A mother who lets her son wear a skirt in kindergarten

So my son wants to eat a burger. Okay. Harmless enough. A burger isn't going to do anything. But if he eats too many of them, he's going to get fat. Then he wants to sit inside and play video games instead of playing outside. Sure. Play some games, son. But wait -- the townspeople would string me up and beat me like a pinata for allowing my son to become an out-of-shape lazy slob. But my son wants to wear a dress, and that's okay with everybody in the proverbial know. Why? Because it's his self-expression, and there's nothing wrong with it, and it's other people who create gender stereotypes and blah blah friggin' blah. Yeah. My kid might want a million dollars too, but he's SOL on that one. If my son were gay or gender confused or a girl trapped inside of a boy's body, etc, that'd be perfectly fine with me. But a kid in kindergarten doesn't know that sort of stuff, no more than they think it'd be great to eat burgers and chips all day while playing video games. There's a time for these topics. Parents don't have the "talk" with their kids while they're still just little kids. What good would it do? So to me, encouraging a boy to dress up like a girl might cause him to become extremely confused and depressed or worse. My little brother used to put on high heels and pretend to be a woman around the house. He grew up to be a 6-4 redneck and the farthest thing removed from a crossdresser you could imagine. But had my parents encouraged him to keep doing it, it's hard to say. A progressive world doesn't need to be so damn progressive. It's the mother's right, sure. But people don't need to applaud it. It could actually be damaging the kid very much.

I am shocked to hear that the little boy had to wear a skirt. I would refuse to let my son wear a skirt. A Scottish man or boy can wear a kilt because it is their tradition and heritage. My son can wear trousers, dungarees or shorts. I will not let him wear a skirt or a dress. I feel it would harm my son if I let him wear something feminine like a skirt. Life is not equal. A girl and a lady can wear skirts or trousers. Both are perfectly acceptable. A boy would be thought sissy if he put on a skirt. The color pink is girly and blue is male like. The mother's choice was wrong. It is right to let a child have a choice like a blue jumper or a yellow cardigan. It would be nasty to let a child be the laughing stock because he is in a skirt.

I believe it is perfectly ok for a boy to wear a skirt if that is how he feels most comfortable and it is how he wants to express himself.However I'm not sure a child of that age has enough understanding to that kind of decision i didn't have enough understand of who i was at that age to make such a complex decision.If he was older then it would be fine as it would be more likely to be his true feelings i however think they are the beliefs of his mother and i think that its wrong for a parent to put their child in a position where they may be bullied just to show their beliefs off.

I do not agree with the mother's way of thinking. I think this can affect the lives of his children later in life.

Hmm, sounds like some of the things I've heard from Sweden too. Parents that don't want to tell the gender of their child, that use some kind of mix of mother and father for both parents, childrens book with main characters that don't really have a gender and are called hen instead of han/hon. I don't think it's wrong of her to let the boy wear skirts. After all, Scots look great in skirts :-) Seriously though, I think small girls trying to dress like sexy grown-ups is more disturbing. However, he might get bullied by the other children, but once you decide to let your child dress that differently from the social norm, I suspect that the mother is ready to deal with the questions the child will have if the reactions aren't to his liking. If you are one of the first to do something, then you'll get reactions. If you make your children part of it, then you have to be more aware of the consequences, but I don't think that it has too be bad if you handle it the right way. However, I suspect that once you go outside Scandinavia/the Netherlands, it will be different. At least according to Hoofstede :-)

I understand both sides to this incident. I believe that that little boy should be able to wear what he wants and that the mom is right to allow him to express himself. It is true that he may teased and maybe at that point he and his mom will decide to do things differently but for now he's happy and not being teased so it's fine with me. I am very liberal and agree with her liberal attitude. I believe that in Scotland or it may be another country but I know there's a country where men wear skirts because it's part of their culture. Skirts are seen as feminine while pants are more masculine but are fine for women too. I think that men should be able to wear skirts if they want but if they don't that's fine like it's fine for women to wear pants. Society and the world is too strict and picky about things like this that are really no big deal compared to more important things in the world that are real problems such as war, violence, abuse, inequality, injustice, the economy, and the environment. People need to learn to open up and let their fears about anything different than what they're used to control how they think, act, and feel about what people around them do.

I dont really think that I would let my sons wear skirts to school. I think that in that grade, they really dont understand what they are doing so it seems more like the mother is just trying to make some waves in the school and just trying to show off in some way to be noticed.

now thats a tough one. I guess if he wants to and the kids dont make him feel bad about it, Id let him until I saw a problem with it. so i think shes right. besides in some countries guys wear skirts

Hi Porco, i would never allow my son to wear a skirt. Besides that, he don't want to wear skirt although my sister ever jokes asking him whether he want to wear skirt like her. It is because since from his toddler age until now, he never wear any skirt. I never buy any skirt for him to wear. I think it is depending on the parents. I had seen one of my neigbors before, ever gave their only son wear the handing it down skirt from his sisters. It is because the mother felt it is wasting as not to let her son wear it while the skirt is still in good condition. I am not sure what happen after that, since i had moved away from that area a few years ago.

I think it a little bit too soon for this mother to let her child in kinder garden decide on these kind of things. Sometimes I get the feeling that some parents forget that children are not their friends. Just imagine how the child will turn out in a few more years for one the child could become a brat who only thinks the world revolve around them and let's face it we all hate spoilt brats. The mother should let her son dress like other boys we don't want the child's mind to be damaged, do we.

Omg, she is wrong when let her son wear skirt. a girl can wear pants but please a boy should not wear skirt. If she does it regularly, her boy will love to wear skirt and he may got many troubles later in his life, he may have a wrong thinking of his gender also even though in fact he is a straight boy...

Well i strongly feel that the mother should not have let her son to wear a skirt. This is because a skirt represents feminism. So this could potentially lead to bullying.

If the boy wants to wear skirt to kindergarten and he doesn't feel bullied and on top of that he is happy about it. Then it is okay for him to wear a skirt. We have to understand that he is a small boy who has a wish to wear skirt. when he goes to 1st standard he will have to wear school uniform and he will have no choice but to boys uniform. I feel that kids are kids whether girl or boy. And nowadays kids are going to kindergarten at very early age like 3-4 if i am not wrong. I hope i have made my point clear to you Porcospino