Gender Rolls?

[lost*in*cyberspace]

That second photo is rather risqué!

The title of this thread makes me laugh every time I see it.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Funny. I don't bat an eye when my 8 year old girl goes to the boys section for Star Wars clothing. She likes dressing up like princesses just as much as she loves wearing her Darth Vadar dress up clothes....it doesn't bother me either way.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

Funny. I don't bat an eye when my 8 year old girl goes to the boys section for Star Wars clothing. She likes dressing up like princesses just as much as she loves wearing her Darth Vadar dress up clothes....it doesn't bother me either way.

And that is so awesome! I think that the larger issue in society though, is not with girls liking "boy" things, but rather with boys liking "girl" things. As a for instance, many parents wouldn't have an issue with what you stated (a girl liking Star Wars) but would have an issue with their boys wanting to dress like a Princess. The gender roll for boys has been very unchanged today, whereas the "tomboy" has become mainstream.

 

[Mousemommy1]

And that is so awesome! I think that the larger issue in society though, is not with girls liking "boy" things, but rather with boys liking "girl" things. As a for instance, many parents wouldn't have an issue with what you stated (a girl liking Star Wars) but would have an issue with their boys wanting to dress like a Princess. The gender roll for boys has been very unchanged today, whereas the "tomboy" has become mainstream.

That very well could be the case. My 10 year old is a super tomboy (I was too) so I'm just used to it. Having two girls, I don't know the other side but we are due to have our first boy next month!! DH and I have already accepted that he will probably want access to the girls dress up clothes or that they will find it fun to dress him up and put makeup on him, lol. Neither one of us thinks he'll be permanently scarred...if it makes him happy...lol!

 

[mrsbicewdw]

That very well could be the case. My 10 year old is a super tomboy (I was too) so I'm just used to it. Having two girls, I don't know the other side but we are due to have our first boy next month!! DH and I have already accepted that he will probably want access to the girls dress up clothes or that they will find it fun to dress him up and put makeup on him, lol. Neither one of us thinks he'll be permanently scarred...if it makes him happy...lol!

Congrats! And yeah, he probably won't be too scarred. lol Probably not as much as my cat who I tried to dress up as a kid...I needed siblings!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

......The gender roll for boys has been very unchanged today, whereas the "tomboy" has become mainstream.

Gender ROLLS are pictured in post #20. You meant gender ROLES.

Still laughing!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Congrats! And yeah, he probably won't be too scarred. lol Probably not as much as my cat who I tried to dress up as a kid...I needed siblings!

LOL! My kids dress our cats too!!

 

[mjkacmom]

I think companies sell what they think people will buy. Just because some boys love princesses doesn't mean most do. Sure, ds11 played dress up a lot with his sisters (and I have photos as proof). However, there is no way he would've worn anything considered girly once he was in elementary school (peer pressure - plus no one really loved princesses here).

It's supply and demand, not sexism. This is a business meant to make money.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

Just had to put a note here - I was in target today and went to the girls section to look for winter hats, not finding anything new in the boys area (we live in ND, we need a winter hat wardrobe, lol). The girls section had an adorable and completely gender neutral Olaf hat, as well as a totally rocking Rainbow Dash hat. :thumbsup: Always check both "sections".

 

[FlightlessDuck]

That second photo is rather risqué!

Yeah, it's supposed to be the male symbol ♂ but I see what you are saying.

 

[ajwolfe]

I think companies sell what they think people will buy. Just because some boys love princesses doesn't mean most do. Sure, ds11 played dress up a lot with his sisters (and I have photos as proof). However, there is no way he would've worn anything considered girly once he was in elementary school (peer pressure - plus no one really loved princesses here).

It's supply and demand, not sexism. This is a business meant to make money.

This....Your son may like princess stuff, but in reality how many little boys out there want to wear a princess on a daily basis. I don't know for sure, but I can tell you my 2 boys wouldn't and we don't stress gender roles in my house. They have had a play kitchen, dolls, etc and love visiting the princesses at WDW.

Just last night I had my 7 yo tell me that he didn't want to wear the Olaf shirt I had laid out for him today to school (black and red shirt with Olaf "Chillin'). He begged for this shirt at the store and has already wore it several times to school. However he says that all the kids laugh at him when he wears it so he would rather not wear it to school. If this is the case, I can only begin to imagine what they would say to him if he showed up wearing a pink shirt with Elsa on it (and yes he does have pink boy shirts).

 

[Angel Ariel]

Blue is not always for boys but pink for the most part is for only girls.

But you know what REALLY grinds my gears? I was out per my 5yr old Sons request, looking for frozen theme birthday party decorations and decided to check in the clothing section for a frozen themed outfit for him for the party. They had NOTHING! Not Sven, not Olaf, not Christoph, not even the snow monster! Which are ALL perfect for boys. And we ALL know our boys love frozen just as much as ANY girl out there.

They have teenage Mutton Ninja turtles for girls, Sponge Bob for girls, Disney Cars and hot wheels for girls! Firefighters, Airplanes, Pirates, superman, Spider-Man, batman, avengers, minions, sculls, Everything geared more towards a boy they also have in the girls section because millions of moms have already battled Disney and other companies for gender separation. Yet half of what I just listed up there is NOWHERE NEAR the boys section.

Why can't a boy have:

Frozen (Sven, Christoph, Olaf, snow monster)

Beauty and the beast- (candle man, clocks worth, Beast)

Tangled- (Iguana, turtle, the thief guy)

Cinderella- (mice, cat)

Little mermaid- (flounder, lobster, price Eric and his dog, her father!)

Even Lelo and Stitch!!!!!!

All of the fricken Disney movies (and others) have at least a few things that can be used on boys clothing!

SO STOP BEING SEXIST and start thinking that not only girls watch Disney movies and love them! And START BEING FAIR!!!!!

There are Olaf shirts for boys out there somewhere...my DD and I were at a mommy and me music class on Friday and both DD and one of the boys were wearing Olaf shirts. DD's was light blue with white and purple stripes, with anna and olaf. the boy's shirt was grey and had just olaf and I think an "in summer" theme to the shirt

 

[SaraMc]

My son loved frozen, he has a yellow olaf shirt and a sven and olaf of his own.
He would love a Marshmellow of his own, but I don't think that other than the one from Funko we are going to see much of the giant snow monster.

He's never been a big cars guy, loves Toy Story.

 

[pigletgirl]

Gender rolls?!

OP, I'm sorry you feel like Disney has not catered to what you want. Why don't you come up with something yourself? Pinterest would be a great place to start.

 

[robndani]

Interesting thread. I was just talking to my 10 y/o daughter yesterday about how all the boys in her class hate Frozen. As with everything there are bound to be exceptions, but I'm pretty sure most boys don't like Frozen to the extent it would make sense to produce and market Frozen party supplies to them. Considering most of the girls in her class now dislike Frozen (I'm convinced they secretly like it but it's not "cool" to say so anymore), I'm not surprised at how hard it is to find items like this for boys.

Heck, I have a REALLY hard time finding Super Mario gifts/clothes etc. for said daughter since she is a huge fan. Like come on, you can't find Peach or Rosalina girl clothes through they would look amazing and most stores have the boy equivalent.

We use Etsy/absolute_mandy from disboards to create what we like. It's really easy to make your own shirts/sweatshirts and they can even be personalized!

I personally don't care what my kids wear, although my son would never want to wear something with sparkles or glitter in public. At home he has been known to wear his sister's princess dresses while she's running around in his Batman costume.

I think 10 year old boys don't like Frozen as much as 5 or 6 year old boys in the first place. My 10 year boy cousin doesn't, but probably because he thinks it's "not cool" to wear an Olaf shirt to shcool. My 5 year old son has an Olaf and a Sven/Kristoff shirt and a Kristoff doll!

 

[North of Mouse]

This....Your son may like princess stuff, but in reality how many little boys out there want to wear a princess on a daily basis. I don't know for sure, but I can tell you my 2 boys wouldn't and we don't stress gender roles in my house. They have had a play kitchen, dolls, etc and love visiting the princesses at WDW.

Just last night I had my 7 yo tell me that he didn't want to wear the Olaf shirt I had laid out for him today to school (black and red shirt with Olaf "Chillin'). He begged for this shirt at the store and has already wore it several times to school. However he says that all the kids laugh at him when he wears it so he would rather not wear it to school. If this is the case, I can only begin to imagine what they would say to him if he showed up wearing a pink shirt with Elsa on it (and yes he does have pink boy shirts).

'This' is why they don't make very many shirts, etc. for boys (princess themed) - not many would wear them beyond maybe the 3-4 yr. age. (if that). I sure don't know any little boys that would. They're under 'peer' pressure plenty fast, and they learn pretty quick they 'do not' want to be teased and laughed at because of what they are wearing.

No matter how much some parents would like to think girls and boys are alike in thinking what to play with/wear, most are 'very' aware early on what boy things are, and what girl things are. I watched my children and grandchildren at a very young age (boys) choose cars (make the car sound) at less than a year old, and the little girls gently rocking a 'baby' back and forth at a similar age.

These were 'their choices' as both were available from their siblings.