Boy Cries Uncontrollably After Getting Bullied For Wearing Nail Polish, And His Dad’s Response Goes Viral
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Toxic masculinity has become one of the buzz concepts of our times, as certain ‘traditionally masculine’ traits and behaviors have been identified by some as a corrosive influence on our society. Aaron Gouveia, from Massachusetts and a father of 3, is the voice behind parenting blog Daddy Files, where he shares his experiences, thoughts and practical tips to being the best possible father while balancing a career at the same time.
Recently he uploaded an angry and emotional Twitter thread about his middle son, Sam, being bullied at school for wearing nail polish. Sam hadn’t been exposed to overriding social expectations of gender norms yet, and was about to get a shock. “My wife and I spent five years successfully preaching tolerance, acceptance, and the importance of expression and your kids unraveled that in one school day,” Aaron wrote.
Sam simply liked having his nails painted. His grandmother used to do it for a living and he thought it looked cool. Simples. He was blissfully unaware that these kind of things were supposed to be ‘for girls only,’ and that not following this ‘rule’ would leave him open for ridicule, even from his friends.
After Sam came home heartbroken and in tears, Aaron decided that enough was enough. His passionate outburst quickly went viral and drew praise and support from thousands of people, impressed with the way he took harmful expectations of masculinity to task. And he is right. Of course there of some who take the concept too far, but some aspects of ‘toxic masculinity’ teach young boys to suppress their natural expression and emotions in ways that can be harmful later on, and this needs to be addressed.
Meanwhile Sam, inspired by other men and boys painting their own nails in solidarity, went back to school with his nails painted and a newfound confidence to be himself. “Sam had a great, incident-free day at school yesterday,”Aaron wrote. “Also, the school’s response and the community’s outreach has been really heartening.”
Scroll down to check out Sam’s kickass nails for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This is Aaron Gouveia, dad of three boys and author of the parenting blog ‘Daddy Files’
This week something happened to his middle son at school, which led him to post an angry and emotional outburst on Twitter
People were really supportive of Aaron and Sam
Image credits: irinibus
Image credits: Grafxcowgirl
Image credits: Kristan_Higgins
Image credits: JerriSwann21
Image credits: megrarick
Watch this video to learn to stop bullying:
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I have three children, and my youngest is the only boy. When he was a toddler, he'd put on my high heels and carry around purses. I didn't think anything of it at all. My now EX-husband got all bent out of shape and accused me of trying to "make my son gay". WTF??? Well, you know damn well I gave my son more purses. He's 11 years old now. I do not know if he's gay or not and I give zero fucks. I love my kids. End of story.
GOOD story!!
You're a great mom *_* please adopt me!!! XD last time I spoke to my mother, years ago, she told me I made my CHOICE to be gay...yeeeah, it's just as much of a choice as it can be "induced" by a parent. Oh well. You rock btw, your kids are lucky :)
My son would do the same thing, carrying purses and high heels. His dad would get mad, so I told him it was probably because our son would see me get up everyday and go to work (2 jobs). I figured it was because he looked up to me. He grew out of it.
It would've been ridiculously tolerant of you if he wasn't an ex. Sorry, had to say that aloud.
Makes you wonder what the kindergarten teachers were doing while all this ridicule and name calling was going on.
I also wonder where did the kids learn to be intolerant.
We spent a whole afternoon making Xmas party hats for the dinner ladies at school. Day after they were all in the bin - I rescued a few and got sent to the headmistress for "stealing"
From my experience - the teachers never knew
was bullied by the teachers - late 1960's - they were all bitter spinsters
You're doing a fabulous upbringing with that kid. Kudos to you
I have three children, and my youngest is the only boy. When he was a toddler, he'd put on my high heels and carry around purses. I didn't think anything of it at all. My now EX-husband got all bent out of shape and accused me of trying to "make my son gay". WTF??? Well, you know damn well I gave my son more purses. He's 11 years old now. I do not know if he's gay or not and I give zero fucks. I love my kids. End of story.
GOOD story!!
You're a great mom *_* please adopt me!!! XD last time I spoke to my mother, years ago, she told me I made my CHOICE to be gay...yeeeah, it's just as much of a choice as it can be "induced" by a parent. Oh well. You rock btw, your kids are lucky :)
My son would do the same thing, carrying purses and high heels. His dad would get mad, so I told him it was probably because our son would see me get up everyday and go to work (2 jobs). I figured it was because he looked up to me. He grew out of it.
It would've been ridiculously tolerant of you if he wasn't an ex. Sorry, had to say that aloud.
Makes you wonder what the kindergarten teachers were doing while all this ridicule and name calling was going on.
I also wonder where did the kids learn to be intolerant.
We spent a whole afternoon making Xmas party hats for the dinner ladies at school. Day after they were all in the bin - I rescued a few and got sent to the headmistress for "stealing"
From my experience - the teachers never knew
was bullied by the teachers - late 1960's - they were all bitter spinsters
You're doing a fabulous upbringing with that kid. Kudos to you