Sunday, September 01, 2013

That girl thing

I've had a girl baby. We'll I've had one for over a year now. One of the more interesting (academically) concepts to arise from this is 'does gender exist separate from society?' Not sex, but gender. I hate pink. I also consider myself to have been raised by a gang of boys (and i mean gang in the old fashioned sense, so a tight knot group of friends that hangout a lot- not the modern word that adults bandy about now days when they are scared). Needless to say raising a girl is an issue for me, i think? I was really disappointed when i heard she was a girl, yes, i freely admit it, as i can freely admit that i am now more than 100% happy that she was a girl and not a boy. girl = mummy's friend, boy = future silverback. See, i have already done it! stereotyped gender!

Sometimes when Starbucks is good people will say, 'ah, it's because she's a girl'. I find it INCREDIBLY annoying. What so girls are good and boys are bad, my parenting has no influence??

Anyways, i have always tried to dress Starbucks in anything but pink, with the result being that most people think she is a boy. I thought it might be fun to include some pictures of her clothes here so you can decide for yourself if i am dressing her like a boy.

( These photos are all the same way around on my computer?) Boys or girls?
 Boys or girls? Dinosaur and combat colours?
 Black long sleeve?
 The most girly we go. It's got slight frills on the arms and its a cat
 Boys?
 My favourite band. Surely black is unisex?
Cookie!! but blue is a 'boys colour?

I'd be interested to know your thoughts, but when i go through this, i think most of these items are boys. Does that mean that Dinosaurs, 1980's clothing, stripes and combat are all only for boys. If so, what do girls like? shoes and cats? curious.

11/52 Happy? That i am a girl. I can grow humans!

3 comments:

:-D Bubble Bee said...

I love all of these clothes! It's ridiculous isn't it - girl's shouldn't have to wear pink bows etc. to be noticed as being a girl. But lickle people often do look similar until they're a bit older. Therefore it's only clothing/exterior that makes it obvious to others. This is chosen by their parents/carers and society teaches that 'gender' is recognised by the colours/styles etc. It shouldn't matter what gender a child is and as you say, it should't mean one can suggest this relates to their behaviour.
I've lost my point but you asked for opinions! :-P

Anonymous said...

Where did you get that Cookie Monster hoodie its amazing!!!! Of course girls can wear blue - In fact the whole pink/blue thing used to be the other way round but P is beginning to show signs of gender brainwashing - booo! I think we might have similar taste in sesame street related clothes. Jen

LEGeek said...

the cookie hoodie is from M&S but i got it in the Christmas sales last year. It is now Starbucks' favourite and she always goes and gets it when she wants you to get the hint that she is ready to go out (regardless of any plans to go anywhere). Geek