Real boys wear pink

About a week ago, Creative Director and President of J.Crew, Jenna Lyons, was featured on the clothing company's website for an outlet titled Saturday with Jenna. It showed Lyons and her 5-year old son Beckett having some good ol' mommy and son time. The issue that several viewers of the ad saw was that Beckett's toe nails had polish on them...pink nail polish.

To me, this would seem like fun a parent would be having with her child. Love, warmth, laughs, and all that mushy, kid stuff. However, some critics believed that this picture was promoting parental support of transgendered children or an absence of gender identity. In other words, people were freaking out because they thought Lyons wanted her son to be gay and put pink nail polish on him as a stepping stone to a life of hardship and harassment. 

SINCE WHEN WAS FAMILY FUN NIGHT LIMITED TO BOARD GAMES AND PIZZA PARTIES? I'D RATHER TAKE MY CHILD TO A ROLLER DERBY MATCH THEN WATCH HIM FOR HOURS PLAY ON A JUNGLE GYM AND CHIP HIS TOOTH, WHICH I'D HAVE TO PAY FOR BECAUSE INSURANCE DOESN'T COVER ADOLESCENT ACCIDENTS. 

Shit.

People over at Fox News had a cow, in particular psychiatrist Keith Ablow who said in a FoxNews.com article:

"Yeah, well, it may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid - and maybe a little for others who'll be affected by your 'innocent' pleasure. This is a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity - homogenizing males and females when the outcome of such 'psychological sterilization' [my word choice] is not known."

You can read more of his borderline homophobic/absurd article here: Horseshit.

In my opinion, if a person decides to have children, they should automatically assume the role as support system. From the dawn of time, it was primarily a mother's role to take care of her child. Supportive parents motivate their children to be who they are, to not follow the crowd, to be brave, to be THEMSELVES. However, this is wear hypocrisy ensues. If a parent wanted his or her child to be there self, sometimes the child's version of self is something the parent does not agree with. Get it? Well, if not, I'm basically saying don't tell your child you'll support them and then shit on whatever decision they make. I know I'm sounding brash but when it comes down to it, one should love their child no matter who they are.

What is also something to point out is that let's say the nail polish wasn't the issue. But the color. And come to think of it, I think the neon pink is what makes this J.Crew ad controversial according to some folks. If a boy had blue or green nail polish, this ad wouldn't have been an issue. However, the color pink is considered feminine so if a boy wear pink, he's crowned Prince Back Entrance.

False.

Children like to imitate the world around them. If a mother (or a father*) takes his/her child to a nail salon, they may want to imitate what their parents are doing. "I want my nails painted!" they may say. And if they decide to pick out a color that visually stimulates their tastes, they'll ask to have that painted on them...whether it's a "masculine" or "feminine" color. I'd like to consider children and adults experiential creatures. We like to try new things, we're curious about the world around us. So how come children can't do that too?
*Women aren't the only ones worrying about their cuticles. My dad uses a little clipper to fix his.

It's sad to see how the world makes a big deal out of a mother's love for her child instead of worrying about troops overseas, sky rocketing gas prices, and the still jobless economy. Oh, and did I mention Amuurrrica is $14 trillion dollars in debt? Ha. Yeah. And we're worrying about young boys wearing pink nail polish and fearing that it'll affect their future. Umm okay.