So I have five of my little cousins over at my house celebrating my graduation. They range from age 4-10 and are mostly male, 3 boys and 2 girls. Earlier today my cousin 10 asked if he could paint his nails because he always wanted to, I was a little nervous thinking about what their parents would think kinda didn’t care; Immediately I said of course because nail painting isn’t gendered and even if it was IDGAF, I want them to have a great time and enjoy their life. So after two of them kept begging I gave them my nail polish container and let them have at it. They were so proud of their nails and commented on how “gorgeous” they looked. I’m not a stickler to gender norms so I commented on how great they looked too. When their nails dried and they perfected their nail art they went to show their parents and that’s when ish hit the fan. One of the girl’s parents (age 8) said she wasn’t old enough to wear nail polish and the corresponding son was asked what other people would thing and to go remove it (age 10). The other cousins were told that boys don’t wear nail polish (age 7) and the girls ( age 4 and 5) were perfectly fine. The boys were devastated and cried and kept saying they didn’t see it as a girl thing. Am I the asshole for telling them it isn’t a girl thing and that they are always welcome to wear nail polish at my house? I’m so frustrated with how my aunts and uncles handled the situation. I understand that they are my cousins parents but I don’t ever want them (my cousins) to ever feel like they can’t do something or enjoy something because of societal gender norms.
Submitted May 19, 2019 at 07:20AM by DemLegzDoe http://bit.ly/2WYM8Zn
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