My daughter loves the color pink. She's only 3 years old, but she knows what she likes. If you ask her, she'll tell you: "I like all the colors.
(She'll then proceed to list as many colors as she can think of and/or
see.) But pink is my favorite!"
She also loves to dance and take care of her baby dolls. She's a big fan
of Disney Princesses. She usually doesn't want to get dirty or play
with bugs. She enjoys puppets, playing dress-up, watching silly kids
shows, and trying new foods. She likes singing, helping me cook,
pretending to cook, and building things with blocks. She even loves
giving kisses and hugs. My daughter also likes to sword fight, and
occasionally tackle her younger brother. She talks about fixing cars.
She likes to watch baseball and football and hockey and basketball--she
likes playing them all, too. She likes collecting acorns, is great at
video games, and loves Spider-Man and other super heroes.
Is there anything wrong with this? Of course not! But the stuff I wrote
about my daughter isn't true. I don't even have a daughter. The stuff I
wrote is true...except it's about my son.
My son likes to sword fight, and occasionally tackle his younger
brother. He talks about fixing cars. He likes to watch baseball and
football and hockey and basketball--he likes playing them all, too. He
likes collecting acorns, is great at video games, and loves Spider-Man
and other super heroes. He enjoys puppets, playing dress-up, watching
silly kids shows, and trying new foods. He likes singing, helping me
cook, pretending to cook, and building things with blocks. He even loves
giving kisses and hugs. He also loves to dance and take care of his
baby dolls. He's a big fan of Disney Princesses. He usually doesn't want
to get dirty or play with bugs.
My son also loves the color pink. He's only 3 years old, but he knows
what he likes. If you ask him, he'll tell you: "I like all the colors.
(He'll then proceed to list as many colors as he can think of and/or
see.) But pink is my favorite!"
Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not! But I know some people
do think there are things wrong with it. Maybe even wrong with him. My
son isn't perfect, but he's not flawed because he likes to do pirouettes
and one of his favorite TV characters is a big pink monster with a
flower on her head.
When a little girl is a "tomboy," it's cute--even something to admire.
Break that glass ceiling, girl. Don't let anyone say you can't do or
like something just because you're a girl. And there are no "off-limits"
colors for girls. I know several boys who like pink. They
would wear pink shirts, and play with pink toys--except their parents won't
let them, or their "friends" would tease them. My little
dancer boy wants to wear pink. I want to buy him pink things to wear because I want my son to be happy. If he changes his mind some day, and
likes another color instead, it will be easier. But primarily because pink
clothes for boys are so difficult to find. (Why does almost every pink shirt
have to have cap sleeves or those little dart things on the shoulders?
Plus all those bows, and so much lace!) If he likes pink forever, that's
fine with me, too. No matter what his favorite color is, I want him to have so much confidence he'll never
feel he should give up something he loves just because other people
think it's weird.
Labels: boys, clothing, colors, culture, dance, double standards, freetowearpink, gender roles, kids, pink, shirts, stereotypes, style, toddlers