January 27, 2009

Pinks and Blues

A month or two ago we met up with one of our family friends. We were generally conversing regarding children and the 'oh-so-scary-for-parents' peer pressure. We discussed how kids these days ask for fancy, hi-tech gadgets not because they want it but more because their friends have it. To a certain extent its easy to stop them and control their demands. But what if this so called peer pressure extends to a psychological domain? What do you do when it begins questioning your child's existence with other children his age?

This friend we met have a son who is about eight years old. One day after school he apparently came over to his mother and told her he wanted a new pair of sports shoes. She was surprised because the one he had right then was something he had picked up out of his own will not very long ago. When she denied his request he said, "Ma, but they all say if I wear this shoe I'm a girl". His mom was perplexed. She asked him, "Why would they say that and why would you believe so?". He replied sadly, "Because it has a purple line in it". This surprised his mother even more. He quickly added, "Purple is for girls." She stood looking at him with her lips pursed not knowing what more to say. The next day he had another pair of shoes with no streaks or shades of purple or pink.

I'm not sure sometimes if I could call this as peer-pressure or simply imbibing ideas into young minds. Ideas that they grow up with and ones that carve the way they think. Its amazing but true, but we elders too do fall for such things only so that we "go with the flow".

Not too long after a baby is born a major part of the child's wardrobe is dominated by shades of just one colour. Pinks for girls, blues for boys. I think its becoming so cliched and so boring too. In fact, its so very contradicting - In a world where we are fighting to have both genders equal, we begin by differentiating right from the start!! While nature offers us so many hues, we are busy categorizing ourselves in to the Pinks and the Blues.