Is Jenna a single parent? If the father is in his life, I wonder how he feels about this....

Originally Posted by pursegrl12

i don't want my husband to spend more time than me on his appearance and wardrobe. if i wanted that i would have married a woman.

I think you missed the point...

Originally Posted by BomberGal

... So? Lots of guys paint their nails these days. If the kid is ok with getting his nails done, who cares? He isn't going to be scarred for life because his mom painted his toe nails. Gender is a social construct, not a biological one. (Gender is social, sex is biological) Its not going to scar him to wear pink or enjoy a task with his mom that is more commonly enjoyed by girls. Heaven forbid the boy enjoy cooking and cleaning too. Or sewing, crafts, ect. Or take an interest in fashion. Remember all you mothers out there... If you paint your son's toe nails pink... He is destined to be confused about his gender for the rest of his life. So no pink polish, no cooking, cleaning, crafting or any of that dangerous girly stuff. Ad that goes for the girls doing boyish stuff too. *rolls eyes* I should probably go reprimand my mother for letting me play with TMNT and GI JOE now. Oh wait... Despite all the action figures, boy's cartoons, shorts and sneakers, baggy jeans, fishing, camping, ect... I still matured into a woman with no gender identity issues, a room full of girly crap and and a male Husband... Huh, gee... With the way those "Authorities" are freaking out you'd think I'd be on the waiting list for a sex change right about now. Interesting though, how all of the professionals quoted as taking issue thus far are males... Except for the commentator who somehow equates painting a child's toe nails as celebrating transgender identity... Really?

I really don't see an issue. If the boy wants his toenails (or fingernails) to be painted pink or any other colour by his mom, what's the big deal? If this boy came into my classroom and showed me his neon pink toenails I'll just tell it's super cool and awesome colour especially for the summer! (kind of like when a boy has really long hair - I just tell him it's looks great). I think it's just an over reaction by the critics. Even if it inadvertently celebrates and promotes transgender identity, so what? Good for J Crew.

Not a mom and maybe I'll get in trouble here, but I have a lot of little brothers and one used to come in my room OFTEN around 5 years old, grab my box of polishes and ask, "sissy can you paint my toes too? I want orange and green" I always obliged and my dad would yell at me. I would paint one foot neon orange and one foot neon green. He always got whatever he wanted from me (I am 18 years older - and he STILL knows sissy NEVER says no ). Haha, he still talks about it and is almost 14 now. I think he misses being little and able to get away with it. Oh and BTW, his fave color is STILL pink

I don't get what the big deal is. I have a friend whose son used to always ask for lip gloss because he saw her put it on all of the time. She would give him some occasionally and he has since grown out of it. I don't think kids that young are really all that concerned with appearances and to be honest I think adults could take a lesson from that.

I think people need to stop putting other people in a box. If you're a boy, then you have to be a boy and do "boy stuff," and if you're a girl you need to be a girl and do "girl stuff." I just don't think that's right.

Kids don't think like adults do, and you can't put your adult mind in place of a kids mind. Kids like to color, they see their mom painting her nails and they probably think "ooh, pretty colors, I want some too!" What's the big deal?

I agree with buzzy completely.

I have more of a problem with the fact that she is painting a 5 year olds nails than that it's a boy...

That's too early IMO.

Originally Posted by BomberGal

I think you missed the point...

i didn't miss a thing. thanks though.

I think this is completely blown out of proportion!!! Yes, my son's nails have been painted and he's also worn "girl shoes" around the house. Was he damaged because I let him do those things when he was little??

He's now 13 and doesn't want polish or to wear my shoes, so clearly, it didn't affect him one bit! If it did, then I would dare to say that he was already "different" and the polish and/or shoes didn't "change" him!!!

Why the brow beating for those that do not want their son's toes painted? No one is brow beating those that don't care if their son's wear's polish - let's be fair here. If it doesn't matter, then let it be.


Personally, I think this is just a ploy to increase sales/publicity for J Crew anyway as opposed to some big personal statement on gender identity but maybe all my years of working in corporate America has made me too cynical. lol

I would never paint my son's (if I had one) toenails, let alone, paint them neon pink. I'm pretty sure Mr. MM would behead me if I did, anyway.

I may feel differently about it, when I have one of my own, but until then, that's how I feel. Besides, Mr. MM has been prattling on for years about "when I have my son..." finish that statement with; "We'll be fishing/hunting/4wheeling/playing football" blah, blah, blah. The child isn't even conceived and he already has a hellacious schedule.

Originally Posted by Kansashalo

Why the brow beating for those that do not want their son's toes painted? No one is brow beating those that don't care if their son's wear's polish - let's be fair here. If it doesn't matter, then let it be. Personally, I think this is just a ploy to increase sales for J Crew anyway as opposed to some big personal statement on gender identity but maybe all my years of working in corporate has made me cynical. lol

YES! Look at all the press they're getting!

I think the whole thing is silly. Painting a boy's toenails is not going to change who he is. If he is straight he is not going to be gay when he grows up because he liked pink nail polish when he was 5. And if he is gay dressing in only "boy" clothes and doing only "boy" things is not going to make him straight. I think kids should be able to experiment when they are young so they can decide for themselves what they like and don't like. I don't think this has any deeper meaning, it is just a kid playing.

I think there's a difference btw letting your son express himself at home vs showing it to millions and millions of people.

My older siblings went to an elementary school where gender stereotypes were discouraged. Granted, it was the '70s, but still . . . .


Now, one of my sisters is married with two kids, my older brother has a girlfriend and my other sister has a boyfriend.



In the school, the kids were forced to reject gender stereotypes. In this photo, it looks like he wanted to get his toenails painted. He probably saw his mom do it and wanted to do it, too.

I don't see it as that big a deal. To me, it would be no different than if, say, a male president of the company was shown with his daughter playing with toy cars, or something.