• smh@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    2 days ago

    Back when I was a kid, they’d judge your kid and give you whatever they thought corresponded to the kid’s genitalia. Even when I heard my mother ask for a car toy I’d end up with a Barbie.

    Being constantly disappointed by Barbie toys may have been my first hint I wasn’t a girl.

    • Rachelhazideas@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      2 days ago

      Boys can like barbies too. We can acknowledge that gender stereotyping kid’s interests was wrong, while acknowledging that their interests don’t always define their gender.

      • wholookshere@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 day ago

        As a trans woman that played with Barbie’s in secret as a kid…

        We can acknowledge that stereotyping toys is dumb, while also acknowledging that kids like me knew those stereotypes, and did it anyways not knowing why.

        It’s great to point out its stupid. But is comes really fucking close to denying trans people the signs they were trans young, even we didn’t even know it.

        • smh@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 day ago

          Thanks for putting that into words. It felt like I was being told “um, actually, have you considered that disliking Barbie isn’t tied to being a boy?” (with an undercurrent of “this reason for thinking you might be trans is invalid”.)

          I strongly suspect that wasn’t the intent of the commenter, they were trying to encourage inclusivity. It just fell flat.

      • 4grams@awful.systems
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        2 days ago

        No shit, my boy wanted a Barbie when he was little, so he had a Barbie. He also had Legos, and played with blocks, board games and eventually video games. Let kids play with whatever the fuck they want to, they are exploring.

        • jrTug_2T@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 day ago

          This right TF here. He-Man, She-Ra, G.I.-Joe and My Little Pony were all part of the same universe when they were toys on my floor.

      • smh@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        2 days ago

        Yes, but I didn’t like Barbie toys. That was my first hint I didn’t fit into the gender box that had been prepared for me. I’m not going to retcon my experiences at the age of 4 to fit into a modern concept of how I should have figured out my gender.

      • smh@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 day ago

        Thank you for explaining my experiences at age 4. Here I thought that was when I started figuring out I wasn’t a girl but I was clearly wrong and it took you opening my eyes 30 years later. I’m not transgender after all. I can’t point to anything in my DNA that makes me trans, therefore I must just be play acting my gender. I was a girl that didn’t like Barbie and everything else has been a lie fed to me by the woke liberalism of the 90s. /sarcasm

    • architect@thelemmy.club
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      2 days ago

      That was me, too. I ended up just tossing this whole gender concept out.

      I have to say, the hot wheels were hot wheels and the Barbies were ugly statues. One was superior.

      • smh@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 days ago

        I have to say, the hot wheels were hot wheels and the Barbies were ugly statues. One was superior.

        Exactly. Moving parts vs a hunk of plastic to toss in a drawer.