Gilly wrote:
Yes... I guess the key is to bring up a confident & happy child who feels able to reject any of societies 'norms' should they wish to.

In a blue coat for a boy, and a pink coat for a girl.

^ We're responding to this story - as all stories - with our emotions, expectations & past experience aren't we.
Despite my initial reaction, maybe these pair do have a point in reacting to & interacting with their child as a completely blank canvas, unaware at birth of what he may be expected to turn out like, which of course is true, he wasn't!
Think there's some Neneh Cherry lyrics forming in the dark pits of my skull somewhere

Not being argumentative, I still stand by my earlier 2 posts on a reactive level, but just having a moment

Yes, but (not being argumentative either - just thinking out loud) we do use or emotions, expectations & past experiences to judge things, because we have to have something to guide us, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

I'm not saying I'm right & they're wrong, either, but to me, it's good to raise them to be happy & confident etc, but rather than putting them in the firing line from being a little bundle of innocence, try to equip them to trust themselves to make decisions and choices when they're old enough to understand all the implications.

There are more subtle ways to nurture his free-spirit than taking him out dressed in pink frocks, I think.

Ab Origine wrote:

My middle child loved dressing up too... in whatever he fancied at that moment and this varied from animals to ballerinas because he liked the way the skirt stuck out.

He also had a little girls buggy at one point which he used to take everywhere with him to carry a large selection of little teddies, that never left his sight. This went on more than a year.

He then grew up into the biggest lads lad there is and absolutely adores all things female.

It makes not a jolt what they do at this tender age in relation to their sexuality and they should never be influenced in any shape or form. The people in those links are fucking idiots who shouldn't even be around kids.

Gilly wrote:
Granted. I was merely pointing out approval or no, it had no bearing ultimately on my decision to be who I am.

We should also be more aware of just where 'kids' learn those spiteful and hurtful behaviours in the first place, Imo.