Thursday, January 26, 2012

fart smellers

If you like the smell of your own farts then you will probably agree with this article. In short it's about a couple that finally revealed their kids gender at the age of 5  (it's a boy) because they wanted to avoid all stereotyping. While I am a huge fan of letting your kids be who they want to be I think this family is bat shit crazy. This kid doesn't have a change at all. Like ZERO percent chance of being normal. And when I say normal I mean being part of society like all humans need to be to survive. The parents are the biggest hypocrites alive. They allow him to wear pink sparkly bathing suits (which is fine) but they won't let him play with barbie. They also don't let him him wear  "hyper-masculine outfits like skull-print shirts and cargo pants". You know cause skull prints are the reason for this crazy world we live in. PLEASE!!! Um does anyone else see that everything is wrong about this?? I get if they want to let him choose, that's awesome but that means everything should be fair game. And really, is Barbie the problem? I am so annoyed with parents bullying Barbie and putting this huge ban on it like she is responsible for your children being fucked up and having eating disorders. She is a plastic doll with big tits. If you grow up in orange county all you see is plastic faces and big tits so should you ban kids from Southern California?? I mean come on. It's the parents job to teach kids that Barbie is a doll to be imaginative with her not want to be her. Some of my best childhood memories were playing with my Barbie dolls and dressing them up. My mom never forced them on me, it was what I wanted. I never wanted big fake boobs and blond hair. It was just a toy and I'm pretty sure to most kids that is the only thing it is. It's our job as parents to explain things to our children. I mean the world is full or worse things than Barbie. Ok I know the article wasn't really about Barbie but since it was mentioned I went on my rant. I'm a huge fan of letting boys get in touch with their feminine side too. I can remember countless times putting my brother in dresses, painting his nails, and doing his hair. It was awesome and I know he loved it, we still joke about it today. After his nails dried he would go back in his room and play with his ninja turtles and dinosaurs. So ya I totally get that everything should be explored.

In all honesty I feel sad for this kid because as much as I think it's ok to blur the lines between girl and boy you also have to have something to identify with. It doesn't have to be forced or what society says but there is nothing wrong with having an identity and being proud of who or what you are. I mean I think it's important that we are confident with ourselves and maybe in order to do that you don't have to know "what" you are but I think it helps. I mean for me I feel like my femininity, my curves, and all the things that make me a women give me confidence. I identify with other women, not because I have to but because I actually do. I think if you lack that then maybe it could make you insecure and confused.

Although Olive isn't even 2 I've watched her take on little roles of being a girl and none of them were forced. She has all kinds of toys and most of them are pretty neutral. Lately she has been way more interested in pushing around her shopping cart, putting on bracelets, and digging through her wallet. Before I even gave her bracelets she was putting things on her wrists and using her buckets and anything she could like a purse. No one showed her she just did it. She also has trucks that she pushes around and makes car noises. She has dolls but like everything in her playroom she has the choice of what to play with. I don't force the doll on her. It's sitting in the corner of her room and usually a few times a day she grabs it and holds it or puts it in her shopping cart. She also loves to give it hugs. I do think some things are just built in. I will never tell Olive she can't do anything or deprive her of something because it isn't appropriate for her gender but I do think there is a line ya know??

I'd be willing to bet if they went back and interviewed this kid in 10 years it would be pretty interesting.

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