He's a Boy

Guessing gender of stranger babies is a tricky task, which is why I usually say things like, "Aw! What's your baby's name?" en lieu of playing he/she roulette. Clothes are basically the only clues we get, and those are not always clear indications. I live in Berkeley where ideas about what is "gender appropriate" are flexible, yet I don't try to make anything difficult for anyone--a lot of my son's clothes are blue or "boyish"--plaid shirts, rugby stripes, cargo pants, etc.

For some reason, about 75% of the time, a stranger will assume that my son is a girl, even when he is decked out in blue from head to toe. It happens almost daily, sometimes more than once a day. "Oh she's a pretty baby!" "How old is she?" and so on. After a year of this, I don't tend to correct them but will just say thank you or answer questions with the correct pronoun. This gender assumption happens from people with same-aged children, older people, 5-year-olds, all from a variety of national and cultural backgrounds. In one humorous instance, a break relief teacher at his school had been working there for a week before she changed his diaper and went "aye!" She had thought that he was a girl that whole time!

I know it doesn't matter at this young age, but I am wondering what people are seeing when they see a toddler wearing a blue and think pink. Is it because he has curls? It is because he is sociable? Is this how parents get on the ultra-gendered track and dress their girls in pink tutus and boys in monster truck t-shirts? At any rate, yesterday he burped really loudly, laughed at himself and then tried to make himself burp again until he gagged a little. I'm pretty sure it's a boy I've got on my hands.