I found the video we watched yesterday about the little girl in the store very interesting, mainly because I agreed entirely. Despite whether she was voicing her own opinion or her parents', she is still stating a valid point. Why do boys and girls have different standards of living? As a child, I wasn't really into pink or princesses, or at least not as much as other girls were. Sure, I played with Barbie dolls and dressed up as Disney princesses for Halloween, but then on the other hand I would play video games and with Hot wheels, Legos and other toys designated as being for boys.
There's been a point brought up in class and discussion recently about parents and their influence on their children. They succeed as parents if their children "fulfill their gender stereotypes" and if they don't, the parents change their habits. Like I remember in discussion, I forgot who, someone mentioned their mother saying they should wear dresses as a little girl, like reinforcing her interest in wearing dresses. I remember in kindergarten I wore dresses to school sometimes. But I was an active child, always running around, so I started dressing like a tom-boy. I never felt like my parents ever discouraged this. I don't remember my mother trying to push me more toward "stereotypical female attire and activities". She loved to watch me play co-ed sports as a child and varsity sports later on. And being an only child, I think my dad loves having an athletic daughter since he never got a son.
As a society, we shouldn't be so gender-based. There's a fluidity in gender and sexuality. It's like the 30-Rock clip and my comment I made about my guy friend who has a guy-crush on Ed Westwick. Girls can have a girl-crush (like I love Rachel McAdams) and not be a lesbian, same with guys and not being gay. You can't really define it because the spectrum is so wide. Boys and girls don't necessarily fulfill their gender roles based on their interests, like the little girl in the video and me, and as we've read, there are so many different sexes besides man and woman. And heterosexuality is a relatively new concept, so why should it be relevant when the world has been living for centuries without the distinction?
I have almost the same experience as you, Monica. I would say in this era of openness in terms of mind, parents usually give freedom to their children rather than forcing them to adapt the stereotypes created by the social culture. However, being a bit different from your choice of dressing more boyish in the childhood, I found it funny that I was on the contrary--I liked to wear tanks and tube tops so much that my mother had to stop me from wearing too "exposed." I think that you are really lucky to receive supports from your parents for what you like to do, compared to many others.
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