Boys Can Like Pink Too

Hello!

I'm getting better at posting more often! Or maybe it's just cause I have a lot on my mind that I want to get out in some form or another.

Anyways, so as you all know from my last post, my mom and I were shopping at Academy Sports and Outdoors this past weekend. After looking at running shoes and getting creeped on, we were just walking around the store to see the different things they were offering for sale. Now ever since watching archery at the Olympics, my mom has wanted to try archery. So naturally we stopped at the bows and arrows to take a look. I don't know if the store was just wiped out because of tax free weekend, but there were only three bows left on the rack. One was an average black bow in the front of the aisle and the rest were little pink bows marked as youth size. This family of what I assume to be a mother and her son and I guess the mother's sister was also looking for a bow for the son. The sister sees the pink bow and says, "Hey here's one for youth. It looks like it'll work." Then the mother comes up beside her and says in a disgusted tone that he is a teenage boy and isn't going to want to use a pink bow. Now I glance over at the boy and he seems to be about in the 8th or 9th grade and he says with a smile on his face he can still use the bow. The mother doesn't listen to him at all and continues to admonish her sister about how he's a boy and can't use that pink bow.

Now I understand that little boys typically hate pink and want blue just like little girls hate blue and love pink. But if this teenage boy is willing to use a pink bow and can say this with a smile on his face, what exactly is the problem. It seems that the color designations of pink for a baby girl and blue for a baby boy have permanently altered gender associations with color for even after we grow out of the crib.

I've also noticed that girls are able to do and like all the things that boys are supposed to exclusively like without any societal issues, but boys can not. For example, a lot of teenage girls can say they love the color blue, cars, shooting movies, and football without any problems, but if a teenage boy wants to buy something pink, or go shopping, or watch a "chick flick" his parents freak out and force him back into his correct gender role.

Maybe it's because I live in the "Bible Belt" and parents here are so afraid to raise a gay son, but I don't really see why they have to be so pushy about these things. If anything, preventing a boy to do or like what he wants to do or like might only lead him farther towards things that are "socially inappropriate" for him. This past week has been especially touchy about the subject of LGBT equality with the Chick-fil-a issue, but I personally don't have an opinion about it. Gay equality or not I don't care. I'm not going to vocally stand up for either side and some may see that as wrong but people just need to relax.

Sorry for the ranty post, but I just felt the need to say something. What is your opinion about this? And I know I've been great about the daily posts, but don't think I'm doing BEDA just in case I end up not posting for a while.