Thoughts on Gender

By kate on October 3rd, 2005

Now that we know we’re having a girl, Steve and I have been giving some more thought to gender. I’ve always said that I want my kids to have all kinds of toys, whether they’re girls or boys. If we were having a boy, I’d give him dolls as well as trucks; frilly dress-up clothes as well as plastic tools. With Zippy, it’ll be the same. Why not give a child the full range of fun to choose from? I don’t doubt that she’ll end up preferring some kinds of toys over others, and that’s fine, even if she ends up wanting to be a princess. I just want her to have the biggest possible choice and not steer her in a direction.

That means Zippy will get some “girly” stuff, even though I’m not crazy about those things. If you know me, I don’t go in for pink and frilly very much (although I do enjoy wearing the “featherbutt” costumes the Aerialistas have). I don’t want her entire wardrobe and toybox to consist of this stuff. I’m kind of afraid that every baby gift we’ll get from now on is going to be pink. The thought makes me shudder.

The last thing I want to be is ungrateful… but if you find yourself eyeing that fluffy pink ballerina outfit, maybe you’d consider throwing in a tool belt as well.


Filed under: parenting, pregnancy
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2 Responses to “Thoughts on Gender”

  1. Hello, My Name Is Kate » Is your child wearing the uniform? Says:
    November 7th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    […] aversion to pink is nothing new. I don’t wear the color myself, and Ruby rarely does. I realize that’s an extreme […]

  2. Hello, My Name Is Kate » It’s possible, and not even that hard Says:
    March 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    […] we had some strong ideas about what we would and wouldn’t do, especially as it relates to gender and consumerism. However, I always kept an open mind since I didn’t really know what it was […]

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