shoes that make him feel taller over flats. Dramatic play is an important part of child development, and it's sad that people feel that they need to stifle a child's creativity just because it doesn't meet their criteria of "acceptable."

One of Charlie's favorite books is called "Ten Tiny Fairies." It was a hand-me-down from someone at work. Why does he like it so much? Could be a number of things, really - the colors are vibrant, the pages have raised Fairies with sparkly colored dresses to touch and feel, and the last page has flashing lights. It's a pretty book to look at. Should I be concerned that my child is exhibiting questionable tendencies? Do I have a problem with him liking a "girl's book?" Absofreakinglutely not. Get your heads out of your asses, people. This is 20 freaking 10!

I guess it should have come as no surprise, since this is the same person who at one time told me that she believes women were just genetically inferior to men when it comes to intelligence, and that's why they're not as good at "math and sciency things." Excuse me, lady, but speak for yourself and consider who you're talking to. I'm a freaking statistician. I make my living doing math things.

I can only hope that I'm more conscious of how I'm raising Charlie and any future child that we might have. It saddens me that kids are still being exposed to this kind of thinking. The damage that could be done to a little girl hearing this garbage is just unbelievable.