Should boys and girls be raised to embrace masculinity and femininity, respectively?

[Minxxie]

I think kids are too separated based on gender and it creates alienation and misunderstanding for no reason once they grow up. I have always had a really even distribution of genders in my friend groups and I think it's made me happier and more balanced as a person. I don't see men are this mysterious or scary other. I'm not afraid of my boyfriend's female friends "stealing" him because I hang out with them just as much as he does and they are super caring and wonderful. Life is more calm and fun when you see people as individuals first and their gender last.

Plus this often leads to kids being punished or humiliated for interests that come naturally to them just because those interests may not perfectly fit gender stereotypes. My dad was berated and shamed by my grandpa for liking drawing and having an interest in fashion so he went into engineering to appease him.

Well, he hated engineering and dropped out and he never achieved his career goals... because they were never his goals. Now he has a really strained relationship with my grandpa and resents him. My dad is super talented at drawing and he's always dressed well and been able to buy me clothes I love. He would have thrived in that industry.

I think he would have been really successful in fashion design and it kills me that he gave up his dream because of silly gender stereotypes. Because of this he never discouraged or policed my interests in the same way. He supported me when I was asked to join the wrestling team and we bonded over comic books but he also taught me about developing a personal style. I never had an awkward middle school bad-outfits phase thanks to him!

[MzAsh]

Yes.

[tartaarsaus]

What constitutes masculinity/femininity is the first question that ought to be asked. It’s super frequent on here that people complain about “men acting more like women” and “women acting more like men”. But what if those basic traits that they proscribe to either are just a more general thing? Question then becomes whether masculinity/femininity are rigid concepts defined from the times when women couldn’t even own a banking account (and I know lots of guys on here yearn for those times) or whether they evolve over time.


If we’re gonna assume they are super rigid concepts, nah fuck that. There’s no need to impose those set of norms on kids, let them act like they want (given e. g. that they act decent) and let them play with whatever toy they want.


If these are more flexible concepts, it’s more acceptable.


I mean, plenty of guys will think it’s feminine for a woman to stay at home and basically be a baby machine. However, teaching girls that immediately strips away their personal aspirations to do more than that. Plus, it’s a complete waste of talent, resources and intelligence.

[ADFSDF1996]

Yes.

• Boys shouid grow up to be men
• girls should grow up to be women

[CubsterShura]

Yes in such a way so that they actually learn to love it instead of feeling like they are forced or anything like that. Some parents force it too much like 'boys study science girls study art' and that's toxic and so is suppressing natural masculine or feminine traits like making a daughter feel bad for enjoying dressing up especially when she's growing up.

I do want my future kids to be able to embrace their masculinity and femininity, however if they have some traits that are more common in the opposite gender then I won't make a big deal out of it.

I'm pretty feminine myself yet I have some tomboyishness in my body language and although I myself don't think this other trait of mine is that masculine, many of my male friends and peers are surprised when they find out I love watching cricket and they tell me that it's unusual for a girl to be into such things. Being a clutz isn't necessarily masculine but it is the opposite of being elegant/graceful/ladylike. I'll teach my kids that hardly anyone is 100% masculine or feminine.

[hellionthesagereborn]

The idea that masculinity and femininity don't exist is stupid. Should people be free to choose how they live their life? Absolutely, but we also know that 99% of people fall into two catagories and so pretending like they don't is moronic.

So girls should be raised girls, boys should be raised boys. If they decide they are more androgynous with their identity or transgender or what have you, fine, you can let them go that route but treating the abnormal and rare as normal and common is not a healthy or efficient way to go about things.

[Sarahr123]

I will buy my sons guns and cars and my daughters dolls and princess dresses. I don’t want my sons thinking it is OK for them to wear a girl’s dress. I think people are becoming ridiculous these days. Some people even refuse to call their child by the sex they were born with and decide to let them choose. What on earth? I think that kind of upbringing is toxic. What small child is going to decide that? I’m pretty sure a normal kid will know he’s a boy or a girl and sometimes kids joke around and pretend to be things they’re not. They’re little kids and need guidance.

I won’t raise an effeminate boy in no way whatsoever

I will probably raise a very feminine girl because I am really feminine. I wouldn’t be caught dead in trainers! I giggle like a little girl. People often tell me that they’ve never met a more feminine woman (in behaviour and in the way I present myself!). So of course my child will most likely model that behaviour.

[RolandCuthbert]

Of course not. But American men are just weird.

You can't even have a common sense conversation with many of them about what traits are even masculine. I think this was at least three years ago when I created this take.

What Are Masculine Traits?

After many troubling conversations with a lot of guys here. I began to notice a pattern. So I wanted to create a thread to address a few things.

Apparently, many men at GaG cannot figure out how to define their masculinity independent of women. This creates a huge problem when it comes to understanding women's issues.

[Gravit1]

The idea that people are raised to be this way is a stupid leftist idea. Fathers being their natural masculine selves will raise children naturally masculine. Their sons will naturally gravitate towards this. No one is following some script on masculinity except the dumb leftist. They are the only ones telling you to resist natural masculinity or what is the 'proper" way to raise your children. They try to replace God in family structure and that is why their families are total failures. So just be a man and do your job before Jesus, don't listen to the Fools who try tell you otherwise.

[guesswhoseback]

It’s what causes natural balance in nature and attraction to create life.

Now some women are going to be more masculine and some men are going to be more feminine. People can choose what they want to be in life BUT they should have an upbringing that shows them the natural balance of Mother Nature. Straight boys who act feminine are in for a very hard life in my opinion.

They will have it harder than everyone else and for it’s imperative that these boys have a hard masculine upbringing to minimize that as much as possible.

[ragequeen]

Not necessarily. But people have to respect and embrace the fact that men and women are different and have different qualities to bring to the table. If women want to be strong and independent and take on both roles, that's completely fine, but don't ever expect to experience a functional monogamous relationship. Bringing differences to the table and being strictly feminine and masculine has been the only way that monogamy has worked for humans. Otherwise we might as well live on our own.

[b5fan]

They should be allowed to embrace whatever they want. If a boy or girl wants to play with dolls... fine... If a boy or girl wants to play with guns, and legos again fine. What we should not be doing is saying that a boy can't go into STEM or a girl can't be a teacher or a nurse.

There are whole add campaigns that say girls should go into STEM... no mention of it being ok for boys to go into STEM... Also no add campaigns to get boys into teaching or nursing... Its messages like this that paint a clear picture of Misandry in our society.

[TomGarand]

Yes and no. Please hear me out.

Yes, men and women are different. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. So they should be raised to embrace the traits of their gender... if they WANT to.

Now here's the thing. Most boys naturally want to be masculine, and most girls naturally want to be feminine. That's why we see men dominating most high-paying or physical career fields (Although the latter is mostly due to men's greater physical strength). And that's why we see women dominating most cozy, lower-paying, or caretaking career fields.

And obviously, there are boys who are naturally inclined to be feminine, and girls naturally inclined to be masculine. THEY should be allowed to be themselves.

Basically, just let your kids be themselves, but due to biology, we're ALWAYS gonna see more manly men and feminine women.

[Aguysopinion4799]

I believe so, I know a lot of girls who are tomboys and that is their personality, there are also guys I know many of who are comfortable being feminine, I think it is something we should let them embrace at a young age and not be trying to tell them what they should be acting like, let them choose for themselves.

[PBandJ_Nerd]

I think so. There's lots of things they can learn if they're taught it's ok to like certain things, be interested, wear, etc. regardless if they're a boy or a girl. I have a little nephew that likes to pretend to cook food. He has playsets for it and everything. It'd be wrong to tell him he can't like it just because he's a boy (plus people grow up learning to cook anyway). Why deprive kids of learning things that could be helpful later on in life?

[comrade1027]

Boys raised to embrace feminity are put at an extreme disadvantage in their life and females raised to be masculine will likely experience severe conflict in their adult relationships.

I do think both genders should learn to cook and self defense.
I don't think a person has to be confined to certain activities assigned to a gender but dressing your little boy in girls clothes and not allowing him to be masculine isn't right.

[SoulSkyFlare]

Masculinity and femininity as concept should not exist, in my opinion, if not in mild ways such as some very general guidelines on how to dress.
I think it's time we don't let what is or isn't dangling between our legs NOT define who we are as individuals.

[Unit1]

Have parents ever thought of raising their kids with unconditional love and support rather than dictating how they'll end up spending their life? We are not talking about making them turn out like Tekashi69 AKA Daniel Hernandez.

I am still picking up all the shards of their fatal mistakes.

[Anonymous]

no, kids should be raised to embrace who they are.. whatever body they are born into. May they have some classical traits that are more common in the other gender, who cares.. as long as they are happy and treating other people well.

[Anonymous]

Yes, because feminine men are at a great disadvantage in almost every important area of life. And masculine women will always struggle to find a good man who finds them attractive. We owe it to our children to move past the political correctness that has poisoned society for years and teach them the life skills that will help them become successful and well adjusted adults.

[IlluminatiExposed0]

Boys and girls should be raised to be decent, rational and tolerant human beings. If you have to brainwash them at least make it something positive. Otherwise you could end up with POS like these:

Traitor

[SuccessfulHornDog]

I don't like how some are demonizing how raising a child to confirm with gender norms is evil and nothing short of terrorism. They want the 98% to change so that the 2% don't have to. How about we raise child as normal but realize that they won't all fit into the same mold and then support them. Instead we are seeing a number of children come out as transgender prior to puberty and then later recant their decisions. We are destroying many more children than we are saving

[DepressionXglitter]

I feel like they should stop labeling things as "only for girls" and "only for guys."

[-Asca-]

No, because what is generally viewed as "femininity" and "masculinity" are for the most part made up concepts that have nothing to do with actually being male or female. We should stop forcing social constructs upon children and just let them be however they want to be.