When we were growing up, many of us were likely told that certain toys were “girls’ toys” and others were strictly for boys – but in reality, there’s nothing stopping a little boy from playing with a doll, or a baby girl playing with a toy car.
One mum on TikTok has revealed her son often plays with dolls and hairbrushes that are traditionally seen as being toys for girls, but has insisted she doesn’t care as long as her baby boy is happy.
Jess Katz, @jesskkatz, posted a video of her son playing with a doll, and wrote: “When my SON loves playing with baby dolls and hairbrushes.”
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here.
The video was accompanied by a soundbite of a man saying “fair enough” and was captioned: “Toys aren’t gendered.”
Many of the video’s comments were supportive of the son’s decision to play with whatever toys he wanted, but some trolls decided to make snide remarks.
One person decided to write: “What you have there is a gay kid.”
And Jess felt so strongly about the negativity that she made another follow-up video addressing the comment.
In the clip, Jess was seen shrugging her shoulders and stating that she “doesn’t care” what the trolls have to say.
She captioned the second video: “Whether he is or not is irrelevant, not that playing with dolls automatically makes him gay. We love him and always will.”
Both the original video and the follow-up were met with many kind comments.
Someone said: “Why does it matter? As long as he’s his version of successful in his life he can love whoever he wants.”
While another sarcastically wrote: “Oh no, a male human has nurturing instincts. It's almost like he might grow up to be a decent, kind, and caring person.”
And a third posted: “Since when does playing dolls make someone gay? He’s still a baby, they don’t care about sexuality.”
Several commenters also revealed they used to play with unconventional toys when they were little too.
One person stated: “When I was in kindergarten, which is like 4-5 years old, we had a dress up day and I went as a princess. And I used to love dolls and painting nails.”
While another agreed, adding: “I used to play with Barbies and dress them up and I’m straighter than a ruler.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
