I'm not sure how I feel about this statement...

[hani_backup]

On Facebook a friend wrote (with grammatical mistakes included):

"The reason why parents do not allow their son to play dolls because they want to teach them that girls aren’t toys to play with."

I will admit that I have never heard this rationale/justification for not letting boys play with dolls. All of the ones I've heard have been related to gender-normative issues - "Girls play with dolls, boys play with G.I. Joe and aircrafts."

I don't think most boys will equate playing with dolls = playing with girls. I don't even know what kind of "play" this friend (a male) is talking about either. Emotionally? Physically?

I think it's kind of ridiculous to think that not playing with dolls will somehow let boys think girls aren't to be played with. I think actually teaching them to respect girls is better because it's active. I don't understand the kind of analogy people think works here. It's not like kids who play with stuffed cats and animals as a child will automatically play the same way with real life cats and animals.

Why would 4 people like this status and another say "waaahhh agreed!"? It seems, to me, a piss poor excuse for covering up cisgender-socially normative child raising behavior.

Comments

[hana-ginkawa.livejournal.com]

It is a piss poor excuse. Most parents take away dolls from a son because they don't want him to be "influenced" into becoming homosexual. It's a stereotype. It's like the blow up by the right wingers here about a J.Crew ad where a designer was painting the toenails of her son pink. It's like someone might blow up at the fact that my cousin's daycare painted his fingernails pink. He wanted it!

Anyhow, it is a poor excuse. And whoever it is who made that comment is obviously denying the actual reason why.

[sorayume.livejournal.com]

If I ever make the move to have children, I am going to give them a mixture of all kinds of toys. Most of which will be to develop their mental abilities. Boy or girl they will mostly have legos, science items, things that help develop math and creativity. They will get plenty of social skills and parenting skills from associating with other kids at school and such,they don't need toys to help them learn to dress up and breed. But if they want them they can have them...

I always think barbies are silly toys to give kids anyway, but I am not going to NOT allow them to have them. *shrugs* Those parents are just making up lame excuses.

[christinathena.livejournal.com]

That argument really makes no sense at all. I've seen my cousin playing with dolls, and I've seen that she uses it to act out social scenarios. If anything, it seems to improve social skills.

[paulliver.livejournal.com]

I suspect the people who most object to a boy playing with dolls actually is raising them in the sort of conservative environment that prevents boys from treating women as anything other than a play thing.