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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel like the people who hate their girls dressing up as princesses are always the same people who are totally supportive if a little boy wants to wear a frilly dress/princess outfit.[/quote]

A lot of parents have internalized this idea of what a modern girl *should* be like, and it's every bit as narrow as the old stereotypes that girls HAD to wear pink and play house and not play sports.

I know a lot of parents who need their girls to be athletic, [b]interested in STEM,[/b] dress in a hip way (that[b] does NOT involve princess dresses or pink or anything overtly girly[/b]), etc. Some of their kids gravitate towards this stuff anyway, which is great. Some don't, and their daughters are sad that they can't dress as Elsa for Halloween or take ballet or whatever. I think it's too bad and shows how the real issue with raising kids is not that we are too gendered (we can be, but it's not the heart of it). The real problem is that we don't let kids make their own choices. If your kid loves soccer and math, great! But don't create a system where if your kid doesn't like those things, she's a failure.

Just let kids be themselves. Princesses, pirates, soccer stars, artists, mathletes, whatever. Just let them choose. You don't have to micromanage this stuff. And you should really ask yourself why you care so much. I think if you thought about it, you'd realize it's mostly about wanting your kid and your family to look a certain way to others. Is that a value you want to pass on. I for one do not.[/quote]
These things don't have to be mutually exclusive...and it really bothers me that people try to suggest that they are.

-- STEM PhD who wore pink, frilly dresses with ribbons in her hair...even when launching her model rockets[/quote]

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