Admit to being a fan of "gender neutral" parenting in certain company and you'll likely receive a few patronizing glances and eye rolls, and stories about how their kids are true boys and true girls who like nothing but gender-appropriate play, toys, books, clothing, and TV shows, and there's nothing wrong with that or the way they were raised, Goddamnit! ...
Hi kids! Today's topic is "over-generalization"! ...
In one of my homeschool Facebook groups recently, someone asked the question (paraphrased because the original contained personal anecdotes, etc.): ...
Quick! Define "masculine". What makes a man masculine? It seems like it should be pretty simple: "masculine" means having the qualities of a man! So a "masculine man" is a man who has the qualities of a… man? That definition seems kinda circular, and probably not very, uh, useful. Get more specific, maybe? What qualities? Broad chin and shoulders, muscular, rough, tough, aggressive, strong, fit, leadership, sports, fighting, fearlessness, bravery, emotions limited to anger and pride, something about steaks and expensive cars(?)… The universal signs of manhood! ...
Hypothesis: Boys and girls are innately behaviorally different. ...
"Dad, how come in most stories, it's a boy that does stuff?" said my daughter last year sometime. "Well, uh, because for a long time… Um, well, you see… hmmm…" I'm not sure what I eventually got out, but I vowed to try to find books where it was a girl who went out and did things. I know there are lots of them out there, but they're not easy to find. So I thought I'd list the ones I have personally vetted and read to my daughter. ...
This is list of rules I try to follow when interacting with kids. These are not peer-reviewed child-raising techniques, just little odds and ends I've read, heard, observed, or thought. Some are undoubtedly pseudo-psychology. Some are probably hippie-talk nonsense. Some of them might be helpful, some useless, and maybe some are actually harmful. Maybe they're all meaningless, I don't know. I'm mostly talking out of my ass here, but I think they could be important, so I'm sharing. ...
I've noticed this ever since our daughter was born. Many times when I try to do a little research on any parenting topic or visit any parenting forum, it's assumed the reader is the mom. This became even more apparent with my recent decisions. In doing (secular) homeschool research, there's a pattern I see many times: It's simply assumed that the stay-at-home parent is the mom. It's assumed that the mom does the homeschooling. It's assumed that the dad doesn't clean, cook, or do laundry, etc. It's assumed that the mom cares and the dad dismisses. It's assumed that the dad doesn't help out with the kids, or if he does, it's in some trivial way or it's some sort of minor aberration to a universal rule. ...
I have a secret to tell: [Deep breath]… I'm transgender… ...
Over the years I've slowly become acquainted with the term "crunchy" mom, AKA "granola" mom (AKA "hippie"). You probably know a few, even if you aren't aware of the name "crunchy". ...
