(This post was jointly written by Dr. M and me.)
Dr. M and I were idly browsing the Babies R Us website this evening (the child is a long way off, but hey, we're excited), and we came across something that bodes ill for providing a babyhood free of gender stereotypes.
The bedding section has a charming selection of animal-themed bedding, the vast majority of which were in neutral (earth-tone) or blue-tone color schemes. A representative example:
After about a dozen pages (not just of animals), we came across the one and only pink, and therefore decidedly girl-themed, piece of animal bedding:
Notice anything? I'll give you a moment.
Yes, while the neutral/male animals are all single, genderless, and free to go about whatever animal business strikes their animal fancies, the "girl" animals are all mothers. Their only purpose in life being to generate and care for smaller versions of themselves. Get those uteruses ready, ladies, you only have about fifteen years until peak fertility.
That's all we got.
After writing this I noticed that the lion on the girl blanket has mane, and therefore is technically male. We still think this is supposed to represent a female mother lion, however. Therefore, not only is the blanket indoctrinating stereotypes into our potential daughter, but it's also teaching potential her that girl lions have manes.
And yet, damn it all, it's still a cute blanket.
(Seriously, I promise not to turn this into a pregnancy/baby blog. I still like the law. And Lost. Howbout that fourth season, what? Non-stop insanity! OMGWTFTimetravel?)
I think you misunderstood the second blanket. Due to the lion with the Mane, this is actually the official NAMBLA blanket. I would steer clear.
Of course, what is this season of "Lost" going to start dealing with soon? Pregnancy and babies.
well season 4 did move into baby-theft territory last week. or...something. i guess maybe she didn't STEAL aaron per se. but who knows? time travel.
I think the blanket is endorsing single-parent families! And sort of makes a point of it, frankly, by including a male lion.
Just me though. That's what I thought when I saw it, like: maybe you only have one parent, but you are still loved.
Hey congrats guys.
As I am sure the unsolicited pregnancy advice has already started, all I'll add is that the one thing you should not buy is the book "What to Expect when You are Expecting"... it is terrible and guaranteed to create more worry and sleeplessness than anyone needs.
Matt - being the dad of a girl myself, I think these are all father-daughter pairs, which warms my heart.
I second the DO NOT BUY What to Expect when You are Expecting, or buy it but pay little attention to the sections such as "I drank a cup of coffee today - have I forever doomed the chances of my unborn child leading a happy, healthy life?"