This is an ad in the latest J. Crew catalog. It is a picture of J.Crew designer Jenna Lyons and her adorable son Beckett. The ad is for a grey-and-white Coastline-stripe pullover. As much as I like J. Crew, that is not the reason I'm writing. The article written about the ad is the reason for this entry. While the article itself isn't offensive, reading some of the quotes and comments disappointed me. Beckett being a boy and his toes being pink, is apparently too much for people. The picture is a carefree, fun-loving moment between a mother and her son. It's not meant to push an agenda, as some comments may suggest.
Jenna obviously hasn't raised her son (or children) with rigid gender roles where boys only play with trucks in the dirt during breaks from eating bugs and playing football. This little boy sees nothing wrong with some hot pink action for the summer...can you blame him?
Seeing the picture, I immediately thought of a favorite blog of mine, http://www.raisingmyrainbow.com/. It follows a mother supportively raising her "slightly effeminate, possibly gay, totally fabulous son". What a wonderful way to describe your child! Her son isn't struggling with gender identity issues, he's simply a lovely little man who likes Strawberry Shortcake and Paula Deen. A boy after my own heart!
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