Sexism and...

my 5-year-old son??? What's up with that??

Last month I mentioned here that JR's new favorite TV show was Family Matters, but more specifically, he was enthralled with Steve Urkel. Well his Auntie Fawn found an Urkel Doll and mailed it to him. (The funny thing is, I used to have this doll- not sure where I got it, or why- but kept it on my desk at work. When I left the job, I passed it along to my assistant who had loved it almost as much as I did....

Anyway, when it arrived, JR was over-the-top thrilled! In fact he spent the first 30 minutes pulling it's string and subjecting the entire household to "Got any Cheese", "heheheheh snort", "Did I do that", "No sweat my pet"! Finally the dog began trying to attack it, so we made him put it away. Of course next morning, at SEVEN-ZERO-ZERO comes "hehehehe, snort" followed by JR's version of the famous laugh. Fair to say, he loved it.

When I had him call his auntie to thank her, I handed him the phone and reminded him why he was calling (he often gets sidetracked when I have him call someone and goes off on a totally different subject, so...) I told him to be sure to tell Auntie for the Urkel Doll, and then he could talk about whatever he wanted. He looked at me in a troubled manner and said, "Well I'm gonna say thank you, but I'm not gonna say "doll". I'm just gonna say thank-you for Steve Urkel" By then she had answered the phone, and I myself got sidetracked.

Later on I asked him about this, and he told me that dolls were for girls! It about broke my heart. My innocent little boy had been roped into the alluring world of sexism. I told Cap about it, and we briefly talked about where or how he would have be influenced in this way. At his Pre-K, his teacher was really good about creating an environment where the kids were encouraged to enjoy ALL toys and games, and I knew it wasn't there. Of course he had come home with some borderline stories about recess...like how they play "Cool Guys" outside - which entailed the boys riding the bikes and chasing the girls...hmmmm)

Fast forward to this morning and Saturday cartoons. I really dislike cartoons in general - but will watch them if Skip is watching - admittedly I love Caillou, but not many others. Well over the span of our hour watching, I realized WHY he had already made that assumption. COMMERCIALS. EVERY race car or motorized vehicle advertisement had only boys in them. One had a girl watching from the sidelines. The same for a commercial for just about every toy he has ever asked for, begged for or fantasized about owning.

We also saw 4 commercials targeted at girls - two for dolls - one American Girl, one Polly Pocket. Of course, no boys in sight - anywhere...

So sadly, we must now face and accept reality. Our sweet innocent child has been brainwashed and embraced the stereotypical ideals of society. Yeah Right! Not this mother's son. I'm heading straight out to the store and buying him a doll! Well, maybe not a doll. Maybe a male figure action toy that's really a doll but we'll call it a figure... Wait, what am I doing, I'm worse off than he is!