I have always objected to gender roles. I was delighted to hear that McDonald's will no longer refer to their Happy Meal toy selections as "boy toys" and "girl toys". The first time a McDonald's asked if my Happy Meal was for a boy or a girl, I went ballistic. Even though I understand that a "boy toy" is called this because most people who want to play with it are little penis-bearers, I still don't like the implication that a female child might burst into flames (or worse, grow up gay) because she plays with one.
Sadly, however, I find the reasoning is not because they want to avoid limiting a kid's options due to gender. It is because they don't want to be insensitive to "gender confused" children. Seriously, I have to wonder just how much gender confusion is caused by the very idea of gender roles.
I did a little research and found that most symptoms of Gender Confusion have to do with a child not fitting gender roles. There are a few genetic anomalies, but otherwise the only symptom I read about that wasn't directly tied into gender roles was this: Some children actually express the desire to be the other sex. And that might be an indirect thing. I may have expressed the same wish as a child, not so much because I wanted a wiener, but because I had to lick the soap for saying "up your nose" when my brothers said a lot worse. Because I was a girl and saying "up your nose" was not lady-like. Had I been a boy, I might have wished to be a girl because girls didn't have to mow the lawn.
The problem lies in the attitude we, as a society, have about these things. We believe there is something wrong with a boy who likes Barbie and with a girl who likes Hot Wheels. Even if your little man wants to wear a pink ruffly dress, this doesn't mean he's Gender Confused. Maybe weird, but he's probably pretty sure he's a dude - unless he's been told otherwise. I will admit that none of my male minions have expressed the desire to dress like a Disney Princess, but they've all played with "girl toys" and the gals played with "boy toys". I'm pretty sure they all know what sex they are.
Little boys get the worst of it. We have a socially acceptable word for the "tomboy". But the nicest word I can think of for a girly boy is "sissy". Hardly the same level of acceptance there. Might that be the cause of Gender Confusion? If a child is told something - anything - often enough by the adults in his/her life, they are going to believe it. A boy raised to think only a girl likes pink? He might come to think he's a girl, since he likes pink, and thus exhibit the signs of Gender Confusion.
McDonald's contributed to the problem by enforcing, even subtly, gender roles. Any person or business who refers to toys by gender preference did. My question is this: Why is it even a problem? There will always be people who don't fit the norm, either by design or by choice. Why not just accept them, as long as they are harmless? Why do we have to vilify anyone until we are forced to be "sensitive" and then bend over backwards for them?
