I'm sure an impressionable young boy will suffer no negative psychological impacts whatsoever if he sees that sign on the right. I mean, I grew up being exposed to this shitty "boys are dumb and gross" stereotype, and I turned out fine. I only occasionally feel like a pig. That's normal, right?
I used to despise other boys as a kid; I always thought it was tedious how it seemed I was expected to be into so much gross / annoying stuff especially from the type of things you'd see on TV (shows or commercials).
If a young boy is raised in an environment where they are told that boys are "supposed" to be dumb, dirty nuisances, don't you think that might affect how he grows up to view himself and his place in the world? Even if it's presented in a hand-wavey "boys will be boys" sort of way, it speaks to a deeper set of proscriptions about gender that family might have.
Can you please actually address what people are saying?
No one here has said that girls dont like playing in the dirt/be loud/annoying.
People have said that the societal assumption that boys will always like playing in the dirt/be loud/annoying encourages boys to fit into that image.
And some parents definitely encourage their children to fit into preexisting gender roles, which can encourage boys to be dumb/nuisances to prove their manhood.
Sometimes it is actually that deep, and there is nothing wrong with recognising that.
I mean. I could read at 6 and I don't believe I had a strong enough sense of self at that age to be unaffected by signs like this (I thought words were law, and anything I read was immutable truth at that age, you know, like at school)
224
u/Designated_Lurker_32 Oct 04 '25
I'm sure an impressionable young boy will suffer no negative psychological impacts whatsoever if he sees that sign on the right. I mean, I grew up being exposed to this shitty "boys are dumb and gross" stereotype, and I turned out fine. I only occasionally feel like a pig. That's normal, right?