While shopping at JoAnn Fabric today, some lady in line asked me all sorts of questions about Jack. Our conversation went something like this:
Woman tries to walk past me in line
"Oh, you're not waiting here are you?"
"Uh, yeah actually I am."
"Oh how cute! How old?"
"5 1/2 months."
"Oh that's precious. What's her name?"
"HIS name is Jack."
"Of course I chose the wrong one. Did you say Josh?" (note that there's no apology-she didn't even sound apologetic)
"No, his name is Jack."
"Oh, I like that name." (spoken as though she had control over his naming)
"Thank you (thinking "as though I need your approval")"
My son is wearing one of the most boyish outfits..he's wearing a sports onesie with basketballs, nets, footballs and cleats along with dark blue pants and white and blue socks. Now, granted girls can wear blue and sports as well, and their carseats can be black along with all other accessories, but people don't normally do that. I really don't think my son looks anything like a girl. Might be biased of me but I've been told by other random strangers that he looks boyish as well. I've never had someone mistake him for a girl. I've had people ask "boy or girl?" when he was dressed fairly gender neutral but never has ANYONE ever referred to Jack as a "she" or "her" so yes, this bugged me a bit. I wish he hadn't grinned at this idiotic woman...
Cut the lady some slack. Kids who haven't hit puberty are impossible to place in the correct gender without cues given from hair or clothes. Since little boys and girls aren't strictly dressed in blue or pink, things can get particularly confusing before their hair is long enough to differentiate them. And Jack doesn't know enough to be offended at being mistaken for a girl. ;)
ReplyDeleteLike I said, most people ask "boy or girl" and it bugs me when people just assume.
ReplyDeleteNow, if Jack decides to cross dress when he's older, I will fully support his decision, but for now, I want him to be recognized as a boy. If he were a girl, I'd want him to be recognized as a girl and I bet you if he was dressed in pink frilly dress, this woman still would have thought he was a boy...does that make sense? She really was that ignorant.
Haven't you ever been the one who embarassed yourself in this situation? I certainly have. And I hate being embarassed, so I cut other people slack when they make the same sort of mistake.
ReplyDelete