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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't totally agree with all of these replies. I think they are well intentioned and probably correct for the first few years or so, but I also thibk it's irresponsible to pretend like boys aren't subjected to a different set of expectations and pressure in the world.

OP, it's going to be awesome, but if I were to have a boy (I have 2 girls) I'd be thinking longer term about how I am going to teach him to share and communicate his emotions, to pursue what he loves whether it's "masculine" or not, to value and love his friends (especially the male ones), to show affection and vulnerability, amd of course to respect women and see them as equals. It's a noble, but I fear misguided, approah to just treat boys and girls the same and assume they'll turn out equally. [/quote]

As mom to one girl and two boys, I get what you're saying, but we should be teaching ALL kids about emotional health, pursuing passions regardless of gender, appropriate boundaries, etc.  You're assuming that these things naturally arise in parenting girls but not in boys, and that's not true IME.  But, yes, probably because the OP is asking this question, her gender norms are stronger than in those of us who are responding that the differences tend to be more individual rather than solely as a function of gender.  Sure, you take society into consideration and at the same time, pay attention to your own beliefs about gender.[/quote]

Yeah it's important for any child, I think the pp was just highlighting some of the areas that might require special care and thoughtfulness due to the pressures society will place on a boy to not develop some of those skills. Similar to how you might have to pay closer attention to a young girls perception of her body. Yes you will help your son develop a positive perception of his body but a daughter could potentially need more support in this due to the messaging from society is typically stronger for girls so good to be aware of certain areas. Just like the messaging for boys to hide their emotions is typically stronger than for girls. [/quote]

I get that, but you have to be careful not to do too much of it.  For example, I think parents need to be mindful of their sons' perceptions of their bodies, too, and the parents who think of this as a girls issue don't tend to do that.  It's not so blunt a hammer as pretending gender doesn't exist, but there's a subtle distinction that I think PP is missing.[/quote]

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