SOFTIE

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A STEREOTYPE.

since birth, we are raised to believe that if you're a boy, you must be 'manly', strong, independent, and hard, meaning to not show much emotion, and crying during emotional movies is out of the question. you must be alpha, you go out and work and earn money while your wife takes care of the children. you mustn't be too raw, too vulnerable, because you're the protection, women need you. ever since boys were little, they're taught that pink and purple were girl colors, dress-up was for girls, only girls could watch princess movies, playing with dolls is a girly thing, etc, etc.
boys should play with planes, cars, trucks, dinosaurs, and blue, green, or red are the only acceptable colors to enjoy. when boys are young, they mostly all want to be astronauts, police officers, or firemen, because those jobs scream 'manly', and it's only acceptable to protect and serve, because women are too 'weak and emotional' to be capable of that.
Us girls, we're taught that 'all girls go through a girly stage', so it's inevitable. we accept the fact that princesses are girls, and all the boys want a princess. I was taught from a young age that all girls had potential to become nurses, all girls should be cute and frilly and wear dresses so maybe you'll finally be the princess you've always aspired to be. we're taught that men will protect us, and in turn we care for the children and cook and clean, since husband is too wiped out after a long day's work.

you could argue, of course, that the world is different now, most women have jobs and can easily function on their own, but to this day we still teach kids that the gender they're born with automatically sets a path for them, boys like planes and girls like dolls. no questions asked. the reason we do this is because that's how our parents raised us, and so on and so forth.

if you pay attention, gender roles are still at large. boys are taught that the only acceptable body is a muscly, lean, fit body, with good hair and good looks. most boys don't express emotions that portray them as 'weak' , instead of crying or talking about it, they resort to violence. most boys are made to believe that if you do show these emotions at other times than a funeral, you're a 'pussy' and you're told to 'man up', because boys are supposed to be devoid of emotion. dominant, sometimes even aggressive.

girls are taught that we need to have large breasts, skinny waist, and curves. we need to be over-emotional, because our hormones make us into crazy mood-swing bitches. we need to cry at all appropriate times and if we don't we're 'stone cold'. if we cry too much, we're 'needy'. we need to be nurturing, caring, and always putting others before ourselves. submissive. we've all heard it- 'boys will be jerks, they'll chase you and tease you, but don't worry- it just means they like you. boys will be boys, after all.'

if you were to raise a child and never introduce them to society's gender roles and stereotypes, how do you think they'd turn out? they'd be their complete own person, their personality never altered by society. think about that.