Compensation

For once, I was in an aisle in the make-up section of Wal-Mart. I happened to notice a little boy of around five who was throwing something up in the air and catching it distractedly while his mother talked to him (also distractedly, as she was picking out the best shade for her skin tone, I suppose).

I paused for a moment in the next aisle, and after not finding what I needed, went on to the third. There again was the mother and child, but neither had seemed to notice me yet. As I searched, I overheard the mother asking the boy if a certain shade of nail polish was "right" for her. The boy actually gave her feedback, although I don't remember his exact words.

The sociological stereotyper in me found this funny as much as I tried to fight it, and as much as I knew there was really nothing wrong with the picture. I was surprised that a male child of such a young age would bother to give his mother feedback on something like nail polish. I couldn't help but wonder if "shopping trips with mom" in this fashion would cause him to grow up more feminine than if he had gone "tool shopping with dad" (assuming there is a father in the picture, of course).

However, as I moved further down and the two began to leave, the boy noticed me for the first time and stopped almost mid-sentence about the nail polish. He was awkwardly quiet until they were almost out of the aisle, when he very abruptly changed the subject by asking his mom loudly, "You know I played basketball at school today?"

I think I got my answer.