"Why I didn't want a girl"

[asterroc]

A disgusting article written by a mother of two boys about why she doesn't want a girl for her third child. Absolutely disgustingly prejudiced and stereotyped and sexist and makes me want to puke. Moreover, what's this poor girl going to think when she grows up enough to read this article by her mother?

Comments

[spazzy444.livejournal.com]

I’m not good at debating, but I will try to articulate this to the best of my ability. Perhaps you cannot empathize with this woman as you are not in her position and have admitted to being happy to not have children.

I think this is less of an issue of stereotypes being used to project what the kid will be like and more of a way to validate or justify her feelings. She specifically said she had a niece that was a tomboy and specified that a child’s nature will come out regardless of how you raise them (her point about the boys with guns), and that she has one boy that is greedy and another that is not.

Let me explain this in a basic way that I think the author feels (I could be completely off base, but this is how it is for me): I want a green ipod for my birthday. I am gifted a purple one. While purple is a fine color, I really wanted a green one. I still love my purple ipod, but I am disappointed it isn’t the color I wanted. Why? Well… purple is more girlie and it doesn’t match the rest of my green stuff. Green is cool, and if I have to sell it there would be a better market for it (not saying sell your child here). Now I have a guy friend whose favorite color is purple. The point is I wanted an ipod, I was wishing for a green one because I like green better as a personal preference, but people make me feel like I need to explain why I like green better.

I am a tomboy. I rarely wear make-up, I don’t get along with most other females, I despise dresses, skirtsand I don't enjoy shopping. As a child I used to dig in the dirt, play with caterpillars and hung out with my neighbor while he pinned bugs up in his collection. I am a gamer and I enjoy reading and I played sports. For every female friend I had in college I had 7 male friends. I know the girl stereotypes, and I don’t like girlie girls. I like guys, they make sense to me. Yet, I still wanted a girl. Why did I want a girl? If someone asked why I didn’t want a boy I probably would have stated something as stereotyping as her only the other way and yet I fit most of the stereotypes of a boy as a child.

If I had a girl and she wanted to wear make-up and skirts I would not have objected and when my boy wants to play monster trucks (another thing I dislike) I am not going to stop him either.
I know lots of boys that are cute and manipulative and whiney and girls who are hard core bug fanatics who roughhouse and are simple for clothes. Doesn't change my emotions. I think you are trying to make this out to be way too black and white.