Boy Cries Uncontrollably After Getting Bullied For Wearing Nail Polish, And His Dad’s Response Goes Viral
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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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.
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My son is only a few months old but the idea of him being bullied when he's older makes me so incredibly sad. Hopefully I can set an example like this dad.
Don't forget to ensure the child is mentally confident (i.e: competent) enough that some taunting won't crush him.
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I don't think bullying is good or character building, but I can say it is part of life. When you put yourself out there and are different, there will be haters. Teaching kids how to handle it is so important, including how parents address these things with the teacher. Here's a hint, verbally abusing the teacher is not a good example to your child.
Yes! Sheltering your kids in a bubble means the real world is going to be a big shock. Prepare them for what they'll face and they'll handle it much better. There will always be bullies (obviously) so pretending it isn't a reality isn't going to help anyone.
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" “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,”: That means you forgot to teach your kids that different people have different views and will act on those views and some might be bullies. It's as much as a parenting fail as it is a win with this guy. It's this same issue where millennials and gen Z are the least happy kids ever polled even though they live in the best time ever. Once they figure out there's a "real world" out there that doesn't cater to you it's quite shocking for them. They need to be prepared and mentally strong enough for that. That a major part of a parent's job.
You can teach your child that everyone has their own opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. And that some people are mean and will bully others because they have very small brains and are narrow minded. AND that just because they have a different opinion does NOT mean they can bully and terrorize others. They need to be stopped, and ignoring it is just giving them permission to treat people badly. So they need to stand up for themselves and get someone with more authority involved. Never just accept it as “normal”.
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"Toxic masculinity" ??? Bullsh*t! Boys and girls see the world around them, and since only women wear nailspolish and it's only advertised for women, they perceived it a a female product only. That's not something anyone taught them, but something they've realised on their own! Not to mention that kids are the cruelest human beings on the planet - they can't grasp the full extent of what they are saying, nor how deeply it can hurt other. They are yet to realise why what they're doing is bad, and that's why your son got bullied! Not because of the 'toxic masculinity" c**p you've been hearing!
My little brother loves painting his nails and always offers to paint mine for me. It's mainly his toenails, but it makes him happy. Im a proud big sister!
yall dont think its strange?? the hell is wrong with you. Im not for torment, but if the parents cant properly instruct a child, thats what you get. Real life isnt the internet. Its not full of hugs and kisses for doing f****d up s**t.
This is wonderful - you wear that nail varnish with pride! Hopefully the other children will learn something from this and, I'd really like to hope, teach their parents. We were never allowed to wear nail polish at any of the schools I went to at all. So we used red felt tips and tried our hardest to colour our nails but it never lasted. :-(
I’m sorry but turning this into a blame game, and posting pictures of yourself giving six year olds the finger is not the solution. We all should know that six year olds do not yet have the emotional intelligence to deal with these situations. They are simply acting according to society’s beliefs (right or wrong). I am sure their parents aren’t teaching them to go around and “bully” their classmates. I am also sure that teachers don’t wake up in the morning and plot on which bully I should allow to destroy someone else. It takes a very special person to be a kindergarten teacher, and I am sure the majaority of you, given the chance to do that job, would run for the hills. Kids bully and a lot of times it is done when the teacher or an adult is not looking (they are much clever than you think). Bullying happens everywhere and not only in schools. Unfortunately it is something that we all deal with at some point in our lives.
I'm gonna take a lot of flak for this, but as a parent I think it's my responsibility to let them know there are differences in being a male or a female... I don't see why it's wrong to tell my son that dresses, makeup and nail polish are for girls. I wouldn't allow my son to go to school like that, and would explain why. For dressup for fun at home when playing? No problem! But only for fun, not when going to school as part of his normal outfit. That's my opinion as a parent. That said, I have no issue with other parents disagreeing and raising their own kids differently.
I agree, social gender cues exist for a reason within society. I rather like that men don't typically wear makeup, nail polish or dresses because those things exist to accentuated feminine qualities and like the *majority* of heterosexual women, I'm attracted to masculine physical traits and the social cues that accentuate them. The new current fade of blurring well-established physical gender norms is such crock of PC bs and frankly flies in the face of the biology of hetero sexual attraction and its role within a society/culture. Of course no one should be bullied for something as silly as nail polish or blurring gender norms, but lets not pretend that sex and gender are two completely separate entities that have zero impart on each other and social sexual attraction. This ideological back-patting in order to make everyone feel socially/morally secure is ridiculous and I've decided not to be brainwashed into cheering on the distorted creation of one homogeneous social gender.
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Unpopular opinion: People are d***s. Especially in public school. Two possible courses of action. 1. Cry and get bullied more. 2. Stand up for yourself and get respect.
Who cares if a group of lame a*s losers respect you tho?
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I worked at a karate summer camp, and one of the boys painted his nails and got bullied, so one of our lead karate instructors asked the kid to paint his nails, and after one of the lead karate instructor's nails were painted, all of the bullies immediately wanted their nails painted.
There are other ways of ending bullying besides punishing the bully. Punishing someone will almost never stop them from doing bad, we can't stop hate with more hate, we need to stop hate with kindness instead, punishment is not kind, it is a teacher's lazy way of not having to deal with an unruly student.
Load More Replies... Bad parenting at its finest, not necessarily because the kid is wearing nail polish, but because the parents apparently like to pretend like negative social reactions to certain behaviors dont exist. This kid is going to be woefully unprepared to deal with life if he's taught that people are only ever kind and friendly.
My son likes nail polish, has both ears pierced and has long blond hair. He has been teased a little at school but the kids are used to him and I have noticed another boy in his class is growing his hair long and another paints his nails. Now the only person who teases him and berates him is his father. I buy my son special nail polish that peels off so he can remove it before he sees his father.
Please do something about his father. Your son shouldn't be in that kind of environment.
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Reading this while painting my nails. Just thinking about my cousin with his floral dresses and bright nails. Just thinking about my best friend with his blue, sparkly nails. And another with his pink confetti nails. I wish that boys and girls both could dress however they like. Wear makeup or not. Sparkles or no sparkles. All without being judged. And this boy, Sam. He will make it happen.
I know that I bring my boy just as easy to ballet class as to rugby. Not to your liking? Your problem.
As a kid I used to wear those socks with laces,one day another kid started making fun of those ,I lost temper nd started fighting him, that worked
One of the guys who works at the rock gym where I climb gets pedicures to keep his feet looking nice. The nail polish doesn't cost extra, so last time he got a bright aquamarine.
My son used to ask me for nail polish and ponytails (although very short), to which I agreed, until he was 5 or 6. He never was ridiculed for this and I'm glad. He decided to stop on his own. It's sad to see that kids are making fun of other kids for such trivial things as nail polish.
So after actually watching the video I still don't agree with it. While apparently rolling over and basically admitting to a bully that they are right and completely awesome may stop them in the beginning you are in turn teaching the bullies not to stand up for themselves. I get the premise that if you agree with them and then say nice things it may make it harder for them to make fun of you (see Rabbit in 8 Mile dominating the kid who went to a private school) but you also need to have a backbone and stand up for what you believe in and learn to ignore all the hateful things that could be thrown at you.
That video at the end (granted I just read the headline so technically I'm making this statement completely uneducated on what it actually shows BUT) "learn how to stop bullying" how about this....DON'T BE AN A*****E! Or this DON'T TEACH YOUR KIDS TO BE A******S?
This is GREAT!!! I want to add, I am a girl and I do not like my nails painted, but no one makes fun of me! !! I hate gender norms and toxic masculinity.
People who don´t let others be again... stop please! If the kid wants his fingernails painted... how does it hurt anyone else? I´m so fed up with these "girl /boy things that don´t let children enjoy what they like. Go Sam!!
I tell my 5yo daughter that boys can wear dresses if they want. She will still look at a boy in a dress and say "boys don't wear dresses, that's just silly!" I think it's part of the natural process of filing things away into groups. This is a cat that is a dog, they have definine characteristics. I think at 5 yo it's (largely) not learned - but the problem is if a kid mistakes a cat for a dog we correct them. We don't always correct issues dealing with gender. I think it's wonderful that so many people are willing to stand up for and help teach kids that not all genders can be defined by suck simple characteristics.
I understand having problems with nail polish in places where it could crack and affect someone's health, such as a hotel kitchen, for example (you can always wear sanitary gloves, though), but in a basic way...? Just... Why.... I get it, this is about enforcing gender roles, and I admire the father's stance and gestures, and I hope more and more families will understand, but this story reminded me that, when I was young, my sister had problems with an old fashioned teacher because she liked to take care of her nails. I mean... What do mathematics have to do with nail lenght and colour? Because she (the teacher) was having a twisted idea about how aesthetics relate to particular jobs? Now THAT'S inappropriate, not the nails themselves.
Both my boys love painting their nails. My older (7 year old) had a couple of boys tell him in kindergarten that it was for girls and he was a little upset. I told him the only people who can't wear nail polish are people without nails and that seemed to make him feel better. He also stopped using his Frozen water bottle for a week after some kids told him princesses are for girls. We talked about how Elsa and Ana are strong and powerful with control over their own countries, and that's not just for girls. My younger son (4) is now in kindergarten and really doesn't care what other people think- he's worn his Elsa dress to school and paints his nails all the time. He came home and said the only thing kids wanted was to touch the fur on the dress, so he graciously let them haha
Oh, the stories I could tell about intolerant parents. More than once my father said he'd take me to the hospital and have a doctor cut my penis off. Someday I'll write a detailed account, right now I just can't. It was 25 years ago but it still burns.
Plenty of Kindergardeners are so wrapped up in genderroles that they secretly support this kind of bullying.
one of my boys had a penchant for hot pink anything when he was about 5 yr old, back in the '80s when it wasn't 'fashionable' for boys to wear bright 'girly' colors. his father wasn't crazy about it, but came around. you HAVE to give children the ability to make their own decisions about some things--how else do they learn to deal with other people & their reactions? it's a way of broadening their horizons & letting them learn what they feel comfortable dealing with, or changing other people's minds. it can be such an inconsequential way of letting them grow!
Kudos for Sam's father. I hope one day every parent will be just like him. He is raising self-confident, strong man who probably will be tolerant and supporting for his own children. There is nothing wrong with the boy - if he likes nail polish, let him wear nail polish. Why is it so hard to understand or accept?
I have my nails painted and they look f*****g amazing. So yeah if I like it, I’m not surprised all types of other humans do too. Not complicated.
This boy is a beautiful young boy! Let him do that. Paint his nails. It doesn't matter what other kids think.
It's not only the parents. It's everything! Books, movies, cartoons, parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, friends of neighbors, neighbors of friends, advertisement in every way, store displays, toys. Every one and everything as an opinion and it is very hard to protect the kids from it.
We tell our children to think for themselves and not to be followers but at the same time dont be different and stand out, what a mixed message we are sending them. I have 3 grandchildren, 1 boy and 2 girls. My grandson is developmentally delayed in his speech and i worry that he will be bullied. He likes to play with the girls dolls and with their dress up clothes, but he will wrestle with you and play sports in a minute. While my two granddaughters are complete opposites of each other. The oldest is very girly, and sadly is always concerned about what her peers at school will think and she is only 7. My other granddaughter does not have a care in the world and if there is an area of dirt she will find it and dig for bugs, she loves to collect rocks and spiderman. People need to remove the expectation of children based on gender rolls and allow them to figure out who they are on their own. Good job to these parents of this boy for allowing him to be himself.
This is great!! Love love love the colors they all picked!! I see a lot of comments about the teachers and I'm gonna put my 2 cents in. I don't think the teachers stood by and watched and I'm sure they tried to say something but sadly teachers are not allowed to do ANYTHING to kids anymore. If they had tried to separate, they wouldn't be able to touch them, or yell or show discipline besides just getting bad marks. Like not a sticker that day or have their Popsicle stick moved. I'm sure those teachers did what they could but kids are viscous and would've done it without the teacher's notice so they wouldn't get in trouble.
why do schools even ban nail polish? makes no difference to the learning - If I was male I would paint my nails in support
I certainly didn't like that rule when I was at school!!
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My son has long hair. When he was younger, people would mistake him for a girl, I would tell him that it didn't matter, it wasn't his fault that he was beautiful. He cut his hair, donated it and is now growing it back again. I had to sit my grandson down and explain why it wasn't okay for him to make fun of his uncle with long hair. We, as a family, are trying to get rid of the hate and support acceptance for all.
Gender roles are for the 1950's. It's 2018 now, time to wake the f**k up and let this boy be FAB! Don't hate him cuz you ain't him!
Yes how dare things be identified. We should just grunt things out like you.
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No, parents don't realize it and that's a huge problem. Not exposing your kids to other ways of thinking is a horrible way to prepare them for life. Humans don't have a physically matured brain until about 25, let alone kindergarteners so you're absolutely right a little kid isn't to be expected to have nuanced understandings. Hopefully everybody on all sides learns from this so the bullies turn into their friends and the kids now have a better understanding of just how different people can act.
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You don’t know what toxic masculinity is and you’re trying to argue against it.
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What reason. You mean women should go back to cooking etc only since those were gender roles years ago? Pffff
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1. Usour isn't a word genius. 2. Assuming all white people are Christian and believe in your god is idiotic. 3. If I had a son I'd rather have him express himself how he wants than being stiff like you.
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Transgenderism (if that even exists) no. A better world for everyone to live in? Yes. And when I say everyone, I don't mean only transgender people, or all those who are different, I mean EVERYONE. You and I included.
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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.
Load More Replies... My son is only a few months old but the idea of him being bullied when he's older makes me so incredibly sad. Hopefully I can set an example like this dad.
Don't forget to ensure the child is mentally confident (i.e: competent) enough that some taunting won't crush him.
Load More Replies... I don't think bullying is good or character building, but I can say it is part of life. When you put yourself out there and are different, there will be haters. Teaching kids how to handle it is so important, including how parents address these things with the teacher. Here's a hint, verbally abusing the teacher is not a good example to your child.
Yes! Sheltering your kids in a bubble means the real world is going to be a big shock. Prepare them for what they'll face and they'll handle it much better. There will always be bullies (obviously) so pretending it isn't a reality isn't going to help anyone.
Load More Replies... " “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,”: That means you forgot to teach your kids that different people have different views and will act on those views and some might be bullies. It's as much as a parenting fail as it is a win with this guy. It's this same issue where millennials and gen Z are the least happy kids ever polled even though they live in the best time ever. Once they figure out there's a "real world" out there that doesn't cater to you it's quite shocking for them. They need to be prepared and mentally strong enough for that. That a major part of a parent's job.
You can teach your child that everyone has their own opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinion. And that some people are mean and will bully others because they have very small brains and are narrow minded. AND that just because they have a different opinion does NOT mean they can bully and terrorize others. They need to be stopped, and ignoring it is just giving them permission to treat people badly. So they need to stand up for themselves and get someone with more authority involved. Never just accept it as “normal”.
Load More Replies... "Toxic masculinity" ??? Bullsh*t! Boys and girls see the world around them, and since only women wear nailspolish and it's only advertised for women, they perceived it a a female product only. That's not something anyone taught them, but something they've realised on their own! Not to mention that kids are the cruelest human beings on the planet - they can't grasp the full extent of what they are saying, nor how deeply it can hurt other. They are yet to realise why what they're doing is bad, and that's why your son got bullied! Not because of the 'toxic masculinity" c**p you've been hearing!
My little brother loves painting his nails and always offers to paint mine for me. It's mainly his toenails, but it makes him happy. Im a proud big sister!
yall dont think its strange?? the hell is wrong with you. Im not for torment, but if the parents cant properly instruct a child, thats what you get. Real life isnt the internet. Its not full of hugs and kisses for doing f****d up s**t.
This is wonderful - you wear that nail varnish with pride! Hopefully the other children will learn something from this and, I'd really like to hope, teach their parents. We were never allowed to wear nail polish at any of the schools I went to at all. So we used red felt tips and tried our hardest to colour our nails but it never lasted. :-(
I’m sorry but turning this into a blame game, and posting pictures of yourself giving six year olds the finger is not the solution. We all should know that six year olds do not yet have the emotional intelligence to deal with these situations. They are simply acting according to society’s beliefs (right or wrong). I am sure their parents aren’t teaching them to go around and “bully” their classmates. I am also sure that teachers don’t wake up in the morning and plot on which bully I should allow to destroy someone else. It takes a very special person to be a kindergarten teacher, and I am sure the majaority of you, given the chance to do that job, would run for the hills. Kids bully and a lot of times it is done when the teacher or an adult is not looking (they are much clever than you think). Bullying happens everywhere and not only in schools. Unfortunately it is something that we all deal with at some point in our lives.
I'm gonna take a lot of flak for this, but as a parent I think it's my responsibility to let them know there are differences in being a male or a female... I don't see why it's wrong to tell my son that dresses, makeup and nail polish are for girls. I wouldn't allow my son to go to school like that, and would explain why. For dressup for fun at home when playing? No problem! But only for fun, not when going to school as part of his normal outfit. That's my opinion as a parent. That said, I have no issue with other parents disagreeing and raising their own kids differently.
I agree, social gender cues exist for a reason within society. I rather like that men don't typically wear makeup, nail polish or dresses because those things exist to accentuated feminine qualities and like the *majority* of heterosexual women, I'm attracted to masculine physical traits and the social cues that accentuate them. The new current fade of blurring well-established physical gender norms is such crock of PC bs and frankly flies in the face of the biology of hetero sexual attraction and its role within a society/culture. Of course no one should be bullied for something as silly as nail polish or blurring gender norms, but lets not pretend that sex and gender are two completely separate entities that have zero impart on each other and social sexual attraction. This ideological back-patting in order to make everyone feel socially/morally secure is ridiculous and I've decided not to be brainwashed into cheering on the distorted creation of one homogeneous social gender.
Load More Replies... Unpopular opinion: People are d***s. Especially in public school. Two possible courses of action. 1. Cry and get bullied more. 2. Stand up for yourself and get respect.
Who cares if a group of lame a*s losers respect you tho?
Load More Replies... I worked at a karate summer camp, and one of the boys painted his nails and got bullied, so one of our lead karate instructors asked the kid to paint his nails, and after one of the lead karate instructor's nails were painted, all of the bullies immediately wanted their nails painted.
There are other ways of ending bullying besides punishing the bully. Punishing someone will almost never stop them from doing bad, we can't stop hate with more hate, we need to stop hate with kindness instead, punishment is not kind, it is a teacher's lazy way of not having to deal with an unruly student.
Load More Replies... Bad parenting at its finest, not necessarily because the kid is wearing nail polish, but because the parents apparently like to pretend like negative social reactions to certain behaviors dont exist. This kid is going to be woefully unprepared to deal with life if he's taught that people are only ever kind and friendly.
My son likes nail polish, has both ears pierced and has long blond hair. He has been teased a little at school but the kids are used to him and I have noticed another boy in his class is growing his hair long and another paints his nails. Now the only person who teases him and berates him is his father. I buy my son special nail polish that peels off so he can remove it before he sees his father.
Please do something about his father. Your son shouldn't be in that kind of environment.
Load More Replies... Reading this while painting my nails. Just thinking about my cousin with his floral dresses and bright nails. Just thinking about my best friend with his blue, sparkly nails. And another with his pink confetti nails. I wish that boys and girls both could dress however they like. Wear makeup or not. Sparkles or no sparkles. All without being judged. And this boy, Sam. He will make it happen.
I know that I bring my boy just as easy to ballet class as to rugby. Not to your liking? Your problem.
As a kid I used to wear those socks with laces,one day another kid started making fun of those ,I lost temper nd started fighting him, that worked
One of the guys who works at the rock gym where I climb gets pedicures to keep his feet looking nice. The nail polish doesn't cost extra, so last time he got a bright aquamarine.
My son used to ask me for nail polish and ponytails (although very short), to which I agreed, until he was 5 or 6. He never was ridiculed for this and I'm glad. He decided to stop on his own. It's sad to see that kids are making fun of other kids for such trivial things as nail polish.
So after actually watching the video I still don't agree with it. While apparently rolling over and basically admitting to a bully that they are right and completely awesome may stop them in the beginning you are in turn teaching the bullies not to stand up for themselves. I get the premise that if you agree with them and then say nice things it may make it harder for them to make fun of you (see Rabbit in 8 Mile dominating the kid who went to a private school) but you also need to have a backbone and stand up for what you believe in and learn to ignore all the hateful things that could be thrown at you.
That video at the end (granted I just read the headline so technically I'm making this statement completely uneducated on what it actually shows BUT) "learn how to stop bullying" how about this....DON'T BE AN A*****E! Or this DON'T TEACH YOUR KIDS TO BE A******S?
This is GREAT!!! I want to add, I am a girl and I do not like my nails painted, but no one makes fun of me! !! I hate gender norms and toxic masculinity.
People who don´t let others be again... stop please! If the kid wants his fingernails painted... how does it hurt anyone else? I´m so fed up with these "girl /boy things that don´t let children enjoy what they like. Go Sam!!
I tell my 5yo daughter that boys can wear dresses if they want. She will still look at a boy in a dress and say "boys don't wear dresses, that's just silly!" I think it's part of the natural process of filing things away into groups. This is a cat that is a dog, they have definine characteristics. I think at 5 yo it's (largely) not learned - but the problem is if a kid mistakes a cat for a dog we correct them. We don't always correct issues dealing with gender. I think it's wonderful that so many people are willing to stand up for and help teach kids that not all genders can be defined by suck simple characteristics.
I understand having problems with nail polish in places where it could crack and affect someone's health, such as a hotel kitchen, for example (you can always wear sanitary gloves, though), but in a basic way...? Just... Why.... I get it, this is about enforcing gender roles, and I admire the father's stance and gestures, and I hope more and more families will understand, but this story reminded me that, when I was young, my sister had problems with an old fashioned teacher because she liked to take care of her nails. I mean... What do mathematics have to do with nail lenght and colour? Because she (the teacher) was having a twisted idea about how aesthetics relate to particular jobs? Now THAT'S inappropriate, not the nails themselves.
Both my boys love painting their nails. My older (7 year old) had a couple of boys tell him in kindergarten that it was for girls and he was a little upset. I told him the only people who can't wear nail polish are people without nails and that seemed to make him feel better. He also stopped using his Frozen water bottle for a week after some kids told him princesses are for girls. We talked about how Elsa and Ana are strong and powerful with control over their own countries, and that's not just for girls. My younger son (4) is now in kindergarten and really doesn't care what other people think- he's worn his Elsa dress to school and paints his nails all the time. He came home and said the only thing kids wanted was to touch the fur on the dress, so he graciously let them haha
Oh, the stories I could tell about intolerant parents. More than once my father said he'd take me to the hospital and have a doctor cut my penis off. Someday I'll write a detailed account, right now I just can't. It was 25 years ago but it still burns.
Plenty of Kindergardeners are so wrapped up in genderroles that they secretly support this kind of bullying.
one of my boys had a penchant for hot pink anything when he was about 5 yr old, back in the '80s when it wasn't 'fashionable' for boys to wear bright 'girly' colors. his father wasn't crazy about it, but came around. you HAVE to give children the ability to make their own decisions about some things--how else do they learn to deal with other people & their reactions? it's a way of broadening their horizons & letting them learn what they feel comfortable dealing with, or changing other people's minds. it can be such an inconsequential way of letting them grow!
Kudos for Sam's father. I hope one day every parent will be just like him. He is raising self-confident, strong man who probably will be tolerant and supporting for his own children. There is nothing wrong with the boy - if he likes nail polish, let him wear nail polish. Why is it so hard to understand or accept?
I have my nails painted and they look f*****g amazing. So yeah if I like it, I’m not surprised all types of other humans do too. Not complicated.
This boy is a beautiful young boy! Let him do that. Paint his nails. It doesn't matter what other kids think.
It's not only the parents. It's everything! Books, movies, cartoons, parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, friends of neighbors, neighbors of friends, advertisement in every way, store displays, toys. Every one and everything as an opinion and it is very hard to protect the kids from it.
We tell our children to think for themselves and not to be followers but at the same time dont be different and stand out, what a mixed message we are sending them. I have 3 grandchildren, 1 boy and 2 girls. My grandson is developmentally delayed in his speech and i worry that he will be bullied. He likes to play with the girls dolls and with their dress up clothes, but he will wrestle with you and play sports in a minute. While my two granddaughters are complete opposites of each other. The oldest is very girly, and sadly is always concerned about what her peers at school will think and she is only 7. My other granddaughter does not have a care in the world and if there is an area of dirt she will find it and dig for bugs, she loves to collect rocks and spiderman. People need to remove the expectation of children based on gender rolls and allow them to figure out who they are on their own. Good job to these parents of this boy for allowing him to be himself.
This is great!! Love love love the colors they all picked!! I see a lot of comments about the teachers and I'm gonna put my 2 cents in. I don't think the teachers stood by and watched and I'm sure they tried to say something but sadly teachers are not allowed to do ANYTHING to kids anymore. If they had tried to separate, they wouldn't be able to touch them, or yell or show discipline besides just getting bad marks. Like not a sticker that day or have their Popsicle stick moved. I'm sure those teachers did what they could but kids are viscous and would've done it without the teacher's notice so they wouldn't get in trouble.
why do schools even ban nail polish? makes no difference to the learning - If I was male I would paint my nails in support
I certainly didn't like that rule when I was at school!!
Load More Replies... My son has long hair. When he was younger, people would mistake him for a girl, I would tell him that it didn't matter, it wasn't his fault that he was beautiful. He cut his hair, donated it and is now growing it back again. I had to sit my grandson down and explain why it wasn't okay for him to make fun of his uncle with long hair. We, as a family, are trying to get rid of the hate and support acceptance for all.
Gender roles are for the 1950's. It's 2018 now, time to wake the f**k up and let this boy be FAB! Don't hate him cuz you ain't him!
Yes how dare things be identified. We should just grunt things out like you.
Load More Replies... No, parents don't realize it and that's a huge problem. Not exposing your kids to other ways of thinking is a horrible way to prepare them for life. Humans don't have a physically matured brain until about 25, let alone kindergarteners so you're absolutely right a little kid isn't to be expected to have nuanced understandings. Hopefully everybody on all sides learns from this so the bullies turn into their friends and the kids now have a better understanding of just how different people can act.
Load More Replies... You don’t know what toxic masculinity is and you’re trying to argue against it.
Load More Replies... What reason. You mean women should go back to cooking etc only since those were gender roles years ago? Pffff
Load More Replies... 1. Usour isn't a word genius. 2. Assuming all white people are Christian and believe in your god is idiotic. 3. If I had a son I'd rather have him express himself how he wants than being stiff like you.
Load More Replies... Transgenderism (if that even exists) no. A better world for everyone to live in? Yes. And when I say everyone, I don't mean only transgender people, or all those who are different, I mean EVERYONE. You and I included.
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