At the link the author further recommends in the article 23 books about girls for little boys to read. Great post!
I recently took my infant son to a gathering where he played happily on the floor, the center of attention in a ring of adults who were all interacting with and admiring him. Then I mentioned that his new favorite toy is bright pink. The men in the circle chuckled awkwardly and exchanged glances, and then someone joked: “so does that mean he’s gay?” I see this kind of gender policing happening so often, so early, for little boys.
In a related issue, when Nicola Griffith posted her astonishing data showing that books about women don’t win awards, it begged the question: why don’t men seem to care about women’s stories? Why don’t judging panels value the experiences of women? And yet I’ve heard this offhanded sentiment from friends of mine who are men: “I guess it’s a pretty good story — even though it’s about a girl.”
The root of the problem, I believe, isn’t simply that men don’t care about women or can’t imagine women’s experiences. It’s that they are actively shamed — even as infants! — when they show interest in anything perceived as “girly” or as a compromise to their masculinity. They’re not supposed to like pink, or dolls, or dresses, or princesses, or stories about girls. They hear it first from their caregivers and authority figures, and then from each other once they’ve internalized the message. READ MORE: Let’s Stop Shaming Little Boys Who Read About Girls | BookRiot
infophile 
I think this is a fascinating blog and one in which both my sons and I have been talking about all morning. There are many great points to this blogs, boys are constantly judged as indeed girls are for their choices but we all felt that there is something being lost in all of this and that is that we are not helping either gender to exploit their talents, understand themselves and how their choices affect others. Its seems too often people don’t realise that being equal is not the same thing as being the same. I fear Men’s humour has a lot to answer for and Men need to question more how they are treated. But then I suppose until we actually understand how we feel that may be some time…..
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Although I’m not a parent yet I think always keeping in mind respect and kindness goes a long way. Children should be able to express themselves and express curiosity and have parents teach them boundaries such as privacy and that being different is ok. Social networking has really opened up communication pathways and I think that’s why women are more sensitive and reactive to men’s humour…we see blatant evidence of it written and spoken. It’s not just men’s humour though. It’s attitudes toward anyone or anything different from stereotypes considered the norm in any culture. I really respect your comment and that you talked about the blog post with your boys!
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