Gender Bender: Non-Issue?

I wish I could call ABCNews' story about the JCrew ad featuring a boy with hot pink painted toe-nails a non-issue. Clearly, as it has made national news and twitter is positively blowing up about it, it is an issue. I do NOT believe however that it is news.

Watching the national and local news and the types of stories that make the news in our society is very frustrating to me. It seems as though media give 5 minutes tops to world news, then talk about celebrities/death/violence for the next 25 minutes. Where are the positive uplifting news stories?

I think JCrew's ad could have been a positive story. I give extreme props to JCrew for running the ad. The picture is adorable, the little boy and his mother are clearly having a good time. I have no doubt that little boy really loves the color pink and enjoys having his nails painted. I mean who wouldn't? It feels good! All those men out there who don't do it are missing out. I sincerely hope my children can grow up in a world where they are free to paint their toes no matter their gender. More importantly, that they can choose whatever color they want to love! I mean seriously, PINK is a color, not a damnation. While this may not be achievable in the next decade, I hope that within my home my children feel free to choose. The more families that support "gender-bender" ideals, the more this way of thinking will spread and hopefully be accepted by the mainstream.


As for the Fox News Blogger... get a grip. Liking pink will not send little boys to therapy - seriously? And again props to all the people out there fighting Keith Ablow's archaic views.

Welcome

I have been a "blogger" for two years now... since I moved to South Carolina for graduate school, but I have never blogged about my thoughts and opinions, the topics for which blogs were created and are most used. This new blog will serve as a place for me to bounce off ideas and topics of interest. I am so afraid after I graduate in May (just over a month!) my brain will become dormant and rusty from lack of use. My two years in graduate school have widened my horizons and I have been thinking about things I would have never thought about without classes like Gender and Communication and International Communication. I have grown and become more sophisticated and hope with this blog I will continue to grow, even without the classroom setting. I chose the name Hems & Haws because of two of my passions, communicating and creating. I have been creating clothing for 6 years now and have been sewing for 20. I hope to incorporate my passion for creating with my passion for more intellectual subjects like gender equality and world affairs. Enjoy!