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For her they say,
“My, you certainly have your hands full with this one.”
“She’s very talkative, isn’t she?”
“What a little troublemaker!”
“She’s so loud!”
“I bet this one causes you heartache when she’s 16!”
For him they say,
“What an active little guy! He’ll be an athlete!”
“He is upset, he must be tired.”
“He’s so vocal, and communicates so well!”
“It’s great he asserts himself in a crowd of kids.”
I really didn’t think this sort of gender bias started this young. But, here it is.
Hrrrmmmph
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Jack's Raging Mommy 08.05.06 at 9:53 pm
and “they” are mostly women are they not?
this is why I often hate people.
Crunchy Carpets 08.05.06 at 10:29 pm
Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh….
The looks and the sighs and the comments.
Which is why we were ordering in instead of eating out.
melissa b. 08.05.06 at 10:42 pm
Unfortunately, there is another turn too. I have two boys and if one of them isn’t being particularly mucho macho that day, there are mentions of him being a “sissy” or a “wuss.”
For my niece, we’ve heard all the above and more and you are so right. It’s ridiculous.
I hope she rules the world and can then smite all the asshats as she pleases.
Keri 08.05.06 at 11:13 pm
Hrrrmmmmph, indeed! If anyone DARES to say anything negative about my child or attempts to put labels on him, they are gonna get some boo-hissing from me!
Izzy 08.05.06 at 11:27 pm
I’ve been taking note of that shit for the past year. It really chafes my ass.
And when my daughter is the boss of all of them, they better address her as “Madame Bitch”
gunky 08.06.06 at 12:16 am
my 10th percentile height & weight (read: LITTLE) son was accused of “bringing out (down?) his pimp hand” when “asserting himself” among a group of much larger, older girls. what’s that about?
Gwen 08.06.06 at 7:04 pm
It never ceases to amaze me the stereotypes people have. As a teacher I have had other teachers tell me that such and such a child is a real trouble maker and I ahve found them to be one of my best students. It makes me crazy!!
I want my sonnot to have those problems in school when he gets older but I am afraid his curiosity will not endear him to most teachers.
I hope to god that I don’t make the same judgements.
Dana 08.07.06 at 10:51 am
I think birth order has something to do with this, too. Because Jackson is older he gets more credit. More praise. I know it’s wrong but it happened to me. I am the oldest of of four. I still get all the praise while my younger brother who is second oldest was the trouble maker, the heart breaker, blah blah blah. Then my sister was born and she’s been labelled the “spit fire” the “rebel” and finaly my youngest brother is the “peace maker”. It’s so funny how we all got different titles and stereotypes placed upon us.
suemamma 08.09.06 at 12:40 am
Aaaaaahh! And ‘boys don’t cry’! So easy to sterotype.
Damselfly 08.10.06 at 5:33 pm
All hail the queen … and queen mum!