J.Crew’s president and creative director Jenna Lyons is photographed painting her sons toenails pink in a new J.Crew ad that reads “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink” pictured above. The ad is raising issues of questioning whether the young boy will become gay or transgender due to the perception of the ad. ABC’s Robin Roberts discusses the issue after the jump.
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logically i don’t see painting fingernails as an inherently “female” act. it’s no more feminine than letting your kid grow his hair long or play with dolls.
i do think that parents can emasculate their boys- putting them at odds with the world around them and creating cognitive dissonance, but i don’t think this is an example of it.
ditto
mental integration.
Boys are naturally inquisitive. I painted my sons toes when he was little to satisfy his curiosity. It seems to me if my reaction had been no, nO, NO! it would have only made him even more curious. I also bought him a doll so he would learn to nurture. He is now grown, married, with a master’s degree in Physics, looking forward to starting a family soon.
I was raised with no father in a home with my mother and two sisters. I had my nails painted, make up put on my face, and my hair curled. These were good natured pass time activities between me, my siblings and mother. We did this not often but I remember those times fondly. As a child I was inquisitive to the things my mother did as she was both parents to me and I believe it natural. I believe if things like this is done to humiliate, demean, or emasculate a child it could have serious repercussions or if a natural interest in these things are repressed this also could have serious repercussions. However, if this is done with consent and respect for the child’s wishes it is natural. I am heterosexual, with no desire to dress in woman’s clothes.
To repress any natural thought will surely create a perversion of it.