Si, es niña*
* Yes, she´s a girl
A curious thing I have noticed here in Mexico is how many people assume that Chiq is a boy or are unsure of her gender. I don´t really think babies necessarily have gender-specific features and she´s only 9 months old with just a little bit of blonde fuzzy hair, so I’m not bothered or offended that people might not realise she´s a girl. I know I generally guess the gender of a baby by how he or she is dressed so on days when Chiq is dressed in blue or yellow or green, its no surprise that people might assume she´s a boy. What I do find surprising though is on days when she is dressed completely in pink, some people still assume she is a boy and look incredulous when I say “es niña”. As much as I try not to get stuck in gender stereotypes I don´t think you would see many boy babies dressed in pinks and florals, particularly not here.
I have a (completely un-scientific and un-researched) theory as to why this is and it´s based on the amount of baby bling I see on little girls. In Mexico it´s customary for baby girls to have their ears pierced in the hospital a day or so after birth, a practice we chose not to follow with Chiq (nor incidentally with Guerita who was born in the Middle East where they have the same practice). In Chiq´s Gymboree class, she is the only little girl without earrings; some of them even have diamond studs!
She´s also the only little girl in the class (and in the whole city I think) who doesn´t wear some sort of headband, hair clip or tufty little pony tail on top of her head. Chiq, like a lot of babies has very little hair and, if Guerita´s hair growth is any indicator, she won´t have much of it for at least a year. I´ve never really understood why mothers put these things on their daughters - is it because they feel the need to make them look as feminine as possible? Whenever I see one I always think of a quote from a very funny pregnancy book I read when I was pregnant with Guerita:
“If you buy those headbands with a bow on them for a girl baby your child
will look like a demented Easter egg in a nappy”
Up the Duff - Kaz Cooke
I don´t really have a problem with those headbands, but I just don´t really see the point of them, or all the other non-functional accessories for babies. I don´t put my kids in shoes until after they are walking and only use socks when its cold.
So my theory is that despite Chiq at times being dressed from head to toe in pink, because she doesn´t have earrings and is not wearing a headband, people have a hard time beleiving she is a girl. Does this mean the beauty regime is starting from birth? No wonder they are all so glamourous!
Just another one of the curious things about My Mexican Life.
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I love that Kaz Cooke quote. I think your theory is spot on. I cant stand headbands on baby girls (or earrings for that matter). I dressed Lily in a lot of gender neutral stuff until she was a year old and we started getting lots of hand-me-downs and was often asked if she was a boy! As for shoes, it was a big issue for me when we arrived here and Jasper wasnt walking. He didnt wear shoes of course and I fended questions from young and old about it as they put their kids in shoes here very early
I am with you on the earring thing - Asha is also in the minority here without earrings. I am of Indian descent and the Indians love their bling just like the Mexicans do. Within the first three months of life, my relatives gave Asha diamond studs, diamond pendants and gold bangles (she does wear the bangles when we go to Indian weddings or religious ceremonies). When she was 7 months old, I gave into my MIL and mom and got her ears pierced - I *hated* it and felt so guilty about piercing her body (even though it was done to me and I am thankful I was young enough to never remember the exerience). Of course one day, at about a year old, she pulled out an earring and never let me put it back in, so the holes closed up and now she looks like a boy according to the Mexicans, even though I do put a pin in her hair to keep it out of her eyes. Go figure!
Penny - everyone here seems to have their babies in shoes from birth too, and its not even about keeping their feet warm. I’m sure they all think I am very strange for not putting shoes on Chiq.
Rupal - my sister in law is Indian too and she resisted the pressure from her family to have her daughters’ ears pierced. She too wears the bangles for Indian celebrations and they have given Guerita some, which she loves. The Indian bling is amazing - I remember at my brother and sister in law’s wedding in India, I almost didn’t recognise my sister in law she was wearing so much jewellery. It was a fantastic experience to see the beautiful saris, go to the henna party, and see all the differences from an Australian wedding!
My sister-in-law is Brazilian. She was about to buy some earrings for my almost two year old daughter on a recent visit back to Brazil when she hesitated. She told me, “Suddenly I wasn’t sure if baby girls in Australia had their ears pierced at birth”. Apparently all Brazilian girls have pierced ears. Must be a South American thing generally?
My poor girl would be mistaken for a boy too. She still has not much hair, although what hair there is is fine and fluffy and coppery red (beautiful). I like to dress her in green to set off her green eyes, but then everyone calls her a boy…although I think it’s quite clear she’s a girl…
Apparently my grandmother used to sticky tape a ribbon on to my mother’s head to stop people from mistaking her for a boy. All of us have such fine hair that it didn’t grow until we were older, and my sister’s doesn’t go past her shoulders.
The coppery red hair and green eyes sounds like a gorgeous combination!
I really don’t understand the insistence on babies and kids wearing gender specific colours - its not like as adults women never wear blue or green etc. Admittedly my husband probably wouldn’t wear pink, but lots of guys do.
Guerita didn’t have much hair to speak of until she was at least 2 so I expect Chiq will be the same. It’ll be a while before she’s using any type of hair accessory!
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