Overheard at the surgery while waiting for my appointment:
Receptionist carrying beautiful baby, dressed in white onesy.
Doctor: What a handsome boy!
Receptionist (aghast): It’s a GIRL!
Doctor: Oh I’m so sorry. I just thought it was a boy. You know. She’s all dressed in white.
Later one when called into room:
Doctor: She must have inherited that white outfit from her brothers?
Tasmiya: Um….Yes, yes she did. She did get lots of pink and purple clothing from friends and relatives, though!
Doctor: Oh, that’s great, isn’t it?
———-
See, I just don’t get it. I just don’t get it. Babies look EXACTLY the same with their nappies on. EXACTLY. You can’t tell a girl from a boy from anything in between. You can’t! So I’m not really offended if someone thinks I am carrying a boy when my child is a girl (although I would just love once for someone to just say..”What a lovely BABY!” instead of first having to find out the gender.)
And I while I don’t agree with it, I do see that for the most part here in this country, pink,flowery and nurturing for girls, and blues, death, destruction and mayhem for boys. And I could go on and on about that right here but others have done it so much better than I ever could. BUT there are also gender neutral colours – yellow, green, red and up until the other day I would have said white.
WHEN WHEN did white become a colour exclusively for boys?? And why why why do I always feel the need to go along with it when people mention it. The truth is, what my daughter was wearing that day was NOT a hand me down. It was a brand new WHITE with no other colour onesy! But not wanting to cause a fuss, I just pretended like it wasn’t brand new and to make the doctor feel better, I even reassured her that she has plenty of pink and purple at home.
F**K I HATE BEING POLITE AND WELL MANNERED.
people ask me if mine is a girl or a boy even when she is in hot pink! so, do i have to put her in a dress before they realise she is a girl? funny thing is ..people used to think my boys were girls, even when they were in their most boyish clothes.sometimes i would say no it’s a boy and other times i would go along with…..
I guess it depends on how much one wants to argue a point, hey? Sometimes it’s just easier to go along with it.
I think people are just somehow predisposed to get it totally wrong, no matter what the child in question is wearing. I don’t quite go as far as death, destruction, and mayhem for my son (though he has a few skull shirts), but he’s usually in blue, green, or brown. Sometimes there are trucks involved. And yet, more often than not, strangers will call him a “she” out in public.
PS I have never, ever, ever, heard of white as a boy color! That’s just odd.
It’s like girls simply MUST wear pink or purple and nothing else. I have kept a gorgeous green shirt with airplanes and trucks because I love the colours. Can’t wait to put it on for her when next I visit the doctor.