不知道在美國養小孩的父母親有沒有注意到
美國寶寶的衣服，簡直是性別分明壁壘得嚇人
粉紅色象徵女生，藍色象徵男生
蝴蝶代表女生，恐龍代表男生
還有很多不勝枚舉...

當初懷冰兒時，某些人向我恭喜，其中一個理由是：
生女的好耶，可以盡情打扮喔！像我啊，生男的可真是無聊死了！
市面上女生衣服比例多於男生，有時都不知給我家兒子穿什麼才好！
這點深藍頗為同意：女生可以打扮得中性，男生卻得穿得像男生樣，否則就會被譏笑同性戀之虞
女生的穿衣範圍大過男生很多，比較吃香！

不知是否有點想要抵抗這個社會的不成文規定
深藍在二手店挑冰兒的衣服時，看到一些『男生標誌』的衣服
比如紅色恐龍的連身睡衣或卡車，照樣穿在冰兒身上
反正在家裡穿的...Who cares?
有次帶冰兒外出，穿了淺棕色橫紋的外套與褲子
郵局人員一看到就說：好可愛的男生喔！
或是穿了象牙白稍帶粉色的洋裝到Walmart買菜，一樣有人把冰兒認作男生
以寶寶穿衣顏色來判別性別，在美國好像成了社會的制約
大家彷彿也都照著這種不成文的規定來做事
我不知道其他父母會不會像深藍這樣，買些『男生』衣服來穿
但也許避免買某些顏色或標誌衣服的那些父母，是少不了的！
因為不想被錯誤地歸類...
深藍的想法是：蝴蝶與恐龍都買，錯認性別也沒關係
反正穿粉紅色的還是會有人認作男生，所以算了─拋開性別的約束！
當然這點還得看看，真正等到生男生的作法會是什麼...
也許挑戰更大呢，呵呵！

看一篇轉貼的文章─避免性別偏見

http://www.healthykids.com/hk/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/hk/story/data/1172.xml&categoryid=/templatedata/hk/category/data/BehaviorAndSocialIssues_PeerPressure.xml&ordersrc=rafstory

Avoiding Gender Stereotypes
How to overcome stereotypes in raising your son or daughter.
By Kristen Finello

Although you may not realize it, your child is constantly being bombarded with gender stereotypes -- the oversimplified ideas about how males and females are ”supposed” to act. These messages come from the media -- through movies, TV programs, books, and commercials -- as well as through things like kids’ clothing and toys and even the way in which parents divide up the household duties, says Kathleen Crowley-Long, PhD, professor of psychology at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, and an expert in gender and child development.

How exactly are these messages being relayed? ”Go into a department store, for example, and you’ll notice that the girls’ clothing section is three times the size of the boys.” And girls’ clothing is often pink and less conducive to rough and tumble play,” notes Dr. Crowley-Long. The message: Appearance is critical for girls and they should avoid activities that might ”mess up” their cute outfit. Boys, too, are affected by gender stereotypes. In fact, it’s more acceptable for a girl to be a ”tomboy” than for a boy to show any effeminate qualities. ”Traditional gender messages to boys in particular can be very damaging,” says Dr. Crowley-Long. ”As early as 2 or 3 years, boys are told they shouldn’t cry. Stereotypes like this can prevent boys from developing softer elements of their personality that can benefit them as human beings.”

And that’s one of the problems with these stereotypes: They limit children to gender-based roles that often don’t account for a child’s individual likes and abilities. The good news: There are steps you can take to help manage the messages that reach your child.

What Parents Can Do
”The first step is for parents to be more thoughtful about gender roles and to consider what messages they want to send to their children,” says Dr. Crowley-Long. What values do you want your son or daughter to have? Once you have a clear idea what message you want to send, you can make smaller, everyday decisions based on whether they support that message. Here are some other tips to keep in mind:

Worry less about what other people think. Focus more on your child’s individual abilities and needs and fret less about whether he’ll get teased for his choices. For instance, if you son wants to take dance class, don’t let fear of teasing stop you from signing him up.

Avoid making stereotypical statements. Saying thing like, ”Big boys don’t cry” or ”Little girls shouldn’t get their pretty clothes dirty” may seem harmless (after all, our parents likely said these same things to us) but they do perpetuate unhealthy gender stereotypes.

Make a conscious decision about what you want your child to play with. For example, are dolls okay for boys? Toy cars fine for girls? Guns off-limits regardless of gender?

Minimize emphasis on appearance and maximize emphasis on skills, abilities, and personality traits. ”Girls get more comments on appearance than anything else,” says Dr. Crowley-Long. ”Be sure to recognize your daughter’s achievements and abilities. Compliment not just on how something looks but on the content.” An example: If your daughter shows you a drawing or book report she’s completed, instead of just complimenting how nice it looks say something like, ”Wow. I can see you really put a lot of thought into that.”

Try to separate girls from the media’s messages about their bodies. Because of pervasive media messages, most women feel they are too fat, too skinny, too flat-chested, too something. There’s nothing wrong with caring about your appearance, says Dr. Crowley-Long, but it shouldn’t be the most important factor in a girl’s or woman’s life. Assure your daughter that she looks great just the way she is, but also emphasize how great (smart, funny, kind) she is on the inside as well.

Encourage girls to get involved in sports or musical performance. Boys tend to join these activities more than girls as they get older, so girls may be missing out on some of the benefits. Research shows that involvement in sports, for example, can boost a child’s confidence and lower her likelihood of body image problems.

Monitor your child’s media consumption. Be aware of what your kids are watching and listening to and the messages they are getting. Talk to them about what they are hearing and seeing.