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A Very Special Halloween Costume Party- When Boys Dress Like Girls for Halloween
CellarDweller:
--- Quote from: Pooh MM Bear, Esq. on November 05, 2010, 07:43:53 pm ---Chuck (happily for YOU!), you are SO much younger than me. If a kindergarten/grade schoollboy had worn a girl's Halloween costume ANYWHERE in the five boroughs of the City of New York, in (say) 1960 - 1968, there would have been hell to pay.
"Fag" was hardly used, but "Sissy" was non-stop, and it was deadly. If you were labeled a sissy, it was over.
Luckily, I guess, things changed quickly, but until that change, maybe from the 1920's to the 60's, gender rules where cruelly strict. Schoolmates were cruel, and teachers would look away--or worse. There were no sympathetic adults to help.
Horrible but true.
--- End quote ---
I wasn't labeled a sissy. I was labled a fag. By the time I was in middle school, sissy wasn't really used.
I went to a Catholic school (Sacred Heart) and I saw a few (not many) boys that would dress as girls for Halloween. It wasn't something I did, it wasn't something I wanted to do.
I see nothing wrong with this boy dressing like Daphne, and I applaud the mother for standing up in support of him, but I question if putting his image on the internet was the right thing to do. I will admit, I haven't read the whole article, but was this boy mistreated or excluded from the festivities in any way by the school? If not, then why make it so public?
Like I said before, some people make way too much out of stuff.
I remember years ago, my mother was running a day care out of our home, the kids were up to age 5, and then went to kindergarten. One day, a young boy came in dressed in his sister's balerina unitard, it was pink. He wore yellow socks, purple leg warmers, a red t-shirt and a yellow scarf. My mom said to him when he came in, "My, you are very colorful today!" He smiled, and mom was going to leave it at that. The boy's father said "Tell her why you are dressed like this." and the boy said "Today, I am an Easter Egg!"
The father rolled his eyes, and said "today, you are not my son." and left the house.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Pooh MM Bear, Esq. on November 05, 2010, 07:43:53 pm ---Chuck (happily for YOU!), you are SO much younger than me. If a kindergarten/grade schoollboy had worn a girl's Halloween costume ANYWHERE in the five boroughs of the City of New York, in (say) 1960 - 1968, there would have been hell to pay.
Luckily, I guess, things changed quickly, but until that change, maybe from the 1920's to the 60's, gender rules where cruelly strict. Schoolmates were cruel, and teachers would look away--or worse. There were no sympathetic adults to help.
Horrible but true.
--- End quote ---
I think I've told this story before. I think it must have been the year I was in Second Grade--which would have made it Halloween of 1965--in my elementary school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was a witch for Halloween. I wore a black circle skirt of my mother's (which was floor-length on a Second Grader), one of her white blouses, a wig, a half-mask, and my mother made me a short orange cape. I carried a kid-sized broom. My only memories are that everybody was suitably impressed by the masquerade. My teacher even took me to other classrooms and had the students guess whether the "witch" was a boy or a girl. I don't remember any negative repercussions.
I also can't remember whether my mother took any pictures, or where they might be if she did. ???
I don't remember whether my father even said anything about my costume.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on November 05, 2010, 08:13:20 pm ---I wasn't labeled a sissy. I was labled a fag. By the time I was in middle school, sissy wasn't really used.
I went to a Catholic school (Sacred Heart) and I saw a few (not many) boys that would dress as girls for Halloween. It wasn't something I did, it wasn't something I wanted to do.
--- End quote ---
I was in Catholic grammar school from 1960 to 1968--it was horrible. 'Sissy' was the word then, and I was a sissy. I was seriously bullied constantly from the first grade to the fifth. It was intense, it was real, and it was dangerous. It still makes me sick to think about it. If I had ever worn a girl's Halloween costume, I would have been pounded into a pulp. (Weird sidenote: a couple of weeks ago, for the first time ever, I received a letter from this very school FORTY TWO YEARS after I graduated, asking for a donation. In semi-shock (how did they have my address??) I looked at the signature of the school principal at the bottom of the letter, and her (very, VERY unusual) last name was the same name as one of my classmates in that wretched school. Her husband? Ugh. I shuddered and threw the letter into the trash.)
Anyway: from the third or fourth grade on, I was always mentally counting down the days, weeks, months and years until 8th grade graduation. It was horrible, a prison, a nightmare. For whatever reason, the bullying stopped sometime halfway through the sixth grade and I was then left alone, pretty much, but never felt comfortable. Mental and emotional scars for years. Decades. Buried.
But then, literally, I died and went to HEAVEN. From 1968 - 1972, I went to a VERY progressive, academically challenging high school (challenging if you wanted, and I did--people could take less challenging tracks if they chose, and that was ok, too). Oh, yes, it was a boys' school. At this point, 'Sissy' was out and 'Fag' was the cool word, but you know what? Not only was I was ever bullied at this school, I never EVER saw ANYONE bullied there. Swear to God. NEVER.
There were the cliques: the Jocks, the Nerds (that was me), and Preppies (exactly 10 years BEFORE the famous Handbook) and the Stoners, and the four cliques pretty much ignored each other. The Jocks and (sometimes) the Prepsters used the word 'Fag' interchangeably with 'idiot'--but there was no stigma, there wasn't even a sting. I loved my teachers and I loved my school. When I think about what teenagers TODAY have to go through--it makes me so sad and angry.
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on November 05, 2010, 08:13:20 pm ---I see nothing wrong with this boy dressing like Daphne, and I applaud the mother for standing up in support of him, but I question if putting his image on the internet was the right thing to do. I will admit, I haven't read the whole article, but was this boy mistreated or excluded from the festivities in any way by the school? If not, then why make it so public?
Like I said before, some people make way too much out of stuff.
--- End quote ---
Hmmm. You know, though? I think it's a good thing. Now.
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on November 05, 2010, 08:13:20 pm ---The father rolled his eyes, and said "today, you are not my son." and left the house.
--- End quote ---
Oh my god.
:P :-X :(
Front-Ranger:
The best Halloween costume my son ever did was Legolas. We started working on it in July. He drew the costume, we shopped for all the materials, and I made leggings, a tunic, a cape, a leaf pin, boots, a halberd, a quiver, two swords, a bow, arrows (we made the arrows together), gauntlets, and, yes, a long blond wig.
Monika:
from what I understand this woman wrote about her son on a blog. I wouldn´t exactly call that to "go public". And besides, neither she or her son has nothing to be ashamed of. It´s no more than a piece of clothing O0
More power to them
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