When a Father Stands by His Son

Is it necessary to differentiate between a boy and a girl through their clothing? Today's society, while sometimes open to differences in gender norms, has been in an uproar when a man chose to stand by son instead of telling him to do things differently.

Nils Pickert's son has made the decision that he enjoys wearing dresses. When Nils and his son moved to a small town in Germany the local community was quick to spread the word that this little boy was wearing dresses to school. Not only has this boy suffered bullying in school from his clothing decisions, but he has also been the talk of the town in a very offensive way. Community members don't understand, or want to understand, why he likes to wear dresses. When Nils saw that his son was being greatly effected by the reactions of others, he decided to help him out. While people in the small town were most likely hoping that he would convince his son to stay away from dresses, he chose to instead put on a skirt and going for a stroll with his son through the town.

At the sight of his dad taking no shame in wearing the skirt, the boy was enlivened with confidence, and is no longer worried if others disagree with him about his style choice. Which is good, considering the reaction of readers on Yahoo! When the article made Yahoo! headlines today, the comments were clear on what the people thought of this parenting choice.

"Yep, he sure knows how to raise a child! Makes me sick and i would like to kick his ars!" says Yahoo! user Dale Figmont.

"this country is diseased." claims another user.

"What a stupid article! That little boy will grow up and realize that he had a deeply disturbing childhood." said user Mireya.

I ask you though, what is so wrong with a father standing up for his son. Yes, he is only 5 years old, and maybe not old enough to make many choices, but if he likes wearing a dress then what exactly is wrong with that?

So I did some research, based on some information that I've come across in the past, and found some details that these other people may not have known. First off, the color pink was primarily for boys up until the 1940's, and until this time the color blue was seen as a girls' color. Boys actually use to wear skirts and dresses rather often in the past too. Take for instance, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who as a child was photographed with longer hair while wearing a skirt. It isn't the first time that a young boy has worn a skirt or a dress, and the fact is, that used to be the norm. However, people are so close minded these days that they think it's absolutely disgusting to allow your son to wear a dress.

I'm not a parent myself, but when I have kids, I know that I want to them to have a sense of freedom. Clearly a child can't do everything that they want, but sometimes, it's better to just let them make their own decisions. Allowing for a child to be a part of the decision making process gives them strength and confidence, and standing by your child when they do make these kinds of decisions that others may not agree with, is one of the greatest things that you can do as a parent.