My son wore a skirt to preschool several times.

I can't imagine the distress that would cause here. Of course our school district never showed Obama's address to school children either; not even with parental consent.

My sister wanted to be Vanessa Huxtable. Totally uncomfortable.

How old was she? I can't imagine how to have that conversation under a certain age. There are bubbles you don't want to pop, but you just can't let stuff happen.

"why didn't he dress as Velma?"

Because Daphne is HAWT. The kids can see lengthy Scooby movies on Netflix. The girl -pointing to Daphne-I want to be "that" one. The boy hasn't asked to dress up like a princess, but he likely hears enough mutterings thanks to having two moms in the primary household.

ION--chili feed at work today. YUM. Though I could have done without the ton of tomato chunks in the second bowl.

How old was she? I can't imagine how to have that conversation under a certain age. There are bubbles you don't want to pop, but you just can't let stuff happen.

3rd or 4th grade, I think. There are pictures somewhere. But, yeah how do you explain it to a kid?

Happy Diwali! And Guy Fawkes Day!

sumi "Natter 67: Overriding Vetoes" Nov 5, 2010 7:24:07 am PDT

Oh, man. That reminds me of at least a couple jobs I used to have, sumi. I was never able to walk that minefield well because I was focused on doing the damned job, not assuaging people's egos. Good luck with it all!

Now I'm sure no one would blink an eye about a girl dressing up as a male character.

The root of homophobia, in my opinion, is misogyny. A man loving another man is feminized, in this view. And women are weak contemptible things that no one would want to be. A girl dressing as a male is trading up. A boy dressing as a female is trading down.

I've gotten enough guff for not dressing femininely enough and keeping my hair insanely short to opine that it's not as simple as trading up. My femininity (as opposed to my femaleness which is effectively immutable without drastic measure) is supposed to be treasured and cherished, despite having more leeway to play with boundaries than a man.

Keith, Keith, Keith. What were you thinking?

There are pictures somewhere

Uh, she got to go in blackface?

I wouldn't say "got" to. But they did allow it. I guess your kid crying inconsolably in her bedroom trumps racial sensitivity.

I guess your kid crying inconsolably in her bedroom trumps racial sensitivity.

Never at my house. My parents were pretty okay with deluge of tears if it had to do with racial education. And they started early. We got exposed to a lot of general violence, etc, that you probably wouldn't tell a seven year old about, but it was slavery and civil rights, so it was required reading and viewing and retelling.

You're right, ita. I was oversimplifying to keep the post short. :)

I think they couldn't really explain the history of blackface to her, but then I guess that's the point of privilege. You're shielded from that kind of hurt.