Oh to be free of gender norms

FAO Schwarz has a line of "Make My Own Monsters." I don't normally get down with monsters. But when I saw Oliver? I was in love. His creator is 4 year old, Niko, who writes:

“Oliver loves pink and really wants to grow his hair out long when he gets big and be a princess. Oliver has no arms and legs, but that's ok. Everyone is different.”

Right on, Niko! All semester I've been struggling to get my Women's Studies students to grasp that gender and sexuality is fluid. It isn't about being straight or gay. It isn't about who you have sex with. Rather, it is how you occupy your body. How you exist in the world. You may be female bodied but identify as male. You may be male bodied, identify as a male, yet choose to dress like a woman or aspire to be a princess. The notion of fluid sexuality and gender is incomprehensible to my college aged students. But, seemingly, a 4 year old can grasp it.

Oliver represents everything our imagination has to offer. If a child can imagine a world where we're okay with difference, shouldn't adults?

I read about Oliver here. Thanks, Lisa!