Last week I took my dress for my sister's upcoming wedding to a tailor in Janesville. Clare was along for the ride, and after a minor meltdown in the car (by Clare, not me), we managed to make it inside the shop. The tailor and I discussed whether or not I would be able to nurse in the dress (not). She glanced at Clare. "Oh, will he take a bottle?" She asked. "She will," I said.
"Oh, you're a girl! Your mommy needs to dress you in more pink!"
Um, no. Now, don't get me wrong, I like pink. And Clare has lots of pink, girly outfits that I am happy to dress her in. I didn't say anything in response to that comment, but I was thinking to myself, "Lady, you need to change your world view."
I am probably guilty of making many of the same assumptions, and this is not the first time someone has thought Clare was a boy. And I don't really care about that, because really, at this age, you can't tell. It just bugs me that little boys can wear red, blue, yellow, green, and brown, and everyone will assume they're a boy. But if a little girl wears anything but pink, people assume she is a boy.
I know this is not a big deal, but it seems like even for a 3-month-old, it is a man's world.
I still think it's kind of ridiculous that colors were "assigned" genders ... don't dress a baby boy in pink or he will be mistaken for a girl, don't dress a little girl in blue or she'll be mistaken for a boy. I wonder when that all happened? And when yellow and green became "safe" gender-neutral colors?
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