Gender Neutrality?

Question

What would happen if I were to have a baby son, but paint his room pink, pink or hot colored clothing, and at the time of playing age, things such a dolls or mirrors. Would this help my child acquaint with girls more than boys like todays gender sterotypes? Because most families give there specific genders either a doll or a truck, boys hang out with only boys, while girls only hang out with girls. Could this end this sterotypes and have a boy playing with the girls not udnerstanding that he isnt one of them, or any other child along these lines?

Answer 1

I have 2 little girls and I just had a son and I wondered the same thing but from birth you could just see the masculinity in my son. Absolutely no feminity in him whatsoever. He plays rougher and is just so harder than the girls. Sometimes I think its impossible to change.

Answer 2

I don't think that the color of his room is going to have an effect on which gender role your son will prefer, or lead him to be confused about what gender he is...at all...not even a little bit! My burly, macho little brother (now 28 with 4 kids) used to *love* to have his fingernails painted when he was 3-4 yrs old, and he loved He-Man and Hulk Hogan at the same time. Kids want to experiment, they're curious, they want to do what you're doing. Frankly I don't think that they're *nearly* as caught up in gender issues as the adults around them, especially when they're very young.
Manipulating his environment (room color, etc) or dressing him in "feminine" colors would be superficial at best, and I can't see how it would really help him relate to girls any better, or turn him into a so-called girly man. If you're worried about him getting along with girls, put him in daycare where kids are not segregated by sex (I've never seen one that is, personally!), take him to the park/library/etc where he can make friends of both genders.
As for toys, I would say focus more on the educational and artistic and forget about gender-specificity. They're bound to get 'gender correct' toys from at least one family member, and if they're interested they'll play with it...if they're not, they won't. I wouldn't try to force the issue either way.

Answer 3

There have been studies on this and it actually does not make a difference. Boys will still be boys. Babies can recognize gender differences at a very young age. Besides, it is impossible to completely eliminate gender stereotypes from affecting how he is raised. As long as those around him know that he is a boy, he will still be treated as a boy -Even unintentionally, because that bias is so deeply a part of our society. So based on my studies (BS in Psychology) and my experience, I would say no.

Answer 4

I have a son and a daughter, they share a room that is painted half blue, half purple. They both play with dolls, trucks, blocks, tea sets, rescue heroes, super heroes. My son just started school and is very much a little boy, out going, energetic, loud, loves bright colours. My daughter is almost 3 likes pink, princesses, is quiet, loves to wear dresses. I have tried to keep their toys, books and room gender neutral, but my children are NOT gender neutral!

Answer 5

I played with girl and boy toys as a child. I liked Tonka trucks and He-Men just like the rest of the boys....but when my sister got a Barbie doll I wanted one too. I still remember her, Peaches and Cream barbie. I also had Cabbage Patch kids and Kousas., My Little Pony, etc.

As an adult I find it easier to communicate with girls then most of my counterparts, who seem to still consider them scary and perhaps of a different species altogether.

I am not as much of a guy's guy as a lot of my male friends. Which is fine by me.

Answer 6

You should paint the walls white or yellow and as he gets older, let him pick out the colors and whether he plays with a doll or a truck give him the choice of both, let him decide.

Answer 7

Instead of giving him things that are considered girl things (which could result in him being made fun of, or confused), why not just paint the room a NUETRAL color like yellow or green (that's what i did) and not give in to the 'boy' types like trucks and cars, and get him toys that are suitable for boys and girls, not just 'girls'. Things like playdoh and mr potato heads...

And why would you want a boy that didnt understand that he wasnt one of the girls...that's just asking for trouble later on when he is trying to define his sexuality (I am in no way saying this would make him gay cause that is not something that is learned)

Answer 8

My 2 year old daughter has a huge choice of toys to play with, she usually opts for the "girl toys". Like dolls, coloring books, kitchen toys, etc. She has many "boy toys" to choose from too, trucks, cars, tools, blocks, etc I think some how it is natural for her to want to play with the girl toys more. I don't know why, though.

Answer 9

My son walls were white when he was born...but as he got older he loved the cartoon dora the explorer. My son had to have dora slippers and teeshirts and what not. My son is now 5 years old and trust me, he is all boy. But his favorite color is purple and his walls are now three shades of purple he picked out himself. Please by all means try to help to break down the stereotype.

Answer 10

No. Each child needs to express itself no matter of gender, right or wrong. I have a friend whose son wanted a princess canopy at 9 years old. She let him have it because she wanted him to express himself and not feel like he had to fit into a box.

Do what you want, if he doesn't like it when he's older, he'll say somehing