Fashion Board 11-2-03 - 12-09-03

[dtb]

Originally posted by purse junkie
Relentless toy gender-stereotyping kills me. What is so wrong with giving a little girl blocks and letting her build stuff? I actually had someone tell me I should have gotten her toddler daughter a doll instead (NTTAWWT, but exclusively?). I also notice parents holding back their girls more than their boys, all the time, when they get wiggly and start running around or trying to climb something. They don't have to be perfect demure little ladies all the time. Constant pink-ifying and frilling--I don't think you're inadvertently going to raise a burly mustachioed linebacker if you actually let the girl wear a primary color. Even blue!

Stereotyping sucks, that's true, but I also think kids are by-and-large hard-wired to prefer what is often viewed as the "sterotypical" kind of toy or activity. In fact, I have a friend with boy and girl twins, and the parents were very conscientious about not imposing gender-stereotypical toys/activities on either one, and 99 times out of 100, the boy always went for the trains, trucks, etc. and the girl went for the dolls. These are kids in the same house, the same age, with the same parents, etc.

I have seen it with my own children, and in their playmates, from a very, very young age. I certainly didn't encourage my elder son to like dinosaurs (a sort of stereotypical "boy" interest), but damn if he didn't latch on to them from when he was about 2 years old. (Not that I discouraged it either, but he has a bunch of different books about different subjects, and it was like the dinosaur-related things had a homing device on them -- he went straight for them.)

I will also say, that he adores the series of books called "Junie B. Jones" which are about a kindergartener/first-grader (as she gets older). I didn't think he'd like them, because they were about a girl, but he loves them (loved Charlotte's Web too -- even though the protagonist is a girl.)

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Thank you. You're sweet.

I'm glad you could read between the lines.

p.s. You are my favorite.

Originally posted by AngryMulletMan
From a psychologist on the subject:

“Lame monkey” symbolizes patients’ painful emotional experience. I put an interdict on my patients discussing their disorders (diseases) with each other during the group practice or in wards (they may do it only with a doctor). However, when the urge to speak is too strong, we say - “lame monkey”.

http://www.ldc.net/~ssamar/engl/work.html

AMM:

No comment. I suddenly feel like I should cry or fling feces or something.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Fugee
As for my earlier regifting question, y'all made me feel guilty for wanting to regift that crystal angel. I was going through my stash of "holiday stuff purchased post-Christmas at 50% off to use for future gifts" to find a red and green plaid oven mitt to give my cookie party hostess and saw that I had two of them. So tonight's hostess will also get a nonregifted hostess gift. My mom loves stuff like crystal angels so I will put it in her stocking from Santa. (I hang stockings for my parents at their house and put in little gifts just for fun.)

Thurgreed is Letitia Baldridge's sock puppet. On the Today show this morning she said regifting was OK - it specifically arose in the context of hostess gifts and the like. She also said with regard to holiday tipping and gifting that the most important thing was to personalize it by giving it to the person with a warm thanks and a card.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Plus I was going to say something about having an intellectual fight with a person with no weapons, but that just sounded stilted, so I refrained.

Well, we could certainly find you a weapon.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by mmm3587
I'm just a TM-baiting racist sock, so I don't really care, but is this really the sock policy. I thought it was more "Socks are ok until they start posting a lot and get really annoying, and still post after they get warned. Then, they might get flipped." Now, it sounds like it's "I'll flip socks whenever I want." Wassupwidat?

I'd prefer that we keep our socks from getting really annoying in the first place.

If I warn a lame sock and the lame continues, the sock gets flipped. Nothing has changed.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by dtb
I will also say, that he adores the series of books called "Junie B. Jones" which are about a kindergartener/first-grader (as she gets older). I didn't think he'd like them, because they were about a girl, but he loves them (loved Charlotte's Web too -- even though the protagonist is a girl.)

What a wuss.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by bilmore
Well, we could certainly find you a weapon.

WITH not AS. Dumbshit.

[AngryMulletMan]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
AMM: No comment. I suddenly feel like I should cry or fling feces or something.

I feel horrible. Fuck you. Feel better now?

[bilmore]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
WITH not AS. Dumbshit.

Fix your profile. You have two sig lines.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by bilmore
Well, we could certainly find you a weapon.

Have I mentioned how happy I am you are back?!

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by evenodds
Have I mentioned how happy I am you are back?!

Perhaps you should change your profile to kissing ass and taking sock names.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by bilmore
Fix your profile. You have two sig lines.

Jesus and just as I was going to apologize for sounding like TM and now you make me take it back.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Perhaps you should change your profile to kissing ass and taking sock names.

No MoC for you, bad puppy.

[mmm3587]

Originally posted by dtb
Stereotyping sucks, that's true, but I also think kids are by-and-large hard-wired to prefer what is often viewed as the "sterotypical" kind of toy or activity.

Kids, in my experience, are pretty good at figuring things out and picking up on society, at least as it affects them. They know what behaviours will get them what they want. They know how to get away with stuff. And they know the roles that they are expected to play.

Someone else posted about kids almost inexplicably, at a toy store, wanting toys age-appropriate for older kids. It's the same thing here: Kids want to play the roles, often, that society makes them think that they should play. They want to play with the toys appropriate for that role. Does anyone say to a boy "You're a boy, play with trucks or everyone will think you're a queer!"? Hopefully not too much, but boys still see that adult men drive trucks and adult men use tools and adult men play football much more than adult women do. And they see the attittudes of society towards the women who do do those things?

It's almost laughable to me that, through evolution, boys are predisposed to playing with trucks. It's the things that they see, hear and experience that make them want to fill the role that society has determined is appropriate for them. Same with girls. You've never heard an old biddy make some snippy comment about some tomboy never finding a man, or being a lesbian, or whatever?

Edited to fix puncutation errors.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by evenodds
No MoC for you, bad puppy.

But I have Ginger Altoids!