Anyone who's ever met my Bug knows that in some ways, he's a sterotypical little boy. He has an overwhelming love for anything with a motor (seriously, when he was 16 months and barely talking, he'd go completely nuts when he saw a bulldozer). He loves anything involving a ball. He wants to kick it and dig in the mud and run down the sidewalk and whack it with a stick. Of course, he also has a teddy which he
loves more than anything.
Recently, I was at the store with Bug, looking for eyeliner. (For me.) He saw the nail polish display and asked for some. I paused for just a second,ever-so-briefly thought of explaining gender taboos, and then thought, "NAAAH. He's four. And it's a dollar."
And now his nails are "so pretty" and "look, Mama, we match", because who am I to tell him only girls can paint their nails?
Good for you!
ReplyDeleteNeighbor Boy occasionally paints his nails too. He's 9 now, so we had the conversation about how there aren't going to be too many boys at school who have painted nails, and to make sure he was ok with that. His comment, "I don't care---I like it." Sadly, some boys did comment. But, he truly seemed to not care too much. Which seems like a good thing to me.
--Neighbor Lady
And such a trendy shade! I feel a little conflicted every time I paint my daughter's toes, partly because she's 2 and partly because I'm reinforcing some stereotypical female gender things. Then I remember that not only is it adorable but she loves it. And I do it again.
ReplyDeleteExactly. My only concern is that someone will tease him, but... well... learning to deal with that is part of life, too, and I don't want to reinforce the stereotype from this side either. But whatever, they love it.
DeleteVery cute! Having lived in Barcelona and now in San Francisco for too long, I'm the wrong person to ask about gender stereotypes, especially when it comes to appearance ;)
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriends in high school often had painted nails, so I have a whole other association. Them's some adorable little nails!
ReplyDelete