Category Archive

gender

Convincing my five-year-old daughter that boys can like pink

We’re friends with a family with a somewhat gender-variant son, Q, who likes pink and wears his hair long. Our five-year-old daughter, Leigh, has played with Q a few times, and thinks he’s fabulous, and specifically asks if we can play with him again after we see them. She also insists that he is a girl.

My son has a firetruck: gender-neutral doesn’t mean genderless

I was recently interviewed for an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about gender-neutral parenting. The response to the article included a lot of people fretting about how gender-neutral parenting supposedly “denies” a child from having a gender. Well, here’s why that’s a load of hooey.

Inspiration for brightly-colored little boy clothes

I decided that I wanted to collect and share some brightly colored little boy fashion, for those of you who might be considering how you can still have a LOT of fun with boy clohes. I put out the call to Offbeat Mamas to sent me pictures of their little dudes wearing bright colors and YAY! Wait ’til you see what they sent me…

Our genderqueer family has a lesbian Dad

Many genderqueer parents pick alternative names for their parental role — nothing felt right for my partner, so we’re using Dad.

Painting your son’s toenails and other crimes against society

Thanks to Meg for emailing us about the media debate currently raging over a J. Crew ad showing a designer painting her five-year-old son’s toenails pink.

Keeping our Offbeatlings upbeat in the face of gender judgement

The world is a difficult place for children… how can a sensitive child feel free to express himself differently from others in a world where “different” is “bad?”

Did you find out the sex of your baby?

Did you find out the gender of your baby? If so — did it change how you felt about the birth? If not — why not?

My son and his (four!) fairy godparents

What began as my own desire for Escher’s education turned into four people who were honored and utterly enthusiastic about being in his life.