http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/02/07/dr-phil/A mother named Robby wrote to Dr. Phil worried about her 5-year-old son’s love of Barbie dolls and clothing for girls. (There’s some irony in a woman with a man’s name asking about gender-appropriate toys, don’t you think?) Dr. Phil responded via his website that her son’s behavior is “not unusual,” nor is it “a precursor to your son being gay.”He then recommends that Robby direct her son “in an unconfusing way.” He says, “Don’t buy him Barbie dolls or girl’s clothes. You don’t want to do things that seem to support the confusion at this stage of the game. Take the girl things away, and buy him boy toys.”
Seriously, what the hell? Gods forbid you son has any interest in something you consider girly. If you allow that, then he'll become a sissy. Or worse. He may catch, "the gay." To insure that he grows up to be a typical alpha male with no hint of same sex attraction, you must keep him away from Barbie dolls. His future depends on it. [/sarcasm]
Honestly, aren't there more important things for parents to be worried about? So what if you son is girly. Big deal.
I think rather than a fuck you to Dr. Phil, a fuck you to the mother is deserved. A mother who would suppress her own child's natural instincts to mold him into what SHE wants him to be is the one deserving of a fuck you. Dr. Phil may have given her advice on how to go about doing it however, I believe he had to act diplomatically through this. He HAS to give advice to the person. He can't just refuse to give advice and must adapt his own prejudices and practice empathy in order to help out a person in the way that they wish to be helped. Mind I do not watch Dr. Phil nor am a fan of him by any means but I have often been in situations where I had to give advice to someone who seeked help about something that was contrary to my own beliefs. I can understand what he was all about when giving such advice. As the article shows, he does not appear to be a homophobe.
ReplyDelete