I also appreciate that you thought of some phrases that stereotype boys as well. I tried to think of some while I was writing this article, but I couldn’t think of any. “Be a man” is a perfect example.

Anne, do you feel like your husband is the head of your household? Or are you two equals in your house?

Then again, it’s really, really hard to make me upset with this kind of thing. So maybe I’m just not getting my panties in a wad as much as I should.

Additionally, I feel that as a woman, it is more socially acceptable to leave traditional gender roles at the door–focus on a career or make the decision to not have children–than it is for men to shrug off theirs. While I’ve heard people (usually sixth grade elementary school students) say “Don’t play like a girl,” I’ve heard “Men don’t cry,” “Be a man,” and “Toughen up” much more often. Little boys are just as often, if not moreso, victims of gender bias, as dads at Little League games insist that men don’t cry when they get hit with a baseball in the hand.

If we’re going to agree that traditional gender roles should be left at the door, I hardly think a childhood dance is the place to start. Maybe we should begin with equal pay for women (which still doesn’t exist in the corporate world), reproductive rights for women, and embracing stay-at-home dads, who are still considered an anomaly. Taking away a father/daughter dance seems like a waste of time and resources the ACLU could put into much more vital issues, if you ask me.

I agree with you to a certain extent about modifying the “father-daughter” dance to a more universal “parent-child,” but can it be taken too far in making things gender neutral? I’m supportive of the idea of making certain things more gender neutral and removing negative statements/ideas that put down either gender from our lexicon, but at the same time think girls should still be taught to behave like a lady, and boys like gentlemen– even if the definitions of such terms are a little vague and open to interpretation.

This isn’t a lexicon so much as an incident; as I feel strongly that it’s a matter also of intent and we can’t let every situation make us feel guilty in advance. That’s like vaccinating for everything and then getting hit by a bus.

We just have to be cognizant of those things.

A female coworker of mine said something very obnoxious and shocking. She tried to give a backhanded compliment to someone who under my supervision is a great canvasser.

The first coworker said that the second one’s outfit was very pretty; but she meant it in the context that it helped her on the job.

Definitely not innocuous as I myself felt offended. Your outfit doesn’t determine ability. And to have a female say this to a female with a drip of envy to boot, well, let’s say I didn’t hold back my opinion.

And I agree with Ansley, although I had to admit, that I wasn’t familiar with Roll Tide. I don’t follow college sports unless it’s PAC 12. So, I will use a similar quote, “…fight the fights that need fighting.” Martin Sheen in the American President

So my comment is simply this: Roll Tide.