# Would you let your 7 year old son wear a dress to school? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867 "2017-04-20T18:23:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/121 "2017-04-28T17:42:39Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Good post, and also a reason why I like school uniform policies. It helps develop learning concepts that attire is not purely about the individual but is also about societal roles and function. > … > > School-time is society time, not individual time. I guess I’m in the camp that “societal roles” should yield in cases like this. The times, they are a changing… ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/122 "2017-04-28T18:44:50Z")
I’d explain that if he wants to wear a dress to school when he’s a little older it will be fine, but for the time being he’s going to stick to a shirt and pants. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/123 "2017-04-28T19:02:34Z")
> [@Maurie](#): > > My friend’s son is a smart, sweet kid, more sensitive than a lot of kids. He is into all the regular kid stuff, both traditionally “boy” and “girl” - dinosaurs, Harry Potter, stuffed animals, unicorns, Minecraft, kittens. His favourite colour is pink, he likes to have lightsaber battles, blow bubbles, and make fart jokes. > > He has recently announced that he would like a dress, and that he would happily wear it to school. Mom is fine with it, Dad is uncomfortable, but both are concerned about potential bullying. > > What about you? Would you care if your son wore a dress to school? Only if I didn’t care about him and how badly the other kids would bully him for doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/124 "2017-04-28T19:16:14Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Don’t deny the power of parents/society in how a person develop unless you’re willing to go all the way to “it only nature, not nurture” > > Science and psychology has already gone that way, both for sexual preference and gender identity. Welcome to the 21st century. Do you have a cite that sexual preference and gender identity are “only nature” and not nurture? Please note that I am asking about that specific claim, and no other. Not that there could be a genetic factor to sexual preference and gender identity - your claim that “science and psychology” have gone all the way to “only nature, not nurture”. Thanks in advance. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/125 "2017-04-28T19:24:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Do you have a cite that sexual preference and gender identity are “only nature” and not nurture? > > Please note that I am asking about that specific claim, and no other. Not that there could be a genetic factor to sexual preference and gender identity - your claim that “science and psychology” have gone all the way to “only nature, not nurture”. > > Thanks in advance. > > Regards, > Shodan [David Reimer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer), for one. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/126 "2017-04-29T12:35:11Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So a 7 year old girl in his class says to him on the playground while he is wearing a dress. > > “You’re weird! You’re a boy not a girl but you’re dressing like a girl. Stay away from me and my friends. We’re real girls not fake girls!”. This would be more my concern than traditional bullying, the risk of being ostracized by his peers. Becoming the ‘weird’ kid that others don’t want to be friends with. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/127 "2017-04-29T14:19:23Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > [David Reimer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer), for one. Do you have a cite for the claim that was made? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867/128 "2017-04-29T16:06:42Z")
This is not a yes or no question, it opens up a conversation with the kid. You want to wear a dress to school? Is there a dress up day coming up? Were some kids at school talking about wearing dresses? What did they say? OH yeah? that’s interesting, what else ? Do you think the teacher or principal would give permission? What is it about a dress that makes you want to wear it? What kind of dress, draw me a picture. And so on, sometimes if you just let them express themselves that’s all they need. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-your-7-year-old-son-wear-a-dress-to-school/784867.md?page=6)