Purple

Thursday, May 27, 2010
by Jeannie Fleming-Gifford

The moment I found out that we were expecting a little girl, I had two thoughts:

1) "Hurray! I LOVE little girls."

2) "Oh, *%#$, a girl? We are in TROUBLE!"

Fast forward a couple of years, and I think both of those thoughts were correct. The munchkin is all girl. She loves purple. Her favorite instrument? A flute. She refuses to wear anything but dresses.  And shoes? Well, don't even get me started talking about the shoes!

I did nothing (seriously, NOTHING) to encourage this. I painted her bedroom with leftover kitchen beige. I bought her sweatpants and tennis shoes. My husband and I (both former musicians) were brass players (French horn). We don't even like the flute! Somehow, someway, she's very girly.

This all takes me back to my grad school days where I became immersed in the topic of gender development (or the how and why girls - or boys - might develop certain personalities, preferences, etc.).

There are two specific thoughts about how these behaviors are obtained:

1. Environmental influences. Have you ever noticed all the pink in the "girl" section of a toy store or the way certain products are geared towards one sex or another?

2. Genetics. Kiddos are just born with preferences, behaviors and characteristics that we couldn't have ordered or even taught.

What about you? Does (did) your child display strong preferences or traits of one sex or another? Do you believe environmental or genetic influences have a stronger impact on your child's gender development?

As for me, I'm surrounded in purple dresses, listening to the girly flute music and thinking about how my girly girl came to be and who she will become.

Parenthood. Some things (many things!) you just can't predict.

 

 

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