Saw this article on Yahoo today... and wondered what DadLabs members would think.

shine.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-protects-s...works-153600107.html

What would you do? Could you wear a dress in solidarity with your son? I like to think that I could, but I'm really not sure. (I have no hips, skirts don't fit me right. But I suppose that's a self-image issue isn't it?)

Is it just too cliché modern hipster Dad to push gender norms and wear a skirt with your son? Is it the exact right thing to do?

My son is all about color. He digs rainbows and butterflies. He has mentioned several times that he likes dresses, but has yet to ask to wear one. (But I know he does often at dress-up time at preschool.) We've painted his fingernails before. And spent 5 minutes each morning at drop off going back and forth with the lil' girls at preschool explaining that it was indeed OK for him to do that.

What else ya got? Thoughts on boys in dresses? Got any plans on dealing with bullies?

There was also this long article in the New York Times Magazine recently.

I think the best insurance against bullies is to raise your kids with lots of love, encouraging them to be independent, and to raise them without shame. Kids need love but also self-reliance and internal resilience when dealing with societal pressure. Give The Boy room to trust himself and believe in his own capacity and strength. That is what will help him outlast the bullies.

Mmmm...interesting conversation...

I think I would be more supportive of boys in dresses if the boys were older (like teenagers).

From the picture in the article, that boy looks like he's maybe 3 or 4. Way too young to really understand what he's doing. I think really young kids probably need a nudge in the conventional direction. It seems silly to me to expect a 3 year old to be sophisticated enough to make a gender identity choice.

On the other hand, I distinctly remember dressing up as a girl for Halloween when I was a young teenager. The neighbors were horrified. Probably my Dad was too, but he didn't say anything. That was good. I'm still proud of that moment. That moment when you're a teenager and you realize you can do weird stuff that people don't understand, and you'll turn out (mostly) fine in the end...