Gender

This is an earlier blog post from my Tumblr blog, I've decided to start writing my personal blogs here...

Here I am again. Twice in one week. I am compelled to blog yet again. Today’s blog comes from an interaction I had this morning at work. For those who don’t me personally, I work for a park district day camp with kiddos aged six to thirteen. It is fun and exhausting. 

Anyway, as the kids we’re checking in this morning, a guardian of one of the male campers came up to me and alerted me that some girl painted one of his nails yesterday at camp and they had an issue with it. I didn’t see the girl paint the nail as there are many children at camp and it’s kind of hard to see what they’re all doing at free time. 

What bothered me most though was the nanny talking about how his parents flipped out and apparently the nanny reminded the camper all the way to camp that he was a boy and boys don’t do that. It took everything I had in my power to just smile, nod, and tell the woman that I would address the situation.

Excuse me, but boys can do whatever they want and girls can as well. Growing up Seth as I like to call it was a healthy balance of what those consider masculine and feminine. I was a very feminine child by conventional standards. My favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, I loved theatre and all of the Disney Princesses. I took dance classes for many years. As my sister was getting glitzed up for our annual dance recital, my mom would always paint my toenails, so I wouldn’t feel left out.

I had the absolute best parents a gay child could ask for. The first time I went to Disney World, my sister wore her Princess Belle dress and I wore my Princess Ariel costume. To wear the costume of a favorite princess is a Disney rite of passage to little children. I never for once thought I was wearing something feminine, I was just honoring my favorite mermaid. They also bought the Princess Jasmine costume that trip. :) 

The point of this blog post isn’t about gay or straight. It’s about what’s perceived as masculine or feminine. When are we going to stop labeling the toys children play with and what they like? It only creates a further divide between us as a human race. Why is a grocery cart deemed as a feminine toy? Do men not grocery shop? Are we reinforcing the notion that a woman’s place is in the kitchen.

I keep thinking of the character of Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch as I write this blog. Hedwig strives to find her complete self the entirity of the piece. She ultimately embraces both her masculinity and femininity, which creates her as a whole individual. Like Hedwig, I am a whole individual because of all of the facets that make me myself. 

I also rocked pink swim shorts at work today. Real men wear pink. ;)

Much love,

Seth