This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Country music singer and boy mom Maren Morris posted a <a href="https://x.com/unlimited_ls/status/2041564082289926334">video</a> claiming she got into a heated argument with a man who told her boys need to “toughen up.” Well, Maren, they do.
Morris said in her video that the man’s comment came at a party where the adults were discussing gender stereotypes, a totally normal and light conversation topic for a weekend soiree.
“My son doesn’t need to be tough, especially in the way you’re using that word,” Morris shot back in her video. She explained that she was nervous her son was learning simplistic gender stereotypes like “only girls can like pink” and “girls can’t like Spider-Man.”
She proceeded to admit she paints her six-year-old son’s nails and makes friendship bracelets with him.
But the issue isn’t whether boys and girls can like the same things. It’s whether boys and girls should be developed in the same way. And the answer is no.
I agree with Morris that children seeing gendered toys and colors in black and white, no pun intended, can have a detrimental impact on their impressionable minds. The West is undergoing a gender-obsessed craze wherein perfectly healthy young girls are chopping off their breasts because they like the color blue and “feel” like a boy. For most of history, we understood what it meant when girls appreciated traditionally masculine things. We called these girls “tomboys.” This wasn’t something to be medicalized, but a phase they grew out of or into.
Through therapy-infected conversations on TikTok and Snapchat, a generation of girls has wiped the “tomboy” out of existence, replacing her with cross-sex hormones and chest compressors. I strongly believe in the sentiment that girls who like Spider-Man, the color blue, and trucks are still girls. Liking toys traditionally associated with boys doesn’t make girls — or any child — the opposite sex.
Play exploration simply doesn’t work the same with boys, though. Parents who dress their boys in pink tutus, paint their nails, and encourage them to play with Polly Pockets (are those still cool?), are engaging in undeniably problematic behavior. Call me a hypocrite. I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. My take is simple: Boys and girls are different, and their creative exploration in childhood should be curated differently as well. This applies especially to the clothing choices of young boys.
Boys don’t become men by accident. Masculinity is something that is crafted and reinforced by strong parents. When strength is treated as optional, even in play spaces, boys don’t just become softer versions of men. They become confused.
This isn’t hypothetical. We are seeing in real time how toxic parenting that pushes gender non-conformity can shape a man’s identity later in life. In 2022, I had the privilege of interviewing detransitioners for a <a href="https://dailycaller.com/stream/damaged/">documentary</a> highlighting individuals who underwent gender transition surgeries and later regretted their decisions. Detransitioner Walt Heyer was among those interviewed.
Heyer “transitioned” and identified as a “woman” named Laura Jenson. He later detransitioned and dedicated his life to exposing the sham of “gender-affirming care.”
In our interview, Heyer said he initially became confused about his gender when his grandmother, “Mamie,” would make him colorful dresses and give him preferential treatment when he was dressed like a girl. He said crossdressing was a common theme in the stories of boys who were confused about their gender in their teens. The same was not said of girls. This is not a coincidence — because boys and girls are different.
People are quick to point out the asymmetry of how boys and girls should explore gendered toys and how the double standard “isn’t fair.” Good. Fairness, when defined as sameness, isn’t reality. Boys and girls are not interchangeable, and raising them as if they are doesn’t produce the equality feminists seek. It produces confusion in vulnerable young men.
There are inherent differences between the sexes, and those must be developed in adolescence. Strong men showcase toughness, discipline, and emotional control, and that is developed through structure in their clothes and play, not gender fluidity. Boys, in the words of some unnamed Tennessee man, need to “toughen up.”
***
Chrissy Clark is a journalist and conservative commentator. She hosts the &#8220;Underreported Stories&#8221; podcast, where she covers the news ignored by mainstream media.

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Country Star’s Parenting Style — Nail Polish, Bracelets — Fuels Masculinity Debate

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Country Star’s Parenting Style — Nail Polish, Bracelets — Fuels Masculinity Debate