Boy with pink toe nail polish creates controversy

PHOENIX - Have you seen J. Crew's April catalog? At a closer glance, one ad shows a mom painting her son's toenails hot pink. The woman in the photo is J. Crew's creative director and president, Jenna Lyons. The young boy is her 5-year-old son, Becketts.

The ad has sparked internet outrage and many are questioning whether or not such behavior might make a boy question his sexuality.

So is the ad just some innocent fun?

Dr. Kristina Zosuls, a research professor, who studies gender development at ASU, says there is no evidence that this action by J. Crew's creative director and president has any harmful psychological effects.

She says the reaction by a lot of people is an example of how people tend to combine gender-related interests and traits with sexuality. For example, a boy could like ballet dancing, but not necessarily grow up to be homosexual.

"A friend pointed out to me today that hall of fame wide receiver, Lynn Swann, practiced ballet and those skills contributed to his football skills," Zosuls said.

So, is this an overreaction?

Zosuls thinks so. She believes that mothers especially, would see this more as a moment of spontaneous play and bonding than anything else.

"It is common for young boys to be curious about their mothers' make-up and jewelry, just as young girls might slip into their father's big shoes or try on his tie," Zosuls said.

Young children are curious about anything and everything. They want to learn about things they see their parents doing. Part of learning about gender is learning certain things that are associated with one's own gender and the other gender too.

Zosuls also bring up a point that girls are often given a lot more leeway with how they look and act. She says that parents are less likely to fear that their daughter will become a lesbian if she likes a specific sport that is manlier, like basketball, whereas if their son likes fashion, the parent may be more concerned.

There is no reason to fear exposing children to examples of cross-gender behavior, according to Zosuls. There are many things that parents, other adults and children do that serve to reinforce a child's gender identity and gender-stereotyped behaviors.

Evidence shows children are given messages that reinforce gender stereotyped behavior. Zosuls said we need to also recognize that parents also have the ability to choose for themselves what they do and don't expose their children to in terms of the media and their own actions and behaviors.