As hard as the younger generations are fighting back, the idea of the gender binary and gender norms are turning out to be really hard to eradicate.
This dad is fighting the good fight, though, and went out of his way to make sure that his 3yo son wasn’t shamed for liking to paint his nails.
@mr.shearhod
Christian Shearhod has a 3-year-old son and likes to support what the boy likes in the moment, as long as he’s not hurting anyone else.
Basically, his theory is that we should let kids be kids, but in the most mentally healthy way possible.
“Let little boys like what they like…Trucks, Spider-Man, Pa Patrol &&& maybe painting his nails.”
Image Credit: TikTok
So, when his son came home from preschool saying that his teacher told him that “painting his nails is only for girls,” both Christian and his girlfriend dramatically gasped.
“My son came home from school really upset because his teacher told him that painting your nails is only for girls, so today I’m taking him to the nail shop!”
At a nail salon in West Hollywood, Shearhod and his girlfriend, Eden, watched as his son picked out bright pink polish and proceeded to enjoy his mani-pedi.
In an interview with NBC, Shearhod said they’ve been painting their nails together since his son was around 2 and wanted to give it a try.
Image Credit: TikTok
As far as addressing the situation directly, Shearhod said his priority was knowing his son felt ok about the incident.
“I really just wanted to make sure that he didn’t have guilt or shame, because it is something that he enjoyed, and we had done together multiple times.”
He did speak with the preschool teachers, as well.
“I just told them, ‘Hey, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say that kind of thing to Ashton. Kind of let him do his own thing.”
Most of the comments, but Shearhod has had to respond to a few negative ones as well, including those asking whether or not his son is gay.
@mr.shearhod Replying to @nachomanzz_ Just because I let my son express himself without gender boundaries doesn’t make him gay..
“He is literally 3 years old; he can’t be gay because he doesn’t have a s**uality yet, and you’re not going to assign him a s**uality because he likes feminine things or things outside of his typical gender norm.”
He hopes that seeing videos like these will help other parents encourage their littles to explore the things they like, regardless of their assigned gender.
People on TikTok offered a lot of support.
Because kids go through stages…
Photo Credit: TikTok
And why is painting your nails exclusively a female thing?
Photo Credit: TikTok
Just let kids do fun stuff. Please.
Photo Credit: TikTok
And everybody, please, calm down.