Apparently there’s been a big right-wing blow-up about the above ad that appeared in J Crew. So while girls must dress in pink to be girls, if boys do anything with pink, they’ll turn into girls! Towleroad has some choice quotes and more information, including some thoughtful comments by readers about gender politics.
I will admit that I find this ad disturbing, though not because his toenails are pink. In general I’m pretty anti-make-up, especially for children. The idea of painting little kids nails, boys or girls, pink or blue or whatever, just freaks me out. That’s probably because I didn’t wear enough pink growing up and thus failed to develop my feminine side properly. And now I’m a humorless polish-hating feminist. (via Adam)
i, too, find the ad mildly unsettling. not because of the boy factor, and not because of the pink factor, and not because of the two combined factor, but because of the nail polish(/make-up) on a kid factor. what can i say, i must be just as humorless as megnut.
(is there a difference between colorful (and playful) nail polish and a fun peel-off tattoo on a child? i’m not sure there is, and now i feel confused.)
My sister-in-law painted my 14 month old daughter’s toenails while babysitting her last weekend, without my permission. I think painting nails, piercing ears, slapping giant flowers/bows on babies’ heads is utterly ridiculous and kind of gross.