I think it's great to give a child unconditional love.
It's also great to teach our children to accept people as they are, even if it's different than the norm.
I would just caution the parents not to inadvertently push the child too far the other direction, though. I had a good friend in college who was an effeminate male. Everybody just assumed he was gay -- he was very cliched: high voice, over-the-top mannerisms, everything. Even his own family assumed it (of course in his case they condemned him for it and ridiculed him). But the truth was, he was not gay. He just ended up hanging around gay people because that was the only group that would accept him just the way he was. Because people tried to put him in a box that didn't fit, he sank into a deep depression and has never really surfaced. He is now 45 and has done nothing with his tremendous artistic talent.
Anyway, I just think people need to know it's okay for a boy to like pink and jewelry AND to be straight! Labeling a toddler, even tentatively, can be harmful. The child needs to develop without the subconscious message that he is "gay." He just is, period. And that is enough.
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Date: 2007-03-22 03:58 am (UTC)It's also great to teach our children to accept people as they are, even if it's different than the norm.
I would just caution the parents not to inadvertently push the child too far the other direction, though. I had a good friend in college who was an effeminate male. Everybody just assumed he was gay -- he was very cliched: high voice, over-the-top mannerisms, everything. Even his own family assumed it (of course in his case they condemned him for it and ridiculed him). But the truth was, he was not gay. He just ended up hanging around gay people because that was the only group that would accept him just the way he was. Because people tried to put him in a box that didn't fit, he sank into a deep depression and has never really surfaced. He is now 45 and has done nothing with his tremendous artistic talent.
Anyway, I just think people need to know it's okay for a boy to like pink and jewelry AND to be straight! Labeling a toddler, even tentatively, can be harmful. The child needs to develop without the subconscious message that he is "gay." He just is, period. And that is enough.