4 ms·

A buddy of mine has a 2.5 year old daughter. They're not going full-tilt gender-neutral, but as engineers, they're also conscious of not just giving her dolls a

A buddy of mine has a 2.5 year old daughter. They're not going full-tilt gender-neutral, but as engineers, they're also conscious of not just giving her dolls and whatnot. Anyway, her mom from the get-go has had her wear both dresses, pants, snowsuits, a big variety of clothing. The other day she refused to wear pants. "If I don't wear a dress, nobody will tell me I'm pretty!". A 2.5 year old. It's crazy how much kids pick up in such a tiny period of time.

bigmanwalter 10y ago
I've heard an extremely similar story from a friend. First I thought "Wow, what are the chances?", but it turns out that the Internet's a small place. Hi Harold.
gerbilly 10y ago
Another finding is that young kids feel more secure when they wear clothes that confirm their gender. This is why princess dresses and girls clothes in that awful shade of purple/pink are so popular.
jandrese 10y ago
When my twins (boy and girl) were two the boy started dressing up in the princess dresses that his sister got. We thought it was adorable but didn't push him one way or the other. The only negative is that he was pretty rough on them. Now that they are three, this has morphed into him wearing his Batman costume from Halloween whenever he gets a chance--even though he's going through a growth spurt and the costume now has old man utility belt. I guess maybe he just likes to dress up. His sister is the opposite, she will wear the same outfit day after day unless we make her change. Kids are all different.
concinds 10y ago
It's fine to let kids dress the way they want, but quite a few parents go too far with it and seem to want to force their children into an androgynous self-expression instead of letting their kids develop their own identity. Feeling feminine may be very important for some girls and less for others, and has much more to do with personality than with "culture". Stymieing that isn't in the child's interest. Not saying this is the case for your friend, but something to keep in mind.

bigmanwalter 10y ago

I've heard an extremely similar story from a friend. First I thought "Wow, what are the chances?", but it turns out that the Internet's a small place. Hi Harold.

gerbilly 10y ago

Another finding is that young kids feel more secure when they wear clothes that confirm their gender. This is why princess dresses and girls clothes in that awful shade of purple/pink are so popular.

jandrese 10y ago

When my twins (boy and girl) were two the boy started dressing up in the princess dresses that his sister got. We thought it was adorable but didn't push him one way or the other. The only negative is that he was pretty rough on them. Now that they are three, this has morphed into him wearing his Batman costume from Halloween whenever he gets a chance--even though he's going through a growth spurt and the costume now has old man utility belt. I guess maybe he just likes to dress up. His sister is the opposite, she will wear the same outfit day after day unless we make her change. Kids are all different.

concinds 10y ago

It's fine to let kids dress the way they want, but quite a few parents go too far with it and seem to want to force their children into an androgynous self-expression instead of letting their kids develop their own identity. Feeling feminine may be very important for some girls and less for others, and has much more to do with personality than with "culture". Stymieing that isn't in the child's interest. Not saying this is the case for your friend, but something to keep in mind.