The tale of the Boy Shoes

[Inker]

So last night I decided to spur my "new year, new makeover" resolution with a Target splurge (my new makeover does not include a new salary, so Target it is).

So I'm in the shoe section (eyeing a really awesome pair of patchwork flats for like, $7), when I overhear the following offense to my delicate little feminist ears:

SM: Silly Mom
SD: Smart Daughter (around 6 or 7 years old)

SM: You can't get those shoes, those are boy shoes.
SD: But I like them.
SM: You'll have boy feet.
SD: I don't care. Who cares?
SM: I care.
SD: Well, no one else does.
SM: No, come on, don't you want girl shoes?
SD: No, I like these. They have cars on them.
SM: You can't have shoes with cars on them.
SD: WHY? They're comfy!
SM: Ok, we'll call your dad and ask him if you can have car shoes.

**Insert sounds of mom calling dad....meanwhile I'm wondering how I can buy the shoes for the girl without the mom noticing**

SM: Nope, Dad says you can't have car shoes. You need to wear girl shoes.
SD: BUT WHY!?
SM: Because God gave me three girls, if he wanted you to look like boys, he would have made you boys.



I'm more grateful everyday that my parents raised me to not give a crap about stuff like this.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, good grief. Move over, I want to bang my head on that brick wall, too.

Nothing like appreciating your kids for who they are, eh?

[CaroPhoenix]

But ... but .. buying boys shoes for her daughter means her daughter is going to be a tomboy 4 life!

Ahem ... yes, that was sarcasm in case no one noticed.

I wear whatever I think is comfy. I'm hoping to instill that philosophy in my daughter. I wear my husband's shirts sometimes. What does that mean?

If my daughter wants car shoes, she gets car shoes. Actually, some of the shirts I buy for her are boy shirts because they have Pokemon and other cartoon characters that girls couldn't possibly like so they only put them on boys clothing.

Is there any more room on that brick wall for me too?

[Becks]

Was the girl dressed head to toe in pink, by chance?

[Bright_Star]

Like who really cares what kind of shoes a kid wears? As long as they're comfy then what's the big deal?

[Listerfiend]

Reminds me of the time I had just recieved a very short haircut (a pixie) and I had an argument with my then 5-year-old nephew over whether not I had turned into a boy. We went back and forth for a bit, and it was hard to convince him that boys and girls can both get whetver kinds of haircuts they want because the only thing that matters is what they like. It also pisses me off that their mother trained his sister the same way--she rarely leaves the house in anything other than something pink and sparkly, including flashy dress shoes, which she calls "girl shoes." My brother-in-law doesn't care about stuff like that, and I really wish his attitude would rub off on the kids more than my sister's narrow-minded views on gender...

[CaroPhoenix]

Listerfiend - that reminds me of my SIL#1. She's married to one of my husband's brothers.

They have 2 little girls, aged 3 & 5. SIL has asked, since the 5 year old was 3, for people to get her play make-up since she was like 3! The girls have to be dressed all girly. Even the jeans & whatnot have to be girly (sparkly, spangly, etc.).

She won't let her 2 daughters go down to our PIL's farm because there the girls wear overalls, boots, and play in the mud and get downright dirty. Of course, that's not allowed.

(I don't allow my daugher to go down to the PIL's place either, but for entirely different reasons).

[Saydrah]

I hope that little girl is soon blessed with an awkward growth spurt like I had in elementary school, where her feet become short and wide, and they don't make wide shoes in her size for girls.... meaning momma has to buy her boy shoes! Learning I could wear boy shoes was the coolest shoe thing that ever happened to me as a kid- THEY had FLASHY LIGHTS but no flowers!

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I can tell you right now, when that child grows up she is gonna be wearing the most masculine clothes you ever saw. She'll do as many 'boy' type things as she can---playing football, taking shop, stuff like that. She's gonna go so far the other direction her parents are gonna put their head in their hands and go 'where did we go wrong?'

When I lived in Idaho many of the families there were like that---the girls were only allowed to wear certain things, they were only allowed to play certain sports, etc. Many of them seriously rebelled in high school, cutting off their hair and dressing like guys.

[Inker]

I think I stopped wearing boys' jeans only about a year or so ago. I got so fed up as a teenager by the size differences from store to store for girls' jeans...in one store I'm x number, in another I'm x number, in another I'm xx number....that I just decided to measure my hips, and get boy's jeans so I could just buy them instead of going through the painful motions of trying things on.

I still prefer to buy mens' chucks to womens, they fit better (and are usually cheaper).

[Lace Neil Singer]

I've always bought boy's trainers; my feet are size 7s and as a teen I never could find girl's trainers to fit my feet. Now tho, I like the fact that boy trainers are more hardwearing and cheaper.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I think I've spoken with this lady before.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=18512

[BlaqueKatt]

I got so fed up as a teenager by the size differences from store to store for girls' jeans...in one store I'm x number, in another I'm x number, in another I'm xx number

Yay! I'm not alone!

I wear men's clothes because for some reason I guess women aren't supposed to be out in the cold-so I buy flannel lined men's pants(for shous I wear boots-doc martin's usually-kid's size 3 shoes)

[ShinyGreenApple]

I have broad shoulders, so more often than not I end up wearing men's stuff. My company polo is a man's shirt, and so are my pants, since apparently women's pants (even work pants!) need to be skin tight and sit below the hips no matter how big of a size you get.

And also my leather Jacket. The ones in the ladies' sections had weeny shoulders and just didn't look as cool to me as the bomber jackets

Doesn't stop me from dressing to kill when I'm at a wedding, church, etc, but men's clothing is just so damn comfy!

[Sliceanddice]

lol i can see her rebelling by binding, getting buzz cuts, and sell the clothes her moms buys her to get get over sized boy jeens and teen shirts.
My mom liked purp;e but i was alloud to wear what i liked, which was great because by 5th grade i was 5'3" for alot of high school i wore mens clothing and i only started wearing bra for real 2 years ago, i use to bind, or surpress too.