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Comments on: Babies and the Cultural Performance of Femininity http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/ a feminist look at pregnancy, birth, fertility, contraception, plus assorted other topics Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:52:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Metal Prophet http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-33730 Metal Prophet Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:24:42 +0000 http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-33730 Any baby of mine, regardless of sex, will be dressed in green, to confuse people. No blue and no pink. Any baby of mine, regardless of sex, will be dressed in green, to confuse people. No blue and no pink.

]]> By: wondering http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-27268 wondering Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:00:30 +0000 http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-27268 My sister is a single mom who just had her first child, a baby boy. I saw some cute baby jeans at a consignment store. They had embroidery on the leg - flowers and birds. I planned to buy them but when I mentioned them to my sister she said "Oh, his uncles won't like that." She then goes on to say that she has caught flak about dressing him in nighties (until she has explained that it is easier to change his diaper at night if she just has to lift the nightie) and about having him wear a little bonnet (blue, even!) because it looks "girlie" (until she explains it's to keep him from getting too much sun). We start the gender normalizing very, very early. And I wouldn't have thought that my brothers and b-i-l's would be like this, but apparently they are. Oddly enough, none of them police my nieces in the same way. They are happy that she plays with tools. She wears a pink tutu and a cowboy hat will doing it (she's 4) but her daddy is a welder and mechanic and she likes to get right in there with him. My sister is a single mom who just had her first child, a baby boy.

I saw some cute baby jeans at a consignment store. They had embroidery on the leg - flowers and birds. I planned to buy them but when I mentioned them to my sister she said “Oh, his uncles won’t like that.”

She then goes on to say that she has caught flak about dressing him in nighties (until she has explained that it is easier to change his diaper at night if she just has to lift the nightie) and about having him wear a little bonnet (blue, even!) because it looks “girlie” (until she explains it’s to keep him from getting too much sun).

We start the gender normalizing very, very early. And I wouldn’t have thought that my brothers and b-i-l’s would be like this, but apparently they are.

Oddly enough, none of them police my nieces in the same way. They are happy that she plays with tools. She wears a pink tutu and a cowboy hat will doing it (she’s 4) but her daddy is a welder and mechanic and she likes to get right in there with him.

]]> By: julybirthday http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-27267 julybirthday Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:49:53 +0000 http://blog.birthcycle.com/2009/06/26/babies-and-the-cultural-performance-of-femininity/#comment-27267 This post is dead-on. When strangers remarked that my baby boy was "beautiful," and I agreed and said, "he is, isn't he?" But they would be surprised, and would stumble over themselves to apologize and say Oh, No, He isn't beautiful, he's HANDOME. Like it matters. I felt like channeling Holly Hunter from "Raising Arizona" and crying, ALL BABIES ARE BEAUTIFUL! This post is dead-on. When strangers remarked that my baby boy was “beautiful,” and I agreed and said, “he is, isn’t he?” But they would be surprised, and would stumble over themselves to apologize and say Oh, No, He isn’t beautiful, he’s HANDOME. Like it matters. I felt like channeling Holly Hunter from “Raising Arizona” and crying, ALL BABIES ARE BEAUTIFUL!

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