The Piercing Pain Of Gender Stereotypes

I’m in a shop where little girls can have their ears pierced. I’m browsing the shelves, looking for a gift for one of my young cousins. There are six other people in the shop: the shop assistant, two parents with a daughter dressed in pink, and a mother with a short-haired daughter who wears black from head to toe. This mother speaks so loudly that everyone hears her.

Mother: “She doesn’t want to have her earlobes pierced! See? She’s such a tomboy!”

And what’s wrong with being a tomboy?! I glance at her while she tries again and again to convince her daughter to have her ears pierced. The tomboy is still not interested.

Mother: “Can’t you do something?”

Shop Assistant: “No, I won’t do that. It has to be her decision.”

Then, the shop assistant notices that I have made my choice and gestures to me to go to the checkout. I pay for my stuff while the tomboy’s mother says this gem:

Mother: “See? The other little girl is so much braver than you!”

I sigh inwardly and I leave the shop. As I’m leaving, the tomboy asks a question, and her mother says this other gem.

Mother: “No, I won’t buy you that toy! Not until you get your ears pierced.”

I never met them again, but I still feel bad for this brave tomboy.