After the Always #LikeAGirl campaign took off, MommyShorts blogger Ilana Wiles started getting #LikeABoy snapshots. What they showed was a different side of boyhood.
Maybe different is the wrong word. I’m certain that boys have been doing “girl” activities for as long as there have been gender-segregated activities. Unexpected maybe, which isn’t really any better
People expect boys to be rough and tumble and dirty and loud. That those who enjoy dress-up and tea parties and playing with household toys or arts & crafts are still unusual enough to get attention says more about us a society than it does about the kids.
We don’t pay much attention anymore to girls in blue jeans and ball caps, even if they’re not the ubiquitous glitter-and sparkle variety, but parents are still taking a stand for their boys in tutus. We don’t generally chide girls for playing with Tonkas or erector sets, but we carefully monitor and defend what boys play with and how (beware, Barbies).
#LikeABoy is important for just that reason. There shouldn’t be anything strange or shocking about boys feeding baby dolls or cutting plastic cakes. They’re just doing it (say it with me) like a boy.
And a note to one host: saying these are pictures of boys “proudly displaying their feminine side”, right after MommyShorts.com Blogger Ilana Wiles said “pictures of their sons doing so-called ‘feminine things'”? I urge you to take a closer look at what you’ve just reported on. Thank you.
h/t @safespacesproj
See more at mommyshorts.com and HuffPost