1. Newborns don't play sports. They just eat, sleep, poo, pee and look really cute.
2. Why don't you play sports with your mommy?
3. Of course, this only comes in red. If you didn't know red is now for boys.

I wrote previously about how I was witnessing the significant gender socializaiton of my, at that point, unborn child. Well, now that he's out and about the intensity of this socialization is only increasing. Almost all the clothing we've received is blue or sports related. If he's not wearing blue the first question we are asked by everyone meeting him is, "boy or girl?" You can search the Babies R'Us website by sex. It goes on and on...

This experience has increased my sense of how significant gender is as a category for people in our society. Before anyone knows my child's religion, ethnic background or age they want to know his sex. In order to properly understand who this baby is they need to know if they're thinking about a future athlete or nurse, techie or teacher, rocker or romantic.

*****

tuval is imagining a world without violence.