Conditioning

I could not quite believe my ears, when I caught my husband talking to our daughter the other day. It went something like this: "Oh, that's great honey, for a girl, you throw the ball better than most 1st graders!"

'FOR A GIRL?!!"What the heck! I had to bite my tongue for not starting my lection in front of my toddler on  Sovinism, Gender conditioning and Self -esteem. But Oh Boy, I can tell you it hurt my soul raised by a league of four super women and brainwashed with the silly belief that girls CAN actually do anything. (Another debate is whether it is always convenient for them to do everything they could ;))

So in the evening I had to say something. I was seriously concerned my husband would repeat a similar lapsus with serious consequences on our daughter's outlook in life and in her positioning in this world. He raised his eye brows in puzzlement challenging me to have a moment of self-reflection myself, starting with an inventory on our daughters wardrobe. He was the one supporting gender conditioning?

Hmph. Okey, there is no denial my daughter's wardrobe and selection of toys are somewhat biased. 97% of clothes are pink, light pink or in purple shades. She has her own little purse, sun glasses and baby trotter. She loves to watch and smile at her-self in the mirror, put cream on her face, brush hair and use hair wax. She's hardly 20 months old!

I tried the DNA hardcoded Gender preference card, but he didn't buy it. Admittedly my husband won this match: we'll go get the racing car he tried to convince me to buy last Saturday. And we both promised to watch ourself in the future.