Real Talk about Parenting, Teaching, and Reaching Tomorrow’s Men.Read more »
Real Talk about Parenting, Teaching, and Reaching Tomorrow’s Men.Read Less
At age 4, Sassy Harvey’s son was told that if he dances, he must be a girl. Or gay.
Not surprisingly, he quit dance class soon after that.
It’s 2019. Girls, we know can become astronauts and scientists and ministers and presidents. But boys who dance are STILL routinely perceived as gay and effeminate. In fact, according to a recent study of male ballet dancers:
Shortly after her son quit formal dance classes, Sassy launched MY BOY CAN, an organization that would like to see a social shift in attitudes towards boys and challenges the constraints placed on boys. Often, Sassy says, “when a boy expresses interest that in things that are perceived as ‘for girls,’ they are told they shouldn’t or can’t.”
MY BOY CAN’s first campaign was #MyBoyCanDance. Sassy reached out to dance studios and others in Portsmouth, England (her home base) and encouraged people to share photos of boys and men dancing, with the hashtag #MyBoyCanDance. Thanks to the power of the Internet, “it went crazy,” Sassy said. “It’s now worldwide.”
Of course, there’s much work yet to be done. But as Sassy explains, “It all starts with us stopping the ‘My boy won’t, can’t, shouldn’t because he is a boy’ and starting instead to say, ‘My Boy Can.'”
My Boy Can — Sassy’s Facebook community
Boys Can Dance Too — Building Boys post
Tight, Tutus & “Relentless” Teasing: Inside Ballet’s Bullying Epidemic — excellent HuffPo article
Danseur — documentary film (mentioned at about 19:20) about male dancers
The Heart of a Boy: Celebrating the Strength and Spirit of Boyhood, by Kate T. Parker — BEAUTIFUL books w tons of photos of boys engaged in all kinds of activities. Includes thought-provoking quotes from the featured boys
Let Toys Be Toys — UK-based campaign that asks the toy & publishing industries to stop limiting children’s interests by promoting some toys & books as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys (Website includes lots of great articles and links to their social media)
Let Clothes Be Clothes — campaign calling on retailers to stop limiting children via outdated gender stereotypes in the design & marketing of kids’ clothes
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