My Son Plays With Dolls

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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:20 am

That's me in the middle Wink

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:46 am

Sorry, wording on my side, I meant in a general sense, people say my kid does this and he/she's normal, so that suggests there is something abnormal that the child may do, so depending on whether its being a sissy, being gay or being a serial killer, this would mean that people still think gays/sissies are abnormal, even while coming across as accepting/liberal.

In my defense I did say I can see the good intent in your OP.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

The thing is that gender stereotypes are still being accepted as the norm by many people
A stay at home dad may find it difficult to make friends with stay at home mums, it shouldn't be that way but it happens
A girl may find she is one of the few females doing mechanics or engineering

I let my children play with whatever they wanted, let them study what subjects they wanted mainly because when I wanted to take O grades in Sciences my headmaster was against it, "girls did not do Physics"

Luckily my parents backed me.
< smug mode> got A passes

Some people see their children as extensions of themselves not as individuals, so what a child does, says or plays with, is a reflection on them and their persception of themselves

Whether any of my children are gay, straight, sissy is not of importance to ME.

Though I would draw the line at serial killer
( or Tory voter )

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:14 pm

Don't be so fussy, Nan. At least serial killing is inexpensive and rewarding Wink

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:34 am

Boris wrote:

Quote:

Sorry, wording on my side, I meant in a general sense...

Oh heck, no offense taken! I knew it wasn't a swipe at me. Smile

I of course am far too much of a beer-guzzling, hairy-chested, stubble-growing, cursing swearing man's man to ever have played with dolls. Action figures yes, but dolls (spitting on the floor) hell no!

Sometimes I still miss my teddy bear though...

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:11 am

^^Reminds me of a story where a woman was preparing a ham for a holiday and cut the ends off before putting it in the baking pan. Her husband asked why, and she said that's how her mother did things. Long story short, her mother did it because her mother did, and turns out the grandmother did it because she had a really small baking pan and a tiny oven.

It's easy to lose perspective over several generations.

Edit: I'm a slow typist at times and have been ninja'd already. I'll add that my grandmother used to make clothes for my action figures -- GI Joe sported a very Brady's Bunch looking jumpsuit for a while. Wink

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:26 am

Hello my name is Bravo and my soon to be 4 year old plays with dolls.

Actualy was just given his first "Ken" doll (even though his name is Roby or something?) the other day. It was the neighborhood girl down the street that gave it to him. My son kind of got lucky all girls on our street.

As others said WE (parents) put way too much in trying to associate a sex with traditional roles of a particular toy. It drives me crazy seeing dads tell their boys no you can't have a tea party. Kids have no idea. They do try to replicate the actions of their parents. So what if my 4 year old likes to parade around in his moms high heals. I do it and I'm perfectly normal.

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:07 am

^^^
Ah, a fellow 80's heavy metal fan!

That was different. Back in those days long pretty hair, eyeliner, spike heels and fishnets were very manly. No really... the girls loved it! Even 20 years later, I still can't get used to the idea of wearing jeans that allow me to breathe in all the way.

Or maybe you just like wearing high heels. Nothing wrong with that... Kim Jong Il does it, and nothing is more macho than nuclear missiles. Cowboy boots (very macho footwear) have elevated heels, too. They say it's just for riding, but oh sure!

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 5:41 am

I definitely played with dolls as a kid. Looking back on it, I think that for me it was because my favourite kind of playing was to pretend to be going on adventures and exploring. Dolls and stuffed puppies make far better companions on an imaginary adventure than do tonka trucks and toy tools, and they're much better participants in post-adventure picnics. My parents were totally cool with it, they had absolutely no problem buying me dolls, and not once did my dad try to tell me that I should play with "boy" toys instead. I don't think that it's fair for a kid to be forced to play with certain toys over others, they should be allowed to choose and not forced into any particular roles according to the expectations of society.