5 ms·

As a proud dad of 3 incredible girls, I am very glad this product exists. I understand the argument that it would be great to not have gendered products at all

As a proud dad of 3 incredible girls, I am very glad this product exists. I understand the argument that it would be great to not have gendered products at all meaning kids could choose what they want without any outside influence. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world yet (and it could be a while off) In the meantime, I can now buy a product that: 1. Encourages my girls to get into STEM. 2. Is not a hard sell. My girls are socialized to like girly stuff. I am only partly responsible for this - the outside pressures and influences on my children are huge and very hard to resist. So you could argue that this product is a compromise, but it's one I'll gladly make.

phalangion 9y ago
Even without socialization, I'd bet some girls will still like girly stuff.
- lphnull 9y ago
  males can like girly stuff too
- addicted 9y ago
  The problem isn’t that girls like “girly” stuff. The problem is that stuff is defined as “girly”.
  - Double_a_92 9y ago
    That's because boys usually don't like it...? Or do you mean that "girly" is seen as something negative?
johnm1019 9y ago
Why do men and women need to be the same? Isn't it ok to be different?
- ShaneWilton 9y ago
  It's absolutely okay to be different. In fact, everybody is different, and that's one of the big problems with trying to slot people into one of two buckets.
  - atomical 9y ago
    We aren't that different.
    - DigitalJack 9y ago
      If we weren’t “that” different, gender reassignment would not be a thing.
      - atomical 9y ago
        If gender reassignment was performed on 40% of the population I would agree with you.
        DigitalJack 9y ago
        That makes no sense. There is a segment of the population that is physically one gender but feels they are actually the other. If we weren't that different, nobody would go through the massive physical alteration. The size of the population that has gender dysphoria is irrelevant.
      - cutcss 9y ago
        Gender reassignment is an statistical anomaly, less than 0.1% of the population.
- dang 9y ago
  Please don't take HN threads on generic ideological tangents. The site rules specifically ask us all to avoid them: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. The reason for this is that they're (a) always the same and (b) always degnerate. (a) makes threads unsubstantive and (b) makes them uncivil. Civil, substantive conversation is the whole idea of HN threads—however rarely we may actually achieve it—so you could hardly do anything that more violates the site's values, even if you didn't mean to. Not meaning to makes it more insidious in a way.
spoiler 9y ago
There's nothing worng with liking girly stuff and being into STEM. I'm a pretty "masculine" (for a lack of better expression) guy who likes a fair amount of girly stuff. My best friend is a girly girl who's in STEM and she's brilliant at her job. If your girls want to be girly, there's nothing wrong with it! I don't understand the recent "trend" of people being against girly girls or or boyish boys. People will choose to be what best suits them. And if your girls decide they don't want to be girly at one point in their life, also great.
- rapsacnz 9y ago
  Good point - I suppose I really meant they are channelled in certain "girly" directions when you could argue that there are other valid (and also "girly") directions also. And yes, I will support whatever way they choose to express themselves. Gender issues are tough!
knowuh 9y ago
I am TOTES buying one of these for myself (cis male). I wouldn't deprive anyone of this.
- Double_a_92 9y ago
  But do you really like it? Or would you just buy it out of virtue signaling bullshit reasons?
baldfat 9y ago
I have 2 daughters and one is just all about her phone (She is older and living on her own) my 11 year old would love this but it was because of code.org and their minecraft section. I tried Arduino and Scratch but that it was scratch with minecraft made all the difference. Each kid has their own selves and likes. Sometimes they are similar and others they are opposites and we as parents flounder and stay up late wondering if we are doing the right things for our kids all the time. I like this product but I couldn't shell out $100 on Friendship bracelets.
erikpukinskis 9y ago
What's gendered about Jewelbots?

phalangion 9y ago

Even without socialization, I'd bet some girls will still like girly stuff.

lphnull 9y ago
males can like girly stuff too
addicted 9y ago
The problem isn’t that girls like “girly” stuff. The problem is that stuff is defined as “girly”.
- Double_a_92 9y ago
  That's because boys usually don't like it...? Or do you mean that "girly" is seen as something negative?

johnm1019 9y ago

Why do men and women need to be the same? Isn't it ok to be different?

ShaneWilton 9y ago
It's absolutely okay to be different. In fact, everybody is different, and that's one of the big problems with trying to slot people into one of two buckets.
- atomical 9y ago
  We aren't that different.
  - DigitalJack 9y ago
    If we weren’t “that” different, gender reassignment would not be a thing.
    - atomical 9y ago
      If gender reassignment was performed on 40% of the population I would agree with you.
      - DigitalJack 9y ago
        That makes no sense. There is a segment of the population that is physically one gender but feels they are actually the other. If we weren't that different, nobody would go through the massive physical alteration. The size of the population that has gender dysphoria is irrelevant.
    - cutcss 9y ago
      Gender reassignment is an statistical anomaly, less than 0.1% of the population.
dang 9y ago
Please don't take HN threads on generic ideological tangents. The site rules specifically ask us all to avoid them: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. The reason for this is that they're (a) always the same and (b) always degnerate. (a) makes threads unsubstantive and (b) makes them uncivil. Civil, substantive conversation is the whole idea of HN threads—however rarely we may actually achieve it—so you could hardly do anything that more violates the site's values, even if you didn't mean to. Not meaning to makes it more insidious in a way.

spoiler 9y ago

There's nothing worng with liking girly stuff and being into STEM. I'm a pretty "masculine" (for a lack of better expression) guy who likes a fair amount of girly stuff. My best friend is a girly girl who's in STEM and she's brilliant at her job. If your girls want to be girly, there's nothing wrong with it! I don't understand the recent "trend" of people being against girly girls or or boyish boys. People will choose to be what best suits them. And if your girls decide they don't want to be girly at one point in their life, also great.

rapsacnz 9y ago
Good point - I suppose I really meant they are channelled in certain "girly" directions when you could argue that there are other valid (and also "girly") directions also. And yes, I will support whatever way they choose to express themselves. Gender issues are tough!

knowuh 9y ago

I am TOTES buying one of these for myself (cis male). I wouldn't deprive anyone of this.

Double_a_92 9y ago
But do you really like it? Or would you just buy it out of virtue signaling bullshit reasons?

baldfat 9y ago

I have 2 daughters and one is just all about her phone (She is older and living on her own) my 11 year old would love this but it was because of code.org and their minecraft section. I tried Arduino and Scratch but that it was scratch with minecraft made all the difference. Each kid has their own selves and likes. Sometimes they are similar and others they are opposites and we as parents flounder and stay up late wondering if we are doing the right things for our kids all the time. I like this product but I couldn't shell out $100 on Friendship bracelets.

erikpukinskis 9y ago

What's gendered about Jewelbots?