We were waiting for my husband to meet us for lunch, and watching the people go by, looking for him under every umbrella and baseball cap . . . or floating in the pond or hiding on a rooftop.
Oh, there’s Dad balancing on the lightpost!
No, there he is on the roof of that car!
An eagle just flew by carrying Dad!
A college student walked by, and I said, “Hey, is that Dad?” Martin replied, “No! That’s a girl!”
“How can you tell?”
“Because she has long hair.”
“But our friend Joe is a man with long hair. And Julie is a woman with short hair. So how can you tell if someone is a man or a woman?” I’ve been wondering a lot lately about what they’re picking up about differences, real and imagined, between girls and boys and men and women. And now–will this authentic experience give me dazzling insight into how gender is being constructed in this young mind? I waited with bated breath . . .
“Well, first I look at the head. And then I look at its uterus.”
Aha. All my questions answered.
I have super short hair and had a similar conversation with a 4 year old buddy of mine just today (except she didn’t search for my uterus). Now, this child has known me all of her life and is surrounded by women who are primarily of the short-haired variety. She flat out told me, “You have boy hair”. It all came down to it being short.
There are a lot of adults who quickly judge my gender by my hair. It’s fascinating. I still remember being called “sir” when I was pregnant and, well, had the boobs to go with it. Hair seems to trump everything!
Burst out laughing
Laughing heartily. Thanks!
this made my evening
when i was a little girl, the women i knew had short hair (including my mom) and the men (including my hippie dad) had long hair. sometime in the 80′s my dad chopped off his hair. i told him he looked like a girl.
Oh, seahrose, that is a classic. So, so funny.
Vikki, are you telling me hair wins even over pregnant stomachs and voluptuous bosoms?
I’m having this urge to cut my hair off to teach my kids a lesson…
I’ll follow those directions from now on. I’ve been skipping a step and looking right at the uterus. Hilarious.
Oh, you and Martin just made my day. Can he see how many eggs are left in those uteri?
Yes, at least with me, hair seems to win over everything else. When it happened, I was like, “Seriously?” and might have done some pointing to my very noticeable bosom.
This is so adorable.
Har! As someone who *has* crossed gender lines, I find this particularly amusing… thanks for sharing.
nelle
AWESOME!!!