Childhood Imagination

If your six-year old-son likes to pretend he is Batman, and likes you to call him Batman, you do not send him to school in a Batman costume, except on Oct 31. 

And you do not insist that all of his school teachers call him Batman.

And you do not threaten legal action against a teacher who refuses to call him Batman, but insists on using his given name.

Likewise, if your six-year-old daughter likes to pretend she's a mermaid, then let her enjoy her imagination and make-believe at home, or give her a mermaid themed birthday party.

You do not demand that her elementary school accommodate her wearing a fish tail to school every day. And if she wants to do that, you tell her no.

It is your responsibility as a parent to train your child in the difference between imaginary make-believe and reality.

On the same note, if your little girl likes being tomboyish at home, and likes playing in the dirt, well that's fine at home, but when she's going to school or out with Mom and Dad, she is expected to be neat and clean, and (preferably) feminine looking.

It is a parent's job to lead by example, and to train their children in proper standards.

In a related story, and just showing a right way to interpret such interests;

A certain little boy, we will say about six, was particularly fond of the movie Frozen. They had the usual collection of Disney cartoons, but this little boy couldn't get enough of Frozen.

He would sing the songs, and dance in the living room while it played. His mother worried a little bit that he seemed overly obsessed with the female characters.

Shopping for school needs, she offered him a Batman lunch box, but he had instantly gravitated over to the girls' section, and was looking over the Princess themed items. And he proudly pulled out a light blue Frozen-themed lunch box depicting Anna and Elsa with a huge smile on his face.

"I want this one."

His mother worried that things were going too far, and he shouldn't be using such girlish things in public.

"Those are meant for girls," she tried to explain. Boys at school will tease you.

"But I love it!" he pleaded.

After a while she found there was no changing his mind, and she bought it for him. And he happily used it every day without any complaints.

It didn't take this wise mother long to figure out that her son had a crush on Princess Anna. He loved watching Frozen because that was the only way he could see his beloved Anna.

He was singing and dancing in the living room because he was imagining that he was dancing with Anna.

He had no effeminate tendencies at all, and she felt so ashamed of herself for even worrying about anything so silly. She thought back to her own childhood, when she used to dress up in a princess costume and dream of marrying a prince.

Her son's behaviour was less common for a boy his age, but hardly anything to worry about.

She saw his interest for what it truly was: a perfectly healthy and appropriate male desire for feminine beauty.

So she went down to the Disney Store, and they showed her some high end, ornamental princess dolls, and she ordered an Anna doll and gave it to him for his birthday.