Tale of Two Children
http://femingenuality.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/239/06/20/13
By femingen
"Here's a tale of two children.
One, a boy, came from a family that rigidly adhered to gender roles. Growing up, he was chastised for liking to play with G.I. Joe figures, which his dad called "dolls," and ridiculed as being gay, because only girls and gays liked to play with dolls. He sometimes snuck into his parents' room to try on articles of his mother's clothing and jewelry, and while his mother turned a blind eye to it, his father exploded when he found out. He didn't stop crossdressing, he just learned to hide it, and continued it on into adulthood.
The other child was a girl whose family challenged, to a degree, gender roles. She wasn't limited to only playing with girl toys – in fact, she liked Hot Wheels cars and Lincoln Logs – and her Easy Bake Oven and collection of stuffed animals (though she really had no use for dolls at all). Her parents often dressed her in items of clothing for boys, sometimes because they were more durable and comfortable, such as shoes, and sometimes because they just liked the look. Growing up, she had no desire to wear makeup, and her parents didn't push her that direction. As an adult, she sometimes intentionally dressed as a man.
He grew up to be transgender and I married him."
