The article
I chose to write my first blog on deals with the way societies view on gender
nonconforming children has changed within recent years. The article points out that years ago,
children who differed from usual gender norms were often told to conceal it by
those around them, including their parents.
However, lately parents are becoming much more open-minded on the topic,
and letting their children express themselves however they want. This article presented the case of 3 ½
year-old Henry, who often chose to play with princess Barbie’s and wear
princess costumes as opposed to playing with trucks and dressing like a ninja
or a soldier. His parents openly supported,
and encouraged his decisions. The only
concern from Henry’s parents, and all other parents presented throughout this
article, was how others would treat their children. Their fellow peers, and
even adults often ridiculed these children for the way they chose to express
themselves. Parents of children like Henry want people to become more
open-minded and learn to not judge them on the littlest things such as what
they choose to wear and what toys they choose to play with.
At what point in society did we make the decision that boys
and girls must act a certain way based on their genders? In todays day and age we
seem to be a more accepting society, however gender norms seems to be something
we just cant get rid of. We see examples of children going against gender norms
in the media such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s daughter, Shiloh, who often
is seen sporting boy’s clothes. Shiloh’s style seems to be welcomed with open
arms by the public, which shows a surprising fact. The public seems to be more
accepting of girls sporting boy’s clothes, than boys wearing girl’s clothes. Why is it that if we see a little girl
wearing a superman costume people often comment about ‘girl power’, however if
a little boy is seen wearing a princess costume, the comments are not quite as
positive? Gender norms are a concept that has been drilled into our minds for
our entire lives, and is not going to be easy to erase. What we have to do as a community Is think
about the long-term effects of these children having to suppress who they are
out of fear of what others will think. Hopefully, once people see what they are
doing to these children, we can begin to make strides to make a more accepting environment
for kids.
