In other news, I was working my mall panty job today at the Kohl's department store in Marysville. After helping a quirky 60-year-old Tulalip Casino cocktail waitress into a bra and recommending a pair of fabulous support shorts, I overheard a mom telling her young son with one of those monkey leash backpacks that he "couldn't have that shirt" that it was a 'girl' shirt. It got me thinking. Mainly about how I'd like to re-enroll in some classes at UW and write a few papers on the assignment of gender to clothes/toys and the people that really buy into it...like the mom at Kohl's who said no to the 'girl' shirt. An author whom I adore, Peggy Orenstein, has a new book out called Cinderella Ate my Daughter. I haven't read it yet, but it's indeed on my list. She's your typical feminist writer who's works you'd come across in any number of women's studies courses (which is where I first discovered her), or on my bookshelf next to Betty Friedan and the like.
So this feminist crap is all well and good, but really, what I want to know is why the lady at the store didn't want her son to have the shirt. I mean, at a certain point, and I think that point is a 1 on the number line, it's not about the boy, it's about her, and what it means for her son to like the girl shirt. On the contrary, recently I saw a mom at Target letting her 6-year-old pick out the Barbie he wanted. I saw them two or three times around the store, Barbie in hand. Initially I had processed it as a boy picking out a gift for his sister (sexualization of toys at its best! Working on me when I consciously try not to!). An hour later I saw the pair at the grocery store down the street. He was still holding his Barbie now out of the package. I was excited for him! I loved Barbies as a kid. And yet, I still found myself staring. Is it possible to un-train the brain to things you're exposed to, even if you are brought up with an open mind? I find it a most difficult task.
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