Category Archives: Gender complexity

. . . The Answer, of Course, Is Nothing

Posted on August 8, 2012 by

I’m a little giddy at having my blog quoted in the New York Times in Ruth Padawer’s article for the Sunday NY Times Magazine “What’s So Bad about a Boy Who Wants to Wear a Dress.” But I was taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender complexity, Holding Contradictions, Musings on the News, Personal, The space between | Tagged , , , , | 41 Comments

Mixing it up – toywise

Posted on August 7, 2012 by

The big news this week is that Harrods, the famed London department store, opened its first gender-neutral toy store, designed by Shed Design. “The London department store commissioned the multi-million pound Toy Kingdom to be grouped by theme rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Gender complexity, pink, Princesses, Shopping, Social construction, The boy box, The space between, Toys | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Warrior Princesses

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

This picture is making the rounds on Facebook the last couple days. I could definitely see my own four year-old daughter asking this question; one of her favorite books is Brave Margaret, in which the heroine, faced with a sea … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Femininity, Gender complexity, Princesses, Social construction | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mani-pedis and Male polish

Posted on April 10, 2012 by

The saving grace of capitalism is that perceived immorality goes out the window when the potential customer demographic gets large enough. That’s how we got bilingual milk ads (featuring Salma Hayek and Sofia Vergara), and why Time Warner Cable has … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Gender complexity, Masculinity, Musings on the News, pink, The boy box | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Where are the prince boys?

Posted on March 9, 2012 by

Maria Rodale, chairman and CEO of Rodale Publishing, recently asked in her blog, “Where are all the Disney princes?” She points out that while Disney has “capitalized on and profited from the innate desire of most young girls to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Gender complexity, The space between, Toys | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas 2011 – what’s in the (gender) boxes?

Posted on December 31, 2011 by

Our kids had a great Christmas. They were blessed with many gifts from loving relatives, most of which thrilled them. We always ask folks not to get items with military themes, or commercial characters. While we have a girl obsessed … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender complexity, Holidays, Toys | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Get your meanings off my son

Posted on October 30, 2011 by

I spent the summer reflecting on the way our society rushes to meaning — our political dialogues are pre-constructed with two or three possible narratives and it often seems our only choice is to pick which one to espouse. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender complexity, Personal, The space between | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment