Boys in skirts

[Anonymous]

My daughter was at a playground today (in NW DC) and our babysitter tells me that a little boy around the age of 3 was there too. He was wearing a skirt. My daughter approached his mom and asked her why he was wearing a skirt because boys aren't supposed to wear skirts. The mom apparently asked my daughter, "well why can't boys wear skirts? who says they can't?"

So tonight my daughter was full of questions and I wasn't sure how to respond. We are fairly liberal FWIW. Should I tell her boys can wear skirts and some choose to? I'm a bit conflicted on this one. We are friends with gay couples but none of them cross dress.

[Anonymous]

What are you conflicted about? Really think about this. Why do you care, at all, if some boy wears a skirt?

How does it affect your daughter?

What would you say if a kid was in pajamas or a spiderman costume at the park? Say the same thing about the skirt.

How about, "I guess he liked it! Mostly girls wear skirts, but there's no rule that says only girls can wear skirts."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was at a playground today (in NW DC) and our babysitter tells me that a little boy around the age of 3 was there too. He was wearing a skirt. My daughter approached his mom and asked her why he was wearing a skirt because boys aren't supposed to wear skirts. The mom apparently asked my daughter, "well why can't boys wear skirts? who says they can't?"

So tonight my daughter was full of questions and I wasn't sure how to respond. We are fairly liberal FWIW. Should I tell her boys can wear skirts and some choose to? I'm a bit conflicted on this one. We are friends with gay couples but none of them cross dress.

Just tell your daughter the truth. Some boys were skirts. If she asks why it's because their moms are attention seeking idiots.

[Anonymous]

im not sure how I would address the boy at the playground (talk about expressing fashion, dress up, etc.). It's a tough one. I know I would tell my daughter that in some cultures men do wear skirts (and educate her about kilts, etc).

[Anonymous]

I've never been asked by my kids but I do enforce that everyone can wear whatever they want and what makes them comfortable.

[Anonymous]

I'd say something like "most boys wear pants, but there is no rule that boys have to wear pants. So some boys choose to wear skirts. And in some countries, boys and men often wear skirts or dresses." Non-issue for a little kid.

[Anonymous]

As a 3 year old, my son really, really, really wanted to wear a dress to school one day. His sister wore dresses, he saw it as fancy, and he wanted to be fancy. So we said ok. We also told him that some people thought that boys shouldn't wear dresses, so we practiced Q&A so he would be prepared to answer what we thought were the most likely questions.

The kids who were most interested and policing (boys don't wear dresses! Why did you let your son wear a dress!) were kindergarten and 1st grade girls. No one else cared a whit. My kid never chose to wear a dress to school again - although he still likes nail polish from time to time. OP, just answer your kid's questions factually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a 3 year old, my son really, really, really wanted to wear a dress to school one day. His sister wore dresses, he saw it as fancy, and he wanted to be fancy. So we said ok. We also told him that some people thought that boys shouldn't wear dresses, so we practiced Q&A so he would be prepared to answer what we thought were the most likely questions.

The kids who were most interested and policing (boys don't wear dresses! Why did you let your son wear a dress!) were kindergarten and 1st grade girls. No one else cared a whit. My kid never chose to wear a dress to school again - although he still likes nail polish from time to time. OP, just answer your kid's questions factually.

OP here. Thanks for this. My daughter is in kindergarten and at the stage where she is just super curious and nosy about everything.

[Anonymous]

My son used to love to wear tutus. His sisters hated how itchy they were but it didn't bother him!
now he's 8 and gave me crap because I gave him a pink water bottle (it looked red to me). Sigh.

[Anonymous]

I would just say that usually boys don't wear skirts, but sometimes they do, and that is fine. People should wear what they want to wear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just say that usually boys don't wear skirts, but sometimes they do, and that is fine. People should wear what they want to wear.

What if your daughter wanted to wear skimpy clothes? Does this same philosophy follow?

[Anonymous]

Op I would tell your daughter just like girls wear shorts, pants etc boys can wear skirts and dresses too whatever they want to wear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was at a playground today (in NW DC) and our babysitter tells me that a little boy around the age of 3 was there too. He was wearing a skirt. My daughter approached his mom and asked her why he was wearing a skirt because boys aren't supposed to wear skirts. The mom apparently asked my daughter, "well why can't boys wear skirts? who says they can't?"

So tonight my daughter was full of questions and I wasn't sure how to respond. We are fairly liberal FWIW. Should I tell her boys can wear skirts and some choose to? I'm a bit conflicted on this one. We are friends with gay couples but none of them cross dress.

I don't understand what your problem is. (A) Why not just tell her boys and girls can wear whatever they want. (B) Just because the little boy was wearing a skirt, does not mean he is gay. If you think this, you are most definitely not even close to being open minded.

(C) "We are friends with gay couples but none of them cross dress" is the LGBT equivalent of "I have black friends, so I'm not racist".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op I would tell your daughter just like girls wear shorts, pants etc boys can wear skirts and dresses too whatever they want to wear.

This. That's what I'd do.

[Anonymous]

OP - what would say to your child if she asked why a little girl was wearing a superhero shirt from the boy's section of the store or athletic pants or cargo shorts?