Boys and Girls

Most of the guilty pleasures in my life involve reality television. And probably the most despicable and embarrassing one is Dancing With the Stars. I love it! I can't wait for each new season to start. I love the bright lights, cheesy pop music, sparkly costumes, tanned and toned bodies, and over-the-top superficiality of the whole thing. Really I do. You know, we all need an escape sometimes from trying so hard to live an authentic life, and this certainly works for me....

The DWTS folks try to create drama whenever they can...but one of the new contestants for the upcoming season is creating quite a stir, just by being himself. I'm interested in (and sometimes appalled by the narrowmindedness) of the discussions happening around Chaz Bono's inclusion in the show. I LOVE Christine's post about the issue....she rocks. You should read it and check out some of the links she includes.

Gender issues are also on my mind a lot lately because Sadie is starting to distinguish between who in her life is a "boy" and who is a "girl". She gets it right every time. When we asked her how she knows if someone is a boy or a girl, she said because she feels good in her heart. That's a phrase we use to encourage her to share and help, etc....so it was interesting to hear her use it in this context.

Anyway, I think these discussions are fine. I don't feel too militant or hardcore (yet) about how to approach these discussions with her and how to make sure we're not just reinforcing society's stereotypes about gender norms. But the other night during a discussion along these lines, I did make sure to tell Sadie that sometimes people who look like "girls" are actually "boys", and vice versa. I know she doesn't understand what that means, and she doesn't need to. But she hears what I say, and I just want her to know it's not always straightforward.