Let’s talk about gender baybee….(that doesn’t have the same ring to it)

My son will only use one type of sippy cup.  The Nuby sippy.  These sippies.  (And no, I was not compensated in any way for promoting these cups, moms and FTC.  But if you’ve tried everything, give these a shot.  And if you haven’t tried any sippies yet, give these a shot first and save yourself some trouble.  And money.)

Notice how they only come in blue and green and orange.  Those are the “boy” colors.
 
The only other ones I can find in stores are pink and purple.  And I think it’s because Nuby only makes these cups in blue, green, orange, pink, and purple.  What about yellow, red, or clear??  Or aquamarine?

This revelation about sippy cups made me think about gender and how we shape our children’s perceptions of gender.  (Yes, I got this from sippy cups.)

If I give him a pink sippy, am I somehow influencing him?  Or better yet, if I *don’t* give him a pink sippy, what’s that saying?

I don’t believe that we should raise our children in completely gender neutral environments, and I actually think that’s kind of impossible, even though I know there are people out there who’ve tried.

But, I don’t believe in raising children to fit into gender stereotypes either.

Here’s a little story for you:

A friend of mine recently asked my mom group about buying a kitchen for her son.  (I mean…wait…she wasn’t asking US to buy the kitchen…)  She mentioned it to her husband and he adamantly refused and said their son could have a tool bench. 

Several of us noted that our husbands would’ve had the same reaction.  And we all said virtually the same thing, too.

That we’d buy the kitchen AND the tool bench. 

Because children of both sexes can play with both types of toys and come out okay.

(I grew up playing with my little brother’s Ninja Turtles.  And I used to dress him up and put makeup on him and put his curly hair in pigtails because I wanted a little sister so bad.  He’s fine.  So am I.  Mostly.)

The other thing I’ve noticed about gender (and this was not prompted by sippy cups) is the PINK EVERYTHING for little girls.  And the “gender neutral” things for little boys. 

Has anyone else noticed this?  That there are “gender neutral” items and “girl” items.  Why aren’t there Pack-n-Plays and carseats with racecars or firetrucks on them?

And yes, I realize the giant contradiction that previous statement was, because if I’m saying that boys and girls can both play with kitchens and tool benches, then why can’t girls have racecar pack-n-plays.  And I agree.  But I’m just sayin’

There are very few things out there specifically for little boys.  But girls??  Girl stuff is everywhere. 


So, what do YOU think about this?  Hmm? 

Because I’m feeling a little rambly right now (since I’m trying to NOT fold the ridiculous amount of laundry that has taken over my bedroom) and my whole point in this was to start a discussion. 

Maybe I should just go buy the pink sippy cup and be done with it.