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THE MOMMY FILES: Is it cruel to put a 5-year-old boy in pink bib tops?
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/30/9 | Amy Graff

Posted on 12/30/2009 5:41:49 PM PST by SmithL

When my husband was 7 years old, his family went to Kauai. He forgot to pack his swimsuit for the trip and his dad and stepmom punished him for his forgetfulness (because 7-year-olds are so forgetful) by forcing him to wear his skivvies to the beach.

My husband must have been emotionally scarred by the incident because he tells this story often, and not to make people laugh, but as an example of child cruelty.

He's extremely sensitive about how I clothe our own son, and I, the unaccredited psychologist, think it might be somehow linked...

His uncomfortableness with our son wearing clothing that he considers "funky" or "weird" or "girlish" came out again last night when I pulled a trash bag filled with our ski clothes from the garage. (We're going to the snow next month.)

We haven't been to the snow in over two years, so the children's ski clothes were small. My 5-year-old son had outgrown the bib tops he wore when he was 2. But when I came across the powder-puff pink snowsuit our 4-year-old daughter had worn, my eyes lit up.

Our son is a small 5-year-old who can definitely fit into these, I thought.

My husband read my mind, and sternly said, "Our son is NOT wearing those."

I can't say that I was surprised by his reaction because, as I've already said, he has a history with shunning outfits I pick out for our son. But I was frustrated.

I have this pie-in-the-sky progressive attitude that we shouldn't force gender stereotypes on our children. I don't want to lock them into a gender cage, telling them that blue is only for boys and pink only for girls.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Local News; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: boys; parenting; prettyinpink; sanfranciscovalues
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To: SmithL

I think John Kerry’s mom must have thought the same way. Else he would NEVER have appeared in that blue tube shot (whatever that thing was), looking like Elmer Fudd.


21 posted on 12/30/2009 6:00:16 PM PST by bboop (We don't need no stinkin' VAT)
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To: SmithL

I have a friend who grew up in Poland and his underwear was also his swimming trunks.


22 posted on 12/30/2009 6:00:36 PM PST by Krankor
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To: SmithL

RIT dye


23 posted on 12/30/2009 6:02:28 PM PST by babble-on
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To: jwparkerjr

But the husband was 7. Seven is definitely NOT a toddler. The Indian boys were hunting by 7, with the other (older) men.


24 posted on 12/30/2009 6:02:32 PM PST by bboop (We don't need no stinkin' VAT)
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To: SmithL

If they were at a cousin’s house and the kids decided to go out in the snow in the back yard and that’s all they could come up with for the kid for the afternoon, well, it’s family and who cares. This broad has a whole month to get snow pants for the kid. For God’s sake, go to Goodwill. Skip one trip to Starbuck’s and get a pair of black or blue snow pants.
What a freaking idiot.


25 posted on 12/30/2009 6:03:06 PM PST by Siouxz
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To: bboop
Oosp! How right you are! My bad. See, my experiences at that age are still messing with me!

Thanks for the head's up!

26 posted on 12/30/2009 6:05:14 PM PST by jwparkerjr
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To: SmithL

What would Archie Bunker do?


27 posted on 12/30/2009 6:07:58 PM PST by Gator113 (Obama is America's First Failed Black Pres-dent.....)
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To: SmithL

The real male of the house would have thrown the outfit into a bucket with a black dye pack and resolved the problem.


28 posted on 12/30/2009 6:08:25 PM PST by Deaf Smith
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To: SmithL

“I have this pie-in-the-sky progressive attitude that we shouldn’t force gender stereotypes on our children. I don’t want to lock them into a gender cage, telling them that blue is only for boys and pink only for girls.”

-Future parent of a homosexual child.


29 posted on 12/30/2009 6:08:33 PM PST by icwhatudo ("laws requiring compulsory abortion could be sustained under the existing Constitution"Obama Adviser)
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To: Katya
if she was so “progressive” why didn’t she use unisex colored clothing for her oldest daughter?

Excellent point.

30 posted on 12/30/2009 6:10:24 PM PST by jla ("Free Republic is Palin Country" - JimRob)
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To: SmithL

One of the highest quality stores on Wall Street is a clothing store called Thomas Pink that ... you guessed it ... features a whole lot of pink. Cufflinks, ties, dress shirts, socks. It’s huge. (Of course, they sell mostly other colors but that’s what got them noticed years ago as their schtick). Their site is here: http://www.thomaspink.com/

This is the sort of stuff only old people or the emotionally screwed up care about because boys wear pink now. Girls wear jeans. Look at the food channel: It’s Bobby Flay and Emirel. It’s like those fathers that wanted their sons thrown out of the house because they had long hair (while, oddly enough, having framed pictures of long-haired Jesus Christ on the wall - I never got that double standard).

I like the other poster’s suggestion that the mom go buy some dye and modify the outfit. That shows thrift, intelligence, and functionality.


31 posted on 12/30/2009 6:10:47 PM PST by WallStreetCapitalist
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Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: truth_seeker

Ski bibs are made from synthetic materials and can’t be home-dyed. This woman isn’t anguished about frugality, she’s a moron feminist who wants to use her son (over her husband’s objections) to make a hip statement.


33 posted on 12/30/2009 6:13:12 PM PST by Valpal1 ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.")
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Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: BuckyKat

Exactly.... I love how the so-called progressives always think equality equates dressing a boy in feminine attire. Considering you’d want to encourage small children to be active and not worry about getting their outdoor clothing dirty, one would think they’d be more practical in their color choices regardless.


35 posted on 12/30/2009 6:17:02 PM PST by Katya (Homo Nosce Te Ipsum)
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To: fight_truth_decay
Pink is a female color. I'm not saying that guys who don pink clothes are not straight but they do look faggy. If this makes me appear as a 'Neanderthal', so be it.
I am well aware that colors cannot have sexual orientations, but neither does cotton, linen, silk or any other material used to make clothes. This doesn't mean males should wear female undergarments or nylons.

FYI: Madras is not necessarily a pastel.

36 posted on 12/30/2009 6:18:18 PM PST by jla ("Free Republic is Palin Country" - JimRob)
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To: bboop

37 posted on 12/30/2009 6:19:13 PM PST by antonia (A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. - Edward R. Murrow)
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To: Texas56

You mean this is a serious article? Not satire?


38 posted on 12/30/2009 6:19:38 PM PST by Carley (OBAMA IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN THE WORLD)
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To: SmithL

Maybe if you embroider the words, “Real men wear pink” in rhinestones...


39 posted on 12/30/2009 6:20:04 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all. -- Texas Eagle)
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To: SmithL
...and I, the unaccredited psychologist,

You may be unaccredited but you are definitely certifiable.

40 posted on 12/30/2009 6:21:55 PM PST by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all. -- Texas Eagle)
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