What do you think attributes to this?
I’ve always found this so odd. If someone names their daughter [name_u]Liam[/name_u] or [name_u]Jackson[/name_u] it’s “edgy” but if someone names their son [name_u]Kelsey[/name_u] or [name_u]Shannon[/name_u] the immediate response is that “he will be bullied” “people will think he’s a girl” “why torment him like that”
Personally I hate that too! I’m not the type to do that and feel it’s unisex for a reason! I think it comes down to peer view and toxic masculinity! The less masculine the most likely for bullying unfortunately, so that’s why I always try to teach my niece and nephews otherwise, a masculine women isn’t always just mean empowerment and a feminine boy doesn’t always mean weak, you can be whatever without having to put gender into it, a social construct in itself!
In an ideal world, boys could have feminine names and nobody would think twice about it. However, that’s unfortunately not really society’s attitude right now, due to toxic masculinity and gender roles. And, while I can see that we need to use feminine boys’ names in order to change that, I wouldn’t want to put that burden of potential bullying on my son.
That’s my take on it, personally- it’s unfortunate, it needs to change, but I would never want to put my son in a position where he will likely be made fun of for his name, even though he would have the moral high ground. It’s a bit of a catch-22, for me - we need feminine boys’ names to normalize it, but I wouldn’t want to give my son a feminine name unless it was already normalized.
I’m not sure really, although I’m not a fan of boy names on girls either so maybe that’s why I don’t like it.
Same goes for me. I just like clearly feminine names for girls and clearly masculine names for boys. [name_m]Just[/name_m] a personal preference!
masculinity.
Sexism.
Feminists are not bad at all, I am alll for feminism!!! 100%!! But some feminists put males down and say that females are better and all that stuff. THat is not right. Masculinism needs to be recognized as a problem too.
Sexism in general is absolutely sad and terrible.
I think it’s a shame -i love softer, unisex names for boys.
I guess a lot of it comes down to toxic masculinity in society atm
I’m pretty sure this has been discussed before. Some people find this sexist, some don’t, so I have to ask everyone on here to be civil and respectful regardless of your opinion.
I think it’s a patriarchy thing. Because women are viewed as less than, giving a “girlie” name to a son is seen as limiting him, while a masculine name for a girl could offer more opportunities. Same reason why being a tomboy is cool but boys dressing like girls is frowned upon.
I find this conversation interesting since in my culture, girls being given outright masculine names (or vice versa) just isn’t really a thing. To me, it’s a very American concept and other countries (especially non-Anglophone countries) don’t tend to do it. It wouldn’t be considered cool or edgy to name your daughter [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_u]James[/name_u] here - it would just be considered strange.
Misogyny.
For real though, I went to elementary school with a boy named McKenna and he was never teased about his name. [name_u]Ever[/name_u]. Everyone just accepted it. I honestly think people just overreact about this subject when they think boys will be teased if even one girl in the world has the same name as them. There are some names that have crossed over to being more popular for girls than boys that I do prefer on girls (as well as some that haven’t made the jump yet but are still well-used for girls) but I would never say they’re inappropriate to use on boys.
Because masculinity is idealized and preferable. Men and women* wish to see masculine traits in females because the social perception is that it makes them “strong” and “intelligent”.
Femininity is problematized and considered undesirable outside of very specific spaces like the home environment. Men and women* don’t want to see femininity in males because it makes them “weak” and “emotional”, therefore unreliable.
Girls and women are expected to conceal their feminity to be thought of as capable.
Boys are expected to perform masculinity and avoid feminity because that makes them seem inferior.
** not necessarily the dear reader, but in the general scope of things.
Personally I am not fan of either way lol. I don’t like masculine names on girls and I don’t like feminine names on boys. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my opinion though. I just like traditional names.
Because we live in a patriarchy
I agree with this.
I think it’s more personal preference than “patriarchy”. I know way too many gorgeous girl names to want to name my daughter [name_u]Jackson[/name_u] and I don’t think boy names on girls are particularly edgy anyway.
I actually think [name_u]Shannon[/name_u] sounds really sweet (and very Irish) for a little boy and very dated on a girl.
I don’t really think a little boy [name_u]Shannon[/name_u] or [name_u]Kelsey[/name_u] would have much of a problem. Maybe their grandparents would question it for a second but then everyone would get over it.
Since many of the unisex names started out as boy names there’s no reason they can’t go back to the boys side too.
Because, objectively speaking, women have less power in our society.
I won’t speculate on why because I think it can be many different reasons for different people. However, I will agree that it’s very frustrating! [name_u]Avery[/name_u] is my favorite boys’ name, and I also love [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] (BAILEY!), [name_u]Bryn[/name_u], [name_u]Harper[/name_u], [name_u]Eden[/name_u], [name_u]Addison[/name_u], [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_u]Finley[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_u]Auden[/name_u], etc., and it gets so frustrating to hear over and over how I shouldn’t use them. Some I think are more acceptable than others (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard flak for [name_u]Avery[/name_u], which I’m happy for, as he’s a family name and very near to my heart for many reasons), but still. The amount of times I’ve heard comments like this and felt like it would be unfair or cruel to one day name my son [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] makes me so sad. He’s such a handsome name.
@ashthedreamer If it makes you feel better, I know a male [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] in his early twenties who has no problems with his name 