i’ve noticed that parents worry when their kid(boy) starts playing with dolls, shows intrest in make-up and like to be around girls ..especially the father..
**but they never give that much attention or worry when girls play with cars or refuse to wear skirts, dresses and hate to comb their hair (some of them cry Hysterically) and like it short just like their borthers.. ** it’s something i see almost on a daily basis .why? do they think girls will grow up to be girls eventually while boys might be affected by their interests in girly stuff later on?
I can't really see the difference either. My best guess would be that it is more acceptable for girls to play with trucks and engage in other stereotypically male behavior because tom boys are acceptable for the most part in society. It is acceptable for women to display "masculine" characteristics like wear pants and act tough. But it isn't acceptable (yet) for men to wear dresses and skirts (with the exception of kilts :) ) and most people don't react too well to men who display stereotypically "feminine" characteristics like crying. In fact if a man displays more "feminine" behavior than most men, he is more often than not considered gay.
So when parents see their daughters playing with cars and G.I Joe it's not the end of the world - at worst, she'll grow up to be a tom boy. When they see their sons playing with Barbie, it's unacceptable because (gasp!), he might grow up to be gay.
As to why men in particular seem troubled by their sons playing with dolls and things, studies on perceptions of gender have indicated that men typically have stronger gender stereotypes than women.
Well I don't have a son. I have two daughters 7 1/2 and almost 6. The younger one like to play with engines. Yes, the auto mobile engines.
On her weekends she likes to go with me to my freind's car workshop, She climbs into the car bonnet and likes to tinker with the visible parts of engine, Sometime she plays with the old carbeurators and the junk stuff from the car. I have no problems with that, I like to work with my hands all the time and not afraid to make my hands dirty. My wife does not like my daughters attitude but do not say anything because she knows the girl loves it.
My daughter was a real tomboy. She even looked the part with unruly mass of curly hair. At age 2 we gave her a hair do set which had hair brush combs pins hair dryer etc to make her more interested in feminine things and not football and cars etc. I found to my delight, she was playing with her hair dryer, but then I was disappointed to know she was using it as a gun. We even gave her a doll with its own pram to push around and play mummy. She was pushing it around in the garden, but going closer to her we heard her say "Wrrrh Wrrh"She told us she was cutting grass like the gardener does. To date...9 yrs she has never played with dolls, but has become more feminine. SO we should leave kids to grow up on their own and outgrow all these things. After all you may be supressing a little boy who wants to play with dolls and later on he plays out what he was denied as a kid.
I have a son and a daughter, my son is older and i had heard that girlz with elder brothers often behave like boyz early on coz they copy them, but my daughter did not. She likes playing with her dolls, dresses and combs them, likes bright coloured dresses and changes atleast two a day, except for oen thing, she is aggressive, beats all the boyz and girlz in her class.
I only have boys so I guess my opinion doesnt weigh as heavily but heres my take on it. When a girl is a "tomboy", many parents feel she will be better able to fend for herself in a "man's world" and many tomboy types never turn out to be lesbian, they just enjoy more boy-type activities. When a boy prefers things that are effeminate, he will not fare as well and when the preference for effeminate things is very strong, it is far more likely that he is homosexual.
That said, I do have my 5-yr old boy in a tap-dancing class! It has raised some eyebrows within the family but he loves music and dancing, loves all the attention he gets from the gals and he's learning to be so well coordinated and just having fun. I dont think this will "make" him gay but will give him confidence and coordination.
**
**