If you were to see this little baby on the street, what gender do you think the baby is? (I had to include the reading picture because it cracks me up. "Just sittin' back with my legs crossed, learnin' my numbers!")
Wherever I go with my baby, people think she is a boy. Today she was wearing the pictured outfit, which if you'll notice has a BOW on it.
I took her to an estate sale where the people there all thought he was sooo cute. Some were wise, and just said, "What a cute baby you have!" "Your baby is so nice!", avoiding the gender assignment. Other, more confident folks, said, "He's so cute!" or "You are SUCH a good boy! You are SUCH a good boy!" One man said, "He's so cute. How old is he? 7 1/2 months?" (try nearly 10, guy!)I don't really care what people guess about my baby because Lord knows that I'm not a good judge of gender or age, either. But everybody thinks she's a boy! Do YOU think this baby looks like a boy? And if so, is it because she has no hair? I mean, a man at McDonald's last week saw her in all her pink glory, and asked how old he was. Yes, it was at a McDonald's out in hicktown Middleville, but still. She can be wearing a dress and will still be considered a boy.
When the lady at the estate sale raved about what a good boy Olivia was being (we were waiting in a long line and O was content to ride in the Bjorn and play with my keys), I considered telling the woman that her name was Oliver if she asked.
I'm getting sick of correcting people, so why not have some fun pretending to have a son? Ladies and gentleman, meet Oliver, my cross-dressing baby boy.
4 comments:
When Lydia was a baby, I always had her in the little one-piece t-shirts. It was too HOT for foo-foo dresses. She was always called a boy. It IS hard when they have no hair (though that is certainly not a sign of gender), but the bow? That definitely looks like a female shirt. Maybe they just assume blue=boy or jeans=boy. WE know she's a girl. That's all that matters. :-)
Must be the receding hair line. I think you should give Oliver a mohawk. I like mohawks.
I'm all for having a gender bending niece/nephew Olivia/Oliver. Maybe you should make it an anthropological study - see what kinda of different things strangers say about your child based on what gender they think she is. Will "Oliver" be such a "strong little boy?" Will "Olivia" be such a "precious little girl?" As part of your loyal readership, I'm very eager to see what happens!
April, I had the SAME issue when Emma was a baby. Comparing her and Jesse, she totally looked like a girl, but no one seemed to think so at Sam's Club or other places. Jesse usually is called he, though today he did get a she at church. I think maybe it's a part of our society, another subconscious way that men dominate is that we assume babies are boys? I dunno...
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