A baby isn’t born thinking the colour pink is just for girls. That stuff is learned.
So we love hearing stories about how parents are rejecting society’s (quite frankly rubbish) insistence that “girls’ toys” are for girls and “boys’ toys” are for boys.
Rheann MacLaren is one such mum. When in a toy shop recently with her three-year old son Harry, she was upset when a fellow customer “belittled” him for choosing to play with a pink pram.
“Oh you don’t want that, it’s just for girls not boys. It’s pink and girly. There’s cars and dinosaurs over there, why would you want that girly thing?” the customer told Harry.
And his response was quite frankly as brilliant as it was simple: “'Cos I like it,” he replied.
Rheann documented the experience in an amazing Facebook post we think ALL parents need to read.
“It's literally that simple,” she wrote.
“It's not about the colour of it, the labels behind it, and the way it looks... It's about the fact my child looked at it and thought it looked fun to play with. He pushed it all the way home from the shop proud as punch with his new toy, he told me about how he's going to put his baby dolly in it and push it to the shops for its milk, because yes, shock horror, my son has a dolly too.
“His favourite toys are his cars, his trucks, his bus... He love dinosaurs and monsters, he's happiest when he's outside playing in the mud and puddles. But sometimes he likes to play with a doll and pram, he'll play in the toy kitchen and pretend to do ironing, he likes pink things and watches with fascination when I put my make up on. Am I worried? No, not in the slightest. My child will grow up a well-rounded, accepting boy who will NEVER feel pressured to conform to gender stereotypes.
“I really hope you saw how happy he looked as he walked out the shop with his girly pink dolls pram and think twice about saying anything similar to a complete stranger again.”
To be honest, we couldn’t put it better ourselves. What a healthy and enlightened attitude this mum has. This attitude that boys and girls are inherently separate, even in terms of something as innocent as play, is just that, a stereotype. And if stereotypes can be created then they sure as heck can be destroyed too.
And it begets the question: what kind of a society do we live in if buggies are seen are only for girls? Does it not take two to make a baby? Are men not to become parents too? Do dads not push buggies?
Is it any wonder so we’re hearing that dads ‘babysit’, not ‘parent’. These attitudes are formed during a child’s younger years – and that’s why it’s so important to change them.
Massive kudos to this young mum and her son for playing their part in that.
