Toren as Torena

I’m a sociologist.  I’m all into trying to raise my boy in a non-stereotypical fashion.  I won’t be pushing sports or cars on him.  To that end, I insisted that we buy Toren gender neutral onesies.  Light green works great.  Even light browns are fine for both girls and boys.  But, um, yellow… Well, you decide:

Toren as Torena 8-29-2009 6-30-31 PM

So, Toren or Torena?

He’s a cute girl!  But every time we put him in an outfit that pushes his gender just a bit over the line to female, I start calling him a girl.  Debi, of course, isn’t a fan of me calling our boy a girl.  And, frankly, I’m a bit astonished by my own inability to not stereotype.  I guess this is a good lesson for me to learn: It’s one thing to criticize those who clearly demarcate their child’s sex, but it’s quite another to have a child and not present the child in a fashion which clearly demarcates his/her biological sex.  Society’s power over gender socialization is strong enough that even someone who is aware of it can’t help it.

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