Boys can like barbies too. We can acknowledge that gender stereotyping kid’s interests was wrong, while acknowledging that their interests don’t always define their gender.
As a trans woman that played with Barbie’s in secret as a kid…
We can acknowledge that stereotyping toys is dumb, while also acknowledging that kids like me knew those stereotypes, and did it anyways not knowing why.
It’s great to point out its stupid. But is comes really fucking close to denying trans people the signs they were trans young, even we didn’t even know it.
Thanks for putting that into words. It felt like I was being told “um, actually, have you considered that disliking Barbie isn’t tied to being a boy?” (with an undercurrent of “this reason for thinking you might be trans is invalid”.)
I strongly suspect that wasn’t the intent of the commenter, they were trying to encourage inclusivity. It just fell flat.
Yes, but I didn’t like Barbie toys. That was my first hint I didn’t fit into the gender box that had been prepared for me. I’m not going to retcon my experiences at the age of 4 to fit into a modern concept of how I should have figured out my gender.
No shit, my boy wanted a Barbie when he was little, so he had a Barbie. He also had Legos, and played with blocks, board games and eventually video games. Let kids play with whatever the fuck they want to, they are exploring.
Boys can like barbies too. We can acknowledge that gender stereotyping kid’s interests was wrong, while acknowledging that their interests don’t always define their gender.
As a trans woman that played with Barbie’s in secret as a kid…
We can acknowledge that stereotyping toys is dumb, while also acknowledging that kids like me knew those stereotypes, and did it anyways not knowing why.
It’s great to point out its stupid. But is comes really fucking close to denying trans people the signs they were trans young, even we didn’t even know it.
Thanks for putting that into words. It felt like I was being told “um, actually, have you considered that disliking Barbie isn’t tied to being a boy?” (with an undercurrent of “this reason for thinking you might be trans is invalid”.)
I strongly suspect that wasn’t the intent of the commenter, they were trying to encourage inclusivity. It just fell flat.
Yes, but I didn’t like Barbie toys. That was my first hint I didn’t fit into the gender box that had been prepared for me. I’m not going to retcon my experiences at the age of 4 to fit into a modern concept of how I should have figured out my gender.
No shit, my boy wanted a Barbie when he was little, so he had a Barbie. He also had Legos, and played with blocks, board games and eventually video games. Let kids play with whatever the fuck they want to, they are exploring.
This right TF here. He-Man, She-Ra, G.I.-Joe and My Little Pony were all part of the same universe when they were toys on my floor.