Force vs options - which one do you think more befits having actively removed "girl stuff"?
Quote me where I say I forced or actively removed anything. I took no dolls out of her hands. I didn't make her play with any kind of certain toys.
Your characterization of my parenting is completely incorrect and unsubstantiated. You read what you wanted for whatever reason you have that made you think you could play gotcha...again.
You don't have to answer. I know you will requote the part where I said I went out of my way to avoid the focus, maybe some of the other things you call "indoctrination" and "coercion" and say that while I didn't use the word force or actively remove that the implication is still there. I'll attempt to explain what it really means. You'll create some reason to say it still implies what you claim.
After reading what
@LeMansAid quoted you saying almost 2 years ago, I actually clicked it to go to your OP to see if there was more. And this line caught my eye; "Nearly five years into this social experiment..." It made me think for a minute, I'm not judging.
It wasn't a literal social experiment, but I'm sure you understand that. No controls, no notebooks, just a dad trying to expose his daughter to his interests so I don't have to pretend to enjoy tea parties to connect with her before she turns into a teenager and acts like I've ruined her life by merely existing.
We've still had a good share of tea parties, but she does like to do things like ComicCon too. Oddly, she took to the stuff I wasn't trying to get her to like. She took one look at superheroes and fell in love with the idea.
The only result I see is you exposed her to both kinds of toys and she goes towards the girly ones even with boys toys around. Thus meaning, kids do actually figure it out on there own.
I don't know how much is figuring it out on her own vs. grandparents, school, and other social influences. She occasionally comes home with a random new interest purely because someone at school was telling her about it.
Not having a daughter at the time, I honestly don't know how I would deal with the situations you have to deal with.
There's a lot of "huh?" and "what?" and asking my wife what just happened.
But the embarrassing father-of-a-daughter moments, like dress up, I have turned into fun fundraising stuff for my Heart Walk stuff. I tell her I'll do it, and put a video on Facebook if we can get people to donate a certain amount of money. That was a $500 tutu. She has her fun and learns about charity and helping others at the same time, and I feel more connected than if I were just doing a tea party and hoping it will end soon.
Her newest thing are weird challenges that she sees on You Tube. Apparently, we will be trying to explode a watermelon with rubber bands and eating weird foods.
I googled it to see what it was. While its Punk Rockish, its not not my cup of tea, I don't know if the whole movie is a musical, like the clip I saw.(I did find it interesting how Laverne Cox is going to be in the squeal, I guess there is a message behind the movie...) Anyways I grew up listening to Lynerd Skynerd and C.C.R., while watching In Living Color, Martin and the Dukes of Hazzard.
I got both sides. There was MASH, Mama's Family, ALF, etc. I also got cult films and British TV. I can talk about Little Joe Cartwright as easily as I can David Lister. I loved Young Guns in 1988 and Bill & Ted in 1989.
Someone in college once commented on my lack of consistency in what I like. I had a music playlist that went straight from Korn to Dido to Led Zeppelin.
Now, since you've been to Georgia for the Petit LeMans, I have a question. Did you stop anywhere in Atlanta or just come down directly to Road Atlanta in Braselton(which is not Atlanta)?
I've been to Atlanta for non-race reasons, and the trip via Interstate requires driving through Atlanta. We once took the wives and added an extra day checking stuff out and I was there a few times as a kid. My dad was a Coca-Cola collector, so he had to go. Most of it has been north of Atlanta, but I have seen the difference. Atlanta to Lake Lanier/Braselton area definitely has changes, and they change even more as you get into the mountains (We ditched the interstate route five years ago. Adding two hours of sitting on 285 was killing me.). I honestly believe the only thing keeping that area viable are bikers. The Cabbage Patch Hospital just doesn't have the draw it used to. Good barbecue and peanuts though.
I never really considered Decatur outside Atlanta. Things inside the 285 Perimeter are more grown up than Kentucky's biggest city. But Louisville has the Highlands, a fairly progressive neighborhood that does little judging and they've spread out into the surrounding areas since I was a teen. They also had the only decent record store in town, so that might be where I got my exposure.
