Reply to What do people mean when they say, 'He's all boy'?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just...what?

Talking to a neighbor today, he said his son is "all boy" several times. Like, oh he likes to kick that ball...he's all boy! He likes to play in that toy car...he's all boy! He likes to find sticks...HESALLBOY!!!!

The oddest part is, my DD was right there, doing all these things, too. The kids were playing together, doing pretty much the exact same things.

So what do people mean when they say that? Do you fear that a princess costume will overtake your son in a dark ally if you don't utter that phrase every time Little Jimmy plays with Hotwheels?[/quote]

They are trying to express their pride and relief that he's behaving in a stereotypical masculine manner, which suggests he won't grow up to be a gay. [/quote]

This.  Trucks, sports, etc., suggest to nervous moms that their son won't be gay.  And that makes them happy.[/quote]

I don't feel that way at all. In fact, I've often wondered if one of my "all boy" sons is gay. It would not bother me at all if he is. For me, I was surprised that boys behave from a very young age in stereotypical "all boy" ways without being taught or coerced into doing it. I always thought gender was a social construction. Wrong. I've learned a lot about people by becoming a parent. If I had a daughter, I would totally support any pink or princess item she wanted to focus on -- unlike my feminist parents, who convinced me that anything to do with being a girl was ipso facto inferior to all things boy....[/quote]

I see what your saying but like OP I've had the experience where my daughter has been playing with a friend who is a boy doing the exact same things and the mom will remark that her son is all boy. It doesn't offend me at all, clearly just a mom taking joy in a child's personality. But I don't see those aspects of my daughter's personality as being "boyish" --more like curious, adventurous, etc. [/quote]

Probably because the boy plays that way ALL. DAY. LONG. Not just at that moment, while you two are watching.[/quote]

So does my girl. And my boy is a daisy picker. [/quote]

Yeah, not all boys plays with trucks all day long.  I have two boys and a girl, and I feel like many moms of boys, particularly only boys, make these kinds of comments and assume that ALL boys are this way because theirs is.  Gender is absolutely a social construction, with some biological differences, of course, but people who attribute everything to gender differences drive me up a goddamn wall.  It's so tiresome.  The moms who wonder what girls do are my personal favorite; you're a female, WTH do YOU do all day long?  Good grief.[/quote]

Of course not all boys play with trucks all day long! Some don't play with trucks AT ALL. Those boys are not referred to as "all boy" now are they? All boy, as in 100 %, majority of the time. Some boys are like that. Some are not. It takes all kind of men, women, boys and girls to make the world go 'round. There is -- or should be -- a place for all different people int he world. Some of those people are boys who are stereotypically boyish, most of the time. I don't see why you find that impossible to accept.[/quote]

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