Conversation in the car with Madeleine this morning:
Madeleine: "It's okay for girls to play with boy toys, but boys can't play with girl toys."
Kerry: "Why not?"
Madeleine: "That's how God made it."
Kerry: "Who told you that?"
Madeleine: [censored] (someone in Madeleine's class at school)
Kerry: "Well, that isn't how God made it. Girls can play with boy toys and boys can play with girl toys."
I remember reading that gender roles are established around ages 3-4 (girls wear skirts, etc.) and reading also that often the differences between genders are accentuated by children since they are just learning about what them. However, it is interesting to me that as much as you buy trucks for your daughter and dolls for your son it is the friends in their class at school that will remind them what is "normal."
2 comments:
The next time you all go to the cool library in the mall, see if you can find a book called "Princess Jessica Saves the Price" (or something like that). It's a great, fun story with some real gender role reversals (the PRINCESS saves the PRINCE) and is especially good for girls who are into fairy tales, princesses, etc. :-)
Here it is at amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Jessica-Rescues-Prince-Jennifer/dp/0963633503
of course it wasn't at the Dallas Library, but I put in an interlibrary loan request... can't wait to read it!
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