Tag: male gender role

#MyBoyCan

If you’re on my blog, you care about the well-being of our boys. If you care about the well-being of our boys check out Jennifer L.W. Fink’s website Building Boys. The website is chock-full of helpful articles written by Jennifer, a mother and award-winning author, and other contributors. A favorite of mine is: Yes, Boys Can Dance. The articles discusses the international movement #MyBoyCan founded by Sassy Harvey in response to ridicule her son received for participating in dance class – here is a podcast where the movement is described.

In the Yes, Boys Can Dance piece Jennifer writes:  “But this (is) about more than dancing. Ultimately, this is about enlarging our boys’ worlds and recognizing their full humanity. Collectively, we’ve busted the stereotypes that said women can’t wear pants or work or be mechanics or engineers. Today, you would never hear a news anchor laughing about a girl taking STEM classes. It’s time to bring that kind of equality to our boys also. Stop saying “boys can’t” and instead says #MyBoyCan.”

Also on the website you’ll be connected with other resources about raising boys, from others invested in the well-being of our boys and men. A favorite, which I’ve perhaps referenced before in the blog, having mom brain) is The Good Men Project.

So, what’s your response for #MyBoyCan?

 

 

 

The Courage To Raise A Son

Another article recently came out that highlights the rigidity of the male gender role: Parents are OK with girls playing with trucks. Not so much with boys wearing makeup.

“Across the board, women were more willing to let their child defy gender norms than men,” the research said. “While the majority of both genders were OK with allowing their daughters to play with trucks and wear boys’ clothes, the most staunch discrepancies surfaced when it came to sons acting feminine.”

The article references a study by SeniorLiving.org that looked at the ages associated with discussing a range of sensitive topics and how gender plays a role in what parents view as acceptable behavior for their children. The greatest percentage of parents rated gender-identity as the topic they’d most want to avoid talking about to their children.

In sum, what I’ve been looking for rooftops to scream from and what this study found is that while horizons are broadening for our girls, the pressure remains staunch to keep our boys in their narrowly constructed gender role.

In Gloria Steinem’s words:  “We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons … but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”