These are some obvious abuses.
Less obvious abuses may be stereotypes that are SO tight that they may have the child wishing he/she wasn’t even his/her sex because he/she sees no room for it in the social structure. There could be room for emotionally precocious boys, for instance, to play with dolls in a Daddy role, not necessarily with GI Joes, yet hardly anybody thinks about this. Yet it might make the difference between the boy thinking he has to be “gay” or a girl.
And ironically it is not traditionalism itself, but an illiberal take on it, that is to blame.
I agree. I was a tom boy but I had no doubt I was a girl and liked being a girl playing ball with boys when I was a child.
When my son, many years ago was 3 months shy of his second birthday, saw me nursing his new sister, he found his Raggedy Andy that my mother had made for him. He then a sat in his little rocking chair, and held Andy up to his bare chest and said,”I’m feeding Andy”. I took it as a normal childhood innocent and logical expression, and told him, “Good.”
Neither of us was traumatized by his behaviour, and he grew up to get married and has a lovely teenaged daughter.
When my son, many years ago was 3 months shy of his second birthday, saw me nursing his new sister, he found his Raggedy Andy that my mother had made for him. He then a sat in his little rocking chair, and held Andy up to his bare chest and said,”I’m feeding Andy”. I took it as a normal childhood innocent and logical expression, and told him, “Good.”
Neither of us was traumatized by his behaviour, and he grew up to get married and has a lovely teenaged daughter.