You can’t be a Princess!
Would You Do? is back to examine how parents react to children that want a Halloween costume of the opposite gender, including a boy who wants to be a princess. Unfortunately, many of the parents are eager to reinforce gender stereotypes, though they struggle to explain why they’re so important. One parent admirably, but misguidedly, wants to protect the kids from bullying. They all tend to agree, however, that kids’ gender variation has to be “nipped in the bud,” reminding how easy it is for parents to reject their kids’ gender identity or perceived sexual orientation.
+1
about 6 months ago
Their children refuse because of their orientation? What are these parents, you should stand behind your kids
Would not it be nice to live in a world without bullying and discrimination?
There is still a long way!
about 6 months ago
this is so mean… it almost made me cry. i remember carnival when i was like 8 years old and really wanted to be a german female singer – my mum helped me to put all the make up on and stuff, she enjoyed it maybe even more than I did actually
of course I had to deal with some stupid comments on my costume by random kids and adults, but I used to be quite a self confident kid, so I did not care so much. why? ask the woman who did not mind letting me dress up as a pop queen^^
about 6 months ago
Hah!
about 6 months ago
Society is like flowing water, naturally our brains are developed to side with the norm, relates back to prehistoric sociology where we had hierarchy in small groups/packs of humans. anything that isn’t what the general society see as normal will be rejected and feared of being outcast-ed, luckily those barriers are becoming more and more wider allowing a “norm” to exist as much as it used to do, that and the internet, (global community) has shown so much variety in culture that peoples minds are becoming more open, compared to say 50 years ago. Still though the problem exists with people who are not well connected and in touch with a global community.
about 6 months ago
It seems that many tribal cultures have a way to deal with variations from the “norm” — some special role for the boy or girl who doesn’t fit the gender normative behaviour of the group, or the person who hears voices, or the person who learns in a different fashion. It is the more regimented societies where all norms are to be weeded out: the societies where thousands upon thousands are supposed to march, or plant, or weed, or sit in cubicles, or stick the same part on the next part on the assembly line. I do hope we are moving out of that period of our human history.
SJT
about 6 months ago
As a 12 year old boy at an all boys prep school (the English sort) I was on stage with many of my peers as a Can Can girl on the school entertainment at Christmas.
I had a beautiful yellow dress, lots of frills, frilly knickers and stockings with suspenders. No photographs exist, I fear.
I am not Trans, I have no desire to be a girl or dress in female clothing, though it does annoy me that the girls get all the best peacock colours! It had nothing to do with my being gay. It was a normal part of school life.
As far as I know I am the only gay one out of that group
about 6 months ago
Good for ABC News. Hopefully they’ve helped to change a lot of parent’s minds and made them understand that it’s okay if their children are transgendered or gay.
about 6 months ago
I was allowed to be a princess once and Pippi Longstocking another year! My parents were good parents.
about 6 months ago
Wow, that’s great!
Btw, is the the “Milo” that is often has his pictures posted here on Milkboys?
In any case, great post with regard to your parents, as well as your princess / Pippi outfits, which must’ve been priceless.
about 6 months ago
Sometimes it seems like people are working hard to avoid thinking.
about 6 months ago
I know this is random but there is a wonderful episode of Adventure Time called ‘Princess Cookie’ It deals with a ‘male’ cookie who wanted to be a princess like Princess Bubblegum. As a child he told her this and she kinda laugh at him in more of a playful way but he took it as a ‘bad thing’ to be a princess. For a children’s show that episode was deep and made me decide that I will let my child be who ever they want. I recommend that everyone watch that episode and the series.
about 6 months ago
What this shows us is that too many adults still believe that sexual orientation is a choice or learned behavior, based on the “nip it in the bud” and “stop it now” comments. That’s truly sad.
about 6 months ago
Really? Wow, I’ve never heard of it but will look it up as it sounds pretty cool.
Thank you so much,
Kevin
about 6 months ago
This is one of those situations that is designed to catch you off your guard. I can relate that, as one of the Dad’s to my adopted son, we encountered a very similar situation. Our son wanted to dress up like “Elvira” one Halloween. I have NO clue where that came from, it was completely out of character for him. The only place he’d even SEEN an Elvira costume was at the store.
My husband and I talked it out and discovered that our main fear was not that he’d be picked on at school, or that he might be actually gay. It turns out our biggest, unspoken concern, was that other people might criticize US as those “Fag-Parents”, grooming our child to be like us. Once we came to this realization, the answer was obvious. We let him dress as he pleased, he had great fun, it was over in that one night, and he’s never asked us again. In retrospect, it hardly seemed worth all the angst and worry.
So, even as my husband and I congratulate ourselves on being modern, in-touch and engaged parents, defining our own rules as to what constitutes a family, we still face these types of challenges.
about 6 months ago
Bless you so much for being a great gay father in this world =) I’m not so sure I could do it. I would be so petrified on a daily basis thinking of all the horrible things that could happen to my child out there in the vicious real world…how other kids would treat them, how adults would treat them, how hard they would take life lessons and whether or not I could be there when they needed me most if something ever happened.
I applaud anyone who raises children in today’s world. I’d be so overprotective lol.
about 6 months ago
Ah, “What Would You Do?”….the reason I stay up all night and into early morning on YouTube, right up until the moment I have to leave for work. Curse you, John Quiñones!!
about 6 months ago
Black suits Bleah! I want colour