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| Sugar and Spice and Everything's Nice. Photograph by Rich Hunt. |
Blue is for boys and pink is for girls…right? Society has long debated the answer to this- and many other
gendered queries. There is no question that boys and girls are different, and
that those differences are just a part of what make each of unique. So is
parenting a boy versus a girl a vastly dissimilar experience? Are children of
the same sex likely to all have the same attributes? Copious studies have been done on this very idea.
I won’t claim to have the answers to these questions,
but I do have two brothers and friends with boys, and let me tell you, the
debate is an interesting one. Attend any mothering group or talk to parents who
have one of each and you will hear opinions about how raising a girl is
different from raising a boy. Boys tend to be rougher with their toys, girls
are cuddlier, boys are rambunctious while girls can sit longer and play
quietly. Maybe. But then there’s my Izzy who takes everything apart and loves
to play cars, and my nephew Hudson, who cuddles his bear like a baby. Perhaps toys are just toys.
All girls are not ‘sugar and spice’ and all boys are not ‘snails and puppy dog tails.’ In reality, all of us have each of
these attributes and appreciation of both is an important part of becoming who
we are and will be.
All I can hope for my girls is that they grow
up understanding that they are free to make choices based on their likes and
dislikes, their skills and passions. Their gender, while an important and vital
part of who they are does not define what their goals are or who they should be.
Jimmy Kimmel talks to kids about the differences between boys and girls.
