Okay this blog covers two chapters...one chapter, I will be honest, I skimmed. I skimmed it because it covered Toddler Pageants, hate the idea, they should not exist, could not stand to read about them. So we will just get it out of the way.
The other chapter covered society and gender differences and included the story of one couple from Sweden who wanted to conceal their child's gender and therefore called the child Pop and changed the child's hairstyle regularly as well as "its" clothes, sometimes dresses sometimes trousers. I am sure that child isn't a bit confused. I guess atleast our boys and girls are firmly routed in who, or what they are. Well, sort of it seems, from one neurologist that boy and girls at a very early age, do not know pink from blue. I see this from having one each, Jasper is very different from Danica but has no problem in picking up and playing with her magic wand or pink purse, right now, I am sure some day, hopefully, he won't want to touch it with a 10 ft. pole.
It isn't until 2 or 3 that they pick up on a thing called girl and a thing called boy. Which I also see in Danica as she is becoming very interested in anatomy and why Jasper has a penis and she does not.
It is natural for her to be " in love" with all of the girl stuff, natural and normal, and therefore harmful for us as parents to not be supportive of this phase of childhood. Girl is what she understands and as she is exploring being a girl, princesses, pink and frill are what girls are all about.
I believe it to be important to support this princess play, as hard as it might be, and also encourage play between boys and girls, even if it is with dolls. Boys and girls playing together encourages their communication and hopefully respect for one another leading to a much more polite future with one another.
Ms. Orenstein said it best in her conclustion to the chapter. How do we allow for exploration of feminity without exploitations of feminity? Can it become over the top, or better yet, how does it become over the top?
