[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']This kid is on national television wearing a dress. It's obviously not a home activity. The mom takes him out in dresses to go and buy him dresses.
What if he wants to wear dresses to school? Is their dress code not accepting of his uniqueness? Or is the dress code based on societal norms that this kid does not follow; which is my whole point. [/QUOTE]
[quote name='Sporadic']- edit It already seems that he keeps dress wearing to when he is out of school. Although he did dress up for Halloween.
The problem, of course, is at school and at stores. When Dyson goes shopping with his mom, people often laugh when he likes dresses and pink heels. Before Halloween, Dyson's teacher called everyone in the school and informed them all that Dyson would be a Princess Boy. Some of the most "macho" employees at school dressed as ballet dancers, in a show of support for Dyson.
[/QUOTE]
I already talked about dress codes/uniforms in another thread but it basically boils down to "in place to keep the kids from being distracted from their studies". (BTW, the proper term for the thing you keep calling societal norms is social mores) What they do in their free time or a holiday designed for dress up is up to them (for example at my school, you could dress up as anything you want for Halloween including banned temp hair colors as long as you didn't do anything wild like dress up like Quailman from Doug or come to school in a bikini)
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']I think you're really getting off track with this. I don't define the societal norms, I am just familiar with them as a functioning member of society. You're talking about the women's movement of the 70's and 80's. I think you might even be reaching back as far as the 50's. Let's try and stay relevant.
Women get married because of love - they still do. Women birth children and raise families, that's because they are women and mothers. This has nothing to do with my statement "When I become a parent, I will encourage my child to be whatever they want to be, but I will also make sure they are a functioning member of society, who adheres to norms that will avoid placing ridicule upon them from other "normal" members of society."
I was merely referring to the fact that I want my child to go through life being comfortable enough not be ridiculed by society. I will make sure they understand the concept of society - including hygiene, manners, common courtesy and the roles of people within a society. I will make sure they adhere to the laws and societal norms to avoid any possible harm or harassment from other members of society.[/QUOTE]
It is completely relevant. Social mores change with the times and your argument has been applied for hundreds of years to try and stop people from doing what they want. Women in the workplace, women rebelling against having to get married/having kids, women working non-feminine jobs, interracial dating, homosexual relationships, skirts that didn't cover the whole leg, people perusing non traditional jobs in the arts, etc, etc, etc.
Instead of teaching your hypothetical kids how to conform, how about teaching that it is ok to be themselves and that it is ok for somebody to be different?
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']This kid is five. He doesn't know better unless it is a learned behavior. When did this kid first try on a dress to find out he liked it? He doesn't have any sisters. Or did he learn it by watching television or being encouraged by his parents to try on women's clothing.
I've never known a child to dictate what they are going to wear. Most children do not have money to purchase their own clothing and are entirely reliant on their parents for clothing. The parents are buying him the dresses.[/QUOTE]
Try actually doing some research into this instead of assuming.
I'm having trouble finding the actual article again but he first dressed up at daycare and did it multiple times before his mom started to look into it. She also said in the video interviews that the kid requested to dress like a princess for Halloween.
But what does it matter anyways? When I was a kid, I was really big into pro wrestling including wearing around a fake belt at home, wrestling my "wrestle buddy" doll thing in the living room and dressing up as my favorite, Big Boss Man, for Halloween. That's
normal but what if I was a girl, would that normal behavior suddenly become unacceptable. That it means that I'm either a homosexual or transgender for liking something that isn't traditionally girly?
What if that love didn't go away and I became a female wrestler in real life? Should I be ashamed? Think that I am gay or a boy born in a girl's body? Or should I just be happy that I found something that makes me happy and doesn't hurt anybody?
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']Nice retort. Even better use of emoticons. [/QUOTE]
I'll one up it.
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']What are they bringing to light? The fact that kids are kids? If this kid JUST likes wearing dresses, then there is no need to explain it to anyone. He's just a kid. Apparently, according to you and your internet research, this is normal. Why does this kid deserve his own book and to have his face plastered on the morning "news" shows?
It appears this mom went through a lot of "mental anguish" when her son "chose" to start wearing dresses. She said she kept journals of her "mental struggle" with the "issue". She's the one who created the "issue", wrote a book about it and is now profiting from it. If you don't think that's ironic, well - I don't know what to tell you. [/QUOTE]
A Seattle mom and author is being criticized for exploiting her son to sell more books, but Cheryl Kilodavis says she's just trying to get people to talk about acceptance.
Kilodavis, the author of "My Princess Boy," told KIRO Radio's Ron and Don Show her son, Dyson, is at home in Seattle with his dad and brother while she's in New York on a book tour. "Dyson has only been on TV three times."
She said it took a year to decide to go public with her son's story and the whole family was involved in the decision.
After writing "My Princess Boy," Kilodavis said people started passing the book around and that's how she ended up on TV.
Kilodavis said the reason she wrote the book is because she couldn't find one that properly addressed her situation.
"I was a little shocked that there wasn't a book out there that focused on little boys dressing up without jumping to the gender confusion or the sexual orientation point," she said.
At a very young age, Kilodavis said, Dyson had an interest in "beautiful and lovely things" and it was much different than raising her older son. She wrote in her journal about going through the acceptance process.
"The book is really more than just about a boy who dresses up. The book is really about acceptance. It's saying 'will you be my friend? I'm choosing to do something this way, will you still accept me for who I am?' I think we all want that for our kids. We want that for ourselves," Kilodavis said.
She said the point of the book is get you to ask yourself 'what would you do in this situation?'"
"I don't think our jobs as parents is to control our kids and make them unhappy all the time. I don't think my job is to say no every minute. My job is to be a guide and to make sure I'm raising a healthy, happy, and safe little boy. That's what we're doing."
http://www.mynorthwest.com/category..."My-Princess-Boy"-author-addresses-criticism/
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']I'd be curious what her job was before she became an "author". Maybe you can find out for me. I bet she didn't have much going for her. [/QUOTE]
I put on my internet detective hat and, although I can't find her or her husband's job, I did find their four bedroom house in Seattle that's worth around 250K+. That along with the fact they sent her kids to daycare...I can bet they were doing ok.
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater']I'm sure her "publicist" and his psychiatrist made that statement all the much easier to deliver for the television newscast, especially since they have recently come under scrutiny for their story.[/QUOTE]
Considering that's the first time they were on TV (from what I can tell) and the clip that went viral/got them on the Today Show, I doubt it.
cares? Plus, kilts really need to make a comeback, I'm sick of pants.
at the bolded parts
