It's a girl!!

lika_86

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

You're a barrel of laughs. I'm sorry but where do you live (besides the 50s) that girls are stopped playing football because they might get a dirty dress.... What?!

Reiterate my congrats for you and all the fam as don't want this thread to me derailed - the comments are just too absurd not to be picked up on though!

If you don't see the sexism and gender stereotyping that occurs every day than maybe you live in the 50s where it was accepted or have internalised the limits placed on women by socialisation in society.

Personally, I'm choosing to challenge it.

thorsoak

So, my niece, born in 1970 who insisted on pink and purple, and gloried in her barbie pink bedroom throughout her childhood, wore red DMs with a tutu and who is now an astro-physicist was damaged by all that pink?

I think not! lika-86 you are as guilty of stereo-typing as those you accuse.

lika_86

thorsoak wrote: »

So, my niece, born in 1970 who insisted on pink and purple, and gloried in her barbie pink bedroom throughout her childhood, wore red DMs with a tutu and who is now an astro-physicist was damaged by all that pink?

I think not! lika-86 you are as guilty of stereo-typing as those you accuse.

But that, as you say, was her choice. I'm not against choice once a child is old enough to actually decide on their favourite colour, I'm against the assumption that everything should be pink or frilly because the child is a girl.

Different thing.

hollylangman37

lika_86 wrote: »

If you don't see the sexism and gender stereotyping that occurs every day than maybe you live in the 50s where it was accepted or have internalised the limits placed on women by socialisation in society.

Personally, I'm choosing to challenge it.

I would personally choose to challenge it elsewhere, not on a thread welcoming a new baby into the World and congratulating a grandparent, if you want to debate gender stereotyping I would suggest starting your own thread.

Kayalana99

lika_86 wrote: »

But that, as you say, was her choice. I'm not against choice once a child is old enough to actually decide on their favourite colour, I'm against the assumption that everything should be pink or frilly because the child is a girl.

Different thing.

The assumption does no harm - no normal parent would not let their girl child play football and make them sit and colour instead.

You've given us no rational answer whats wrong with putting girls in pink...

Did you ever think its OK for girls to wear pink because we are NOT men and not trying to be? Are you saying its not ok to put boys in blue as well? What colour would be suitable for you? If we dressed boys in pink I bet people would think were mad just the same if a man went around wearing a dress.... I suppose you do this though as you don't want to be a stereo typical man who wears jeans or trousers.


Congras OP :-)

thorsoak

lika_86 wrote: »

But that, as you say, was her choice. I'm not against choice once a child is old enough to actually decide on their favourite colour, I'm against the assumption that everything should be pink or frilly because the child is a girl.

Different thing.

But who painted her bedroom pink and purple in the first instance? Her father! Once painted pink and purple, always pink and purple.

And as somebody said, until the early 1900s, pink was the colour for a boy! Incidentally, it was also the custom to dress little boys and girls in dresses and petticoats until the age of 5 or 6 - when boys would be "britched". This doesn't seem to have "feminised" boys...

lika_86

hollylangman37 wrote: »

I would personally choose to challenge it elsewhere, not on a thread welcoming a new baby into the World and congratulating a grandparent, if you want to debate gender stereotyping I would suggest starting your own thread.

And that would be your personal choice. I don't want to debate gender sterotyping, I want to make people question their initial reaction to gender.

Got better things to do now though so I'll leave you all to get angry amongst yourselves.

....words on a screen....

libra10

Congratulations and best wishes to your family.

fairy_lights

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

A guy I used to work with used to point out that pink actually used to be a boys colour, I don't know how many years/centuries ago he meant, but apparently it was!

Yes until the 1920's boys were often dressed in pink as it was seen as a bold and decisive colour, whereas blue was considered a bit wishy washy!
I don't think there is anything wrong with being excited about having a girl in the family to shop for, but then again I don't think there's any reason not to dress a boy up in pink dresses either!

Georgiegirl256

lika_86 wrote: »

Not trying to rain on the OP's parade, in fact, it wasn't the OP's post that contained anything I objected to, it was all of the other posters who immediately see girl and think pink. It goes beyond the colour to the socialisation, 'oh don't go and play football, you'll ruin that pretty dress, sit and colour instead' which subconsciously socialise girls into certain roles.

As for congratulating someone, I tend to reserve my congratulations for someone who has been directly involved in a process (ie. in this case, the mother). I'm pleased the OP is happy though. I didn't say I wasn't.

I wasn't actually meaning you tbh. But I agree with the others, your comments are absurd.

When I was little, and my Mam put me in a dress if we were going somewhere, I was of course told to keep it clean -I still went climbing trees though! - but that advice isn't just for girls, the same warning would apply to boys too. It's only common sense.