The article, "What's the difference between boys and girls?" fascinated me! I'm sure I loved reading it because I have two children, one of each sex. I get to witness what is so called, "gender appropriate," and what isn't, every day.
My son Darius, who is 5, has always been an extremely rambunctious child. We own every Hotwheel imaginable and Power Ranger toys can't be manufactured fast enough. My son is a boy to the max down to his core, no questions asked, until... he asks to watch a Barbie movie or wants me to draw him a picture of Strawberry Shortcake. In the article, Deborah Blum's son asks for a Barbie, well, so has Darius, although for different reasons than chopping off her head. I ended up buying him a Ken doll that he only played with for 5 minutes. I have to admit, like most parents, I hesitated to buy him a "gender inappropriate" toy. In the end it came down to one question, who am I to decide what toy is right or wrong for my child to play with? Because media says so? Because our culture says so? No. A child is only a child for so long, innocent from the gender restrictions yet to be put on him by his peers and what they say is socially acceptable.
My daughter, Tamaya, who is almost 18 months, has also been a very energetic child from the minute she was born. Tamaya is very vocal but I guess when a girl wants something she doesn't hesitant to let it be known. I always wonder if Tamaya would have turned out different if she didn't have an older brother to look up to. She will tackle him to the ground and wrestle with him before she picks up any type of doll. I am shocked at how tough that girl is already! I was a tomboy growing up so my next question is this...Is she ramunctious because she has an older brother or because its in her genes? I think both.
I have found that Darius needs more one-on-one attention where as Tamaya will do what she wants and is stubborn in her ways without as much guidance. Like Deborah said, "We can influence our children...not by force, but by guidance."
Your daughter is just like my niece, who is 3 years old. She is stubborn and she likes to try out new things very day. For example: she wants to know how to use phone, how to play soccer etc. I think part of the personality comes from genes, but can be influenced by environment. Mostly kids want to play soccer or any other game because other kids (peers) influence them. I think this is the reason for my niece’s interest in soccer.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is anything worng with buying a barbie for a little boy. I hate it when you hear parents say, "Oh he's going to turn out gay if he plays with girl toys!" That is so not true! When a little boy wants to play with a doll it is because its a TOY!So when I have children, and the girls ask for trucks and the boys ask for dolls, they can have them.
ReplyDeleteI think it is cool that you bought "gender innappropriate" toys for your son. My daughters used to play with cars, motorcycles... "boy toys" and had just as much fun with them. The kids don't know they are made for the "other gender". Like you said they also play with a toy for about 5 minutes and move on. I think it makes the kids well rounded and teaches them very young that they do not have to just do "boy" things. Your daughter sounds like mine. :)
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