In Reply: "Princess Boy" - "tomboy" girls vs "sissies" (and a tribute to Cassandra, once of Villainous Company)

In reply to Cassy Fiano - Would You Let Your Son Be A Princess Boy?, and in particular, to to the wise comment (#14 -- If there's a way to get the permalink of another commenter, I can't figure out how...) of Cassandra (once of Villainous Company, but sadly not blogging at her old blog, currently. While we surely didn't always agree, her decision to disconnect is a real loss to reason and nuance in political blogging, especially on the conservative side...)
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Cassandra...

Just saw that you disconnected your blog back in November (Sorry... I've been busy...) I hope you keep commenting on occasion (or better, miss blogging and reconnect your own) because there just isn't enough nuance and "thinking through" in the political blogosphere (as your 11:48 AM comment here once again shows.)

While I assume this to be a more serious internal issue than just a kid who wants to explore his feminine side -- Given the prevailing attitudes about gender roles, especially for boys (as you say), I just don't see too many boys doing this for several years straight, with the parent writing a book and going on national TV, without it being more than just exploration or a simple preference for colors and frills -- your comments about the difference between how our society treats boys vs girls as regards taking on the opposite roles is spot on, and for some, it persists into adulthood. (I'm willing to bet that every person reading this knows at least one person like POW, above, who questions the sexuality of men who work as nurses or teachers, or who knit or dance "too" well. And unfortunately, too many of us let them get away with it, unchallenged -- I've let it go unquestioned, myself.)

I hope you're right, and this is just a story about a kid who's willing to explore his feminine side, and not a boy who believes he should've been born a girl, like the ones in the Atlantic article I linked to in my first comment. While both circumstances require some deft parenting, most of 'em don't grow out of gender dysmorphia, and it has to be resolved, one way, or another...
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Comment submitted with website in header. Zilch.

Added the following postscript, and submitted again, without the blogspot address:
(Seems my comments don't post if I include my blog address in the "Website" header field... Is that a bug or a feature? -- Guessing some might think it the latter... 8>)

Posted: January 5, 2011 • 2:43 pm (comment #17)