Boys and pink; why is it socially unacceptable?
Our girls are ‘allowed’ to like ‘boys toys’ and dress in ‘boys clothes’ but when a boy likes pink it is considered so taboo. Still. In 2016!
Boys are shamed by adults into believing they cannot like ‘girl things’. It is so ingrained in some of our children that even 4 and 5-year-olds will tell their friends what is and is not acceptable to play with, wear and watch.
My sweet 3-year-old’s favourite colour is pink. If it comes in pink, he wants it in pink. He also loves Shopkins, My Little Pony, Tinkerbell, and unicorns. He wanted a Rainbow Dash dress for Halloween this year. After much consideration, he settled on a dinosaur outfit and he looked awesome.
Recently we were in a store who had unicorn horn headbands. He desperately wanted one. I got sympathetic looks from SO MANY mums in that shop. In the end, he discarded the headband in favour of some red heart-shaped sunglasses and a pair of pink socks.
I do not understand is why people feel it is so necessary to comment on a child’s colour, clothing or toy preferences.
I have a sign up in our playroom that says ‘Let Them Be Little’ and it is an important message. We are shaping our children throughout their childhood, to help them become tolerant and responsible adults. Telling them they cannot like something, they cannot do something or they cannot be something goes against what we should be teaching them.
I did draw the line recently though when my 3 year old told me he was going to be a bison when he grows up!
The weird stigma attached to this needs to change. A boy playing with a doll is learning to be gentle with babies. A boy watching Tinkerbell just likes the characters and storylines. Boys who like pink like it because it’s just a colour.
My son’s colour choices are probably not an indicator of his sexuality, but so what if it was? This is not the worst thing that could happen. I follow a local mama on Facebook who recently lost her child to a brain tumor; that is the worst thing that could happen.
My sweet boy loving all things pink and ‘girly’ is simply part of his quirkiness! Let’s teach our children to respect other people’s choices by respecting theirs.
