Miles To Go

Did you miss designer Jenna Lyons, appearance in J. Crew’s online catalogue last week? She playful painted her young son’s toenails pink to the horror of many. Of course this set off a firestorm of reactions concerning gender identity.

This (pro-Lyons) argument struck me as odd: “It’s not a big deal. If a dad puts a baseball cap on his daughter, no one cares.” I don’t think that comparison is legitimate. Baseball caps have become acceptable unisex attire. Most clothing has.

That got me thinking - is there a legitimate comparison? Painting toenails pink is distinctly for girls. Is there a parallel, something distinctly for boys?

It seems that everything that used to be considered male is now gender neutral. (I am not lamenting this, just observing.) The concept of gender distinctions is almost extinct.

Am I a dinosaur for even entertaining these thoughts? Does this conversation take us down the path of pining for the ways of the past? That would be futile. The past is gone and we can’t go back. Like America has become post-Christian (that’s another post) we have probably become post gender-distinctive.

Questions – are gender distinctions good for anything but punch lines? Is the qualitatively distinct male endangered or extinct? And is this something to celebrate or regret?