As a child growing up with 2 much older brothers, I was determind not to like pink, even when I got married my bridesmaids wore blue - that showed them huh?
Who 'them' are I'm not not so sure... And when it comes to pink vs blue I must admit to pink being far more flattering as a hair colour than blue has ever proven to be...
That didn't stop me feeling decidedly miffed when Father Christmas invited Little Owl to help herself to a present from the pink pile... I couldn't help but wondering what she was missing out of in the blue pile... especially when she got colouring pencils which could have been in either!
But then I got it when someone pointed out that little boys (as a whole) would be understandable upset if Father Christmas gave them hairclips and in all honesty, I think Little Owl would have been quite happy with clips (although not as happy as pencils cos pencils are the best right?!).
I remember playing with my friend's Castle Grey Skull as a kid and thinking how much cooler it was than My Little Pony cos it did stuff! Then I discovered Sylvalian Families and all was good again!
I've heard Marks and Spencers are going to stop marketing their toys at either boys or girls and I'm pleased. But then someone on Facebook suggested they should do the same with the clothes! Would that mean they had to stop selling dresses? With her lack of hair, I sometimes go to quite a bit of effort to make sure people know Little Owl is a girl whilst still looking funky, and well dresses just require less effort on that front!
I was worried that giving Little Owl a kitchen for Christmas was conforming to a stereo type, would we have done so with a boy? I would like to say yes but would I really? I comforted myself that it had been when Papa Owl was in the kitchen that Little Owl most wanted to join in.
This whole topic raised its head again this week. I rarely wear makeup these days and so Little Owl was fascinated to see me applying some. She stood next to me, looking in the mirror, asking me to put on her anything I put on myself. She's not an easy owl to say no to, so I pretended to give her eyeshaddow, blusher, mascara and lipstick, trying to convince myself that its no different to wearing black facepaint at bonfire... But I wasn't sure, I felt uneasy... That was until I turned round to see that Little Owl had got bored and had returned to playing with her cars!
I do think there is something innate that draws girls to pink sparkly things but that there is also a lot of societal pressure. My little boy loves pushing his buggy and playing in his kitchen more than he has ever liked cars, and I don't think it is an indicator of anything other than his right to choose what he plays with. I am not going to start dressing him in dresses and despite his beautiful locks, I am not allowed to put any hair clips in but I do encourage him to make his own decisions when it comes to what to play with.
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