![]() Tags: children/youth, gender, lgbtq, social construction, social mvmts/social change/resistance, masculinity, parenting, childhood socialization, 06 to 10 mins Year: 2011 Length: 6:07 Access: abcNews Summary: Dyson is a 5-year-old boy who loves to wear dresses. In this video, Dyson's mother explains Dyson's love for this culturally feminine attire, reactions of friends and teachers to Dyson's wardrobe, and how Dyson's love for dresses led her to write the children's book My Princess Boy and become a spokesperson for transgender tolerance. This video can be used to illustrate various aspects of gender identity development, and it can initiate discussions around "nature versus nurture," specifically whether gender is an innate phenomenon or a social construction. Dyson's mother also runs a blog by the same name as her book, which provides additional resources, including information about Acceptance Play Groups. See also The Sociological Cinema's post, "Policing the Parenting of Boys," which discusses the recent high profile J.Crew advertisement depicting a mother with her young son and his pink toenail polish. Submitted By: Nihal Celik
7 Comments
7/4/2012 12:21:45 am
Historically men have spent far more time wearing gowns, robes, smocks etc than pants/trousers, indeed, a majority of the world still does; they are more comfortable so naturally Dyson would prefer dresses to the constriction of pants. There is also the question of who dressed him? In this case his mother - my father was dressed as a girl until the age of 5 and suffered immense embarassment from family photos for the rest of his life. Clothes have nothing to do with gender identity but fashion and the dictates of society do. If you are aiming for comfort wear a gown; if you want to break down gender identity then teach your child rather than dressing him/her up.
Reply
Nicola Smith
7/11/2012 03:18:04 pm
If your father was forced into the dresses , then that is not right. If he chose the dresses and the rest of the family made fun of him to the point of shame, that's not right either. My nephew always had a favourite dress that he liked to play dress up in - it was blue with white polka dots. His mum never made an issue of it and he doesn't feel embarrassed as an 18 year to acknowledge that. As a young man he doesn't show an inclination to wear dresses. However, he grew up to be a very open-minded person and accepting of others as he was accepted.
Reply
Frank Clark
2/22/2013 10:08:48 am
This is gender confusion. There is nothing wrong with an interest in a dress, but how a child dresses, as a child, does effect his identity. Boys wear the pants and girls wear the dresses. This seems like a lonely boy, in a somewhat of a fantasy world. Little girls play dress up. Boys play soldier.
Reply
Sarah
2/17/2014 12:36:03 pm
Oh, thank you so much for telling us what you "believe", Frank. That sure clears a lot up. Question, though... you "believe" it based on what? Your years of serious research? Probably not. I really don't understand why people feel inclined to share what they "believe" about something they know virtually nothing about... as if that were some magic potion that made things true. Talk about a fantasy world. To be clear, I "believe" you're an small minded idiot.
Reply
Aeryn Felice
6/4/2015 03:06:00 am
Gender confusion is related to gender issues not clothing style! Lonely boy WTF just because he doesn't have male friends. I am a gender variant born person with two brothers and one sister raised in a nurturing household but from age four I knew my brain did not match my body. If I had a son I would raise the boy the same way as he is now and I guess you class me as a non male role model but I would consider that a compliment.
Reply
jim
10/15/2014 01:26:56 pm
Let me say that I was raised in a "traditional" family, father and mother. Both church going. Went to private catholic school. Was not molested. Was not abused or mistreated. And from the time I can remember, about 4 or 5, I wanted to wear dresses and pretty clothes. High heels. And makeup. I longed to be like the girls and women I saw. But as a boy I was not allowed to wear skirts or dresses. It wasnt my parents fault, they didn't know any better, it was the 70s and boys didn't do that
Reply
petra somers
4/15/2015 12:01:13 pm
Very true comments frank totally wrong it's somthing you set born with that's all
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Tags
All
.
Got any videos?
Are you finding useful videos for your classes? Do you have good videos you use in your own classes? Please consider submitting your videos here and helping us build our database!
|