
Internalized misogyny is never in season.
By Alexandra Blogier — Written on Dec 23, 2022
Photo: Victoria Akvarel / Pexels

A mom is opening up to Reddit's r/Parenting subreddit to express her shock over her mother-in-law’s reaction to the Christmas present she and her husband bought their 3-year-old son.
The upset mother posted about her recent FaceTime interaction with her mother-in-law on the forum’s discussion for child-rearing queries.
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Her mother-in-law was appalled that she got her son a play kitchen.
She reported being “flabbergasted” and “shocked” by her mother-in-law’s harsh reaction to their gift.
She said that her mother-in-law’s voice immediately changed, to a “really disgusted tone” as she asked “Why did you get him that? He’s a boy.”
The woman replied that her son has loved every other toy kitchen he’s ever played with and she wanted him to have one in his own home.
Her mother-in-law responded “almost screeching in hysterics, ‘get him a workbench or something! Why would you get him a KITCHEN?’”
Her husband chimed in, reminding his mother that “they had a play kitchen when he was younger and he played with it all the time.”
His mother retorted that his sister had a toy kitchen, not him.
The woman stated that her mother-in-law was “extremely curt” with her husband and ended the conversation soon after that comment.
“Not that it matters, but it’s not even a pink ‘girly’ kitchen, it’s a very gender-neutral play kitchen,” she wrote.
She reported that her husband thinks she’s making the situation “way deeper than it is,” but she found her mother-in-law’s response “very off-putting and full of vitriol.”
Noting that she and her mother-in-law have “quite different political views,” she questioned why her mother-in-law was offended by “something so harmless.”
She ended her post by saying, “I am just in shock!”
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Other Reddit users supported her choice to give her son a play kitchen for Christmas.
“Heaven forbid our boys grow up to be capable chefs or caring fathers!” said one user.
“Your mother-in-law has some deeply ingrained misogyny,” posted another.
She responded affirmatively, noting that her mother-in-law “is very misogynistic.”
“I’ll never tell my children they can’t or have to do anything based on their gender,” she continued.
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Other Reddit parents were in agreement.
“It isn’t about the toy itself as much as it is about her beliefs about what is a boy thing, what is a girl thing, and the boundaries between the two becoming less distinct as time goes on,” said one user.
Another responded with her own parenting philosophy: “It's our job to teach him all the hard and soft skills he needs to be a self-sufficient grown-up. First by imitation and imaginative play, then practical experience.”
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.