It's not often you hear a girl wearing blue be told that "blue is a boy color," but when it comes to boys and pink, people are quick to point out that it's "a girl color." However, as Rachel D. Miller, a marriage and family therapist told Fatherly, "The binary view of gender is harmful and restrictive for everyone." And this expands far beyond telling a boy that he shouldn't wear a pink shirt.
The following phrases play into gender close-mindedness, and could communicate to your son that he should be certain things simply because he's a boy (and that he's wrong if he likes a "girl thing"):
- Boys will be boys.
- Pink is a girl color.
- You throw like a girl.
- Boys don't play with dolls.
- Those are for girls.
- You're such a mama's boy.
- Big boys don't get scared.
- Boys should fight back.
