Gender Game

My senior year in college in North Carolina, I took a course on feminism. It was easily the best course I took in college because of it's relevancy and usefullness in my life. It focused on gender roles in our society and gender categories. I'm often reminded of this course, especially these days in having children...specifically boys!

Fast forward to today. Picture this scene:
Colin and I dashed out to do a few errands (Logan was home napping while Morg was working). While out, I spontaneously decided to go get my toes done, Colin in tow. In the salon, buckets of colorful nail polishes were all around and of course Colin was drawn to them and excitedly showed me every color. Meanwhile, the lady told me to "pick a color" and of course Colin immediately asked if he too could pick a color. Flashback: 1993, Feminism 301. Do I deny him? Do I go ahead? UHHH, I really don't like this moment. I quickly go with my gut and agree (but did encourage the orange, greens and blue paint colors).

In a nutshell, it made me really sad to be put in that position of choice: To squash his excitement and creativity, or go ahead with the fear he might be teased. When I heard the nail lady say "Oh like girl", a defensiveness and protectiveness came over me and before I could even think, I snapped "He's 3. It doesn't matter. He is having fun!" Luckily the other 3 women in the salon gave a smile to me, and a smirk and a shake of the head to the ignorant lady.

When we got home, Morgan told him his toes were cool. And tonight, so did our friends. I'm sure this is only the beginning of many similar situations, but today was eye opening. Ultimately, I didn't care. And Colin clearly didn't... We had a fun time together!