Poll: Does this inspire controversy?

[Therumancer]

I don't think "gender confusion" is an issue since the kid is pre-sexual. That said I don't think the mother should be painting a boy's toe nails pink. I think that says some things about her that are rather odd, and as the kid develops there might be problems, "gender confusion" being only one of them, since she's apparently a REALLY strange bird.


Whether this is genuine advertising, or staged for the fake contreversy, the bottom line is that the picture *IS* messed up, and the kids is being exploited by being shown in such a situation, having fun or not. I won't go so far as to say they should take the kid away from the parents who would do/allow this, but I definatly think there is enough here where child services should look into it, and keep this in mind if there are other incidents.

What this most makes me think of is how some women see their kids almost as living fashion accessories and dolls. Companies make a fortune over women who get off on dressing their kids up in wierd outfits, or having them do odd things to show off. It occurs to me that this is probably the kind of lady this whole business is aimed at. That said, such attitudes wind up being really unhealthy, especially if the mother doesn't want to let go when the kid starts to grow up. As I said, it's something that should be looked into by the authorities, but there is no way to say how much action (if any) should actually be taken going by the picture.

 

[Hashime]

The boy does not care, the mother is enjoying time with her kid, the news site is making money.

This is a win-win-win.

Also, that kid will be painting his nails with white-out is a few years anyways, so what difference does it make?

 

[eggy32]

There's nothing wrong with that.
Even if he does get gender confused, who cares? It's not like this world needs any more heterosexual males in it anyway.

 

[Thespian]

The kid's about to fall of the chair! She'll be holding his feet and his head will crack into the ground! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Oh, it's because she's painting his toes... I'm sure that the kid is associating "Whimsical colours" + "Toes" to equal "Hilarity in it's purest form!" and not "Girl things" + "Me" equals "Wtf am I? D:"

Anyway, Gender Disassociation is far preferable to having a stale relationship with a parent. Good to see a kid so happy with his mom.

 

[Hashime]

So I'm wondering, why is this so offensive and controversial?

Because homophobic Christians.

No, priests actually wear pink gown thingys at least once a year, so I would not see why Catholics at least would have a problem.

 

[Ampersand]

Who says guys can't paint their nails or wear pink? I don't think I can rock that look but damned if i'm not gonna try it now.

 

[Spacelord]

Kid's five, has his entire life left to overcompensate.

 

[Anarchemitis]

I didn't know anything was wrong with the ad until I actually read someone pointing out the kid had nail polish on his toes.
Additionally,
I didn't know that was wrong. The hell is the deal with painting your toes?

 

[rokkolpo]

People need to make hissy fits for everything.

*sigh*

 

[LadyMint]

It's only controversial because a sizeable enough group of people have decided to vocalize it as such. It doesn't confuse a boy to paint his toenails. If anything, a child that young is probably delighted at the absurd practice of having one's toenails an oddly different color than the rest of his body. It's only when adults, with their own definitions of the symbolism behind the gesture, decide to make it a problem that it becomes anything more than a moment of humor between mother and son.

I had a discussion like this before with my grandmother and she told me of how her oldest son--who is younger than two daughters before him--used to want a baby doll because his older sisters had one. So she got him one, and he wandered around with it caring for it like a father. Eventually he grew out of it and went on to live a relatively normal life. My point with that is: Children have innocent moments of meaningless fun all the time, and a lot of the times it's the way adults react to it in their presence that suddenly shapes their definition of what they're doing beyond the "meaningless fun."

 

[snakeakaossi]

I am terribly confused, I really am. As long as the mods don't mind I am giving you a free pass to flame me, because a strong reaction might at least explain something to me.

Can someone please tell me how this in any way can spark a controversy? I guess it's from the USA, but where in the world can this possibly be so controversial that it needs an outrage? His toenails don't even make up 1% of the picture! If it is from the USA, am I the only one thinking people in the USA are picking stuff at random and then make up the wildest things to be able to talk about a controversy?

This last question is for people to make fun of this Dutchman: What is wrong with Jcrew? Yes, I googled it. Then I got scared away by the young woman with a 60 year old face on the homepage.

 

[William MacKay]

if a kid that age asks to do it, its ok and there should be no complaints.

and there shouldnt anyway.

 

[Venereus]

I see nothing wrong, and neither should any of you.

I do agree that the color doesn't particularly suit the lad.

 

[Drunkenclam]

the woman wishes she had a daughter and is going to force her son to get a sex change.

 

[n03s]

People get offended with pretty much everything.. so not really controversial..
The pink nails was the last thing i noticed to be honest..
x_x

 

[Nanaki316]

Oh come on let the bloody kid enjoy some innocence before he's at an age he actually worries or gets beaten up for shit like this. I'd say the most important thing in that picture is that he's having fun with his mother! Don't see a lot of it these days.

 

[quantum mechanic]

Quibble: the question "Does this inspire controversy?" is different from "Do you find this offensive?" Does this inspire controversy? Obviously yes, if there's already a controversy about it. Do I find it offensive? No. There's a guy on my floor who borrows my nail polish all the time, and he's definitely not "gender-confused." He's gay, but that has nothing to do with painting his nails.

 

[godofallu]

It looks like the "mom" is going to make out/molest that kid. But noone cares about that... pink toenails caught their attention.

 

[hecticpicnic]

I think everyone should also paint there nails.
(also that shit would fly in Ireland those 5 year-old bullies would be all over you,You'd be a blood pulp on the ground )

 

[ninja51]

Hes a young kid and his mom and him are just playing around. Painting them was most likely a joke they had, the kid isnt gender confused at all because of a joke. And if he is, well who cares? Toe nail paint doesnt do that