I posted this on my facebook status the other day and was amazed with the comments I received back:
“I don’t mind when people say “boy or girl?” but when they say “really? It’s a girl?” and she’s dressed in a pink t-shirt and flower power leggings…honestly!”
This was the response of my driver’s father when he met Annabelle for the first time. However, the first time this happened was at a play centre; a place where the staff see children every day, all day, and probably know a thing a two about boys in blue and girls in pink. So when Annabelle turned up in her pink polka dot rompa suit with frilly sleeves I didn’t quite expect the “really? It’s a girl” response.
I don’t always dress Annabelle in pink dresses as I’m a bit of tom boy myself and I don’t actually like the stereotypes associated with dressing your child a certain way. Sometimes Annabelle will wear brown trousers and a blue t-shirt and sometimes she will wear a poppy red floral dress.
When I posted my facebook status I didn’t expect so many people to have had the same experiences; one friend in Singapore, with a baby daughter wearing a dress, was told “oh, I thought he’d borrowed his sisters clothes!” Another friend of mine in Hong Kong was told to pierce her baby girls ears, “that way people will know she’s a girl”. That wouldn’t work here though since boys also have their ears pierced. My sister introduced her son, Raphael and the person responded with “she’s beautiful”, can Raphael ever be a girls name?
I am pleased to say though, that at London Heathrow Airport Annabelle was wearing green harem trousers and a lady approached and said “boy or girl?”, her friend said boldly, before I could respond “she’s a girl, she has a girls face”. I’ll take that!
