In this day and age, the line between female and male clothing has grown hazier than ever. Back in the day, there were strict rules one had to adhere to, or else there would be consequences to pay.
A few months ago, I was on a QI marathon, and amidst insane amounts of laughter, I learnt a couple of things that piqued my curiosity. I just had to find out for myself whether these were true facts or not.
Series G Episode 7 - Girls & Boys
For about two hundred years after it arrived in the language in the thirteenth century girl was indeed a general term for any young person. If a writer wanted to make clear the sex of the person, he had to add a qualifier: knave girl for a boy, and gay girl for a young woman. But by the sixteenth century the word had shifted to our modern sense.
Which reminds me - all foetuses are 'females' prior to the male genitalia developing. OK, any males reading this right now, don't worry - I'm not trying to undermine your virility. Not much, anyway. But yes, it is scientifically correct.
On the subject of boys' vs girls' stereotypes, up until the 1940s, the colour for baby boys was pink, and the colour for baby girls was blue. It seems like it was thought that Pink is a toned-down version of Red which is considered to be a strong, masculine colour, whereas Blue was thought to be a milder version of Purple which is a more gentle, feminine colour. You can clicky here, here and here for more details.
Such a pretty... err... boy.
Yes. The above photo is that of a boy called Franklin Roosevelt. No, it wasn't a case of his mother trying to "turn him gay" or anything. It was actually standard procedure to dress boys up to the age of 6 or 7 years of age in a sort of dress. They also didn't get their first haircut until that age was reached.
This means that boys born around 1884 spent the first 6 or 7 years of their lives possibly being dressed up in pink dresses. Thank your lucky stars you weren't.
There is a standard protocol one follows whenever they find out an acquaintance, friend or relative is pregnant. First off, they look at Pregnant Person confused, trying to assess whether "Congratulations!!" is in order or not. Once the appropriate reaction has been confirmed and executed, [if said reaction was to be positive] the standard conversation would follow these steps:
"How far along are you?"
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Have you decided on a name yet?"
Ah, the name. That is one question that will keep on haunting you until the very end of the pregnancy.
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." Juliet, in 'Romeo and Juliet' (Act 2, Scene 2)
If like me, you decide to wait until birth to find out your spawn's gender, the task of finding an adequate name will become even harder.You'll have to decide on First and Middle names for a boy, then go through the same process again for a girl. Parents to twins+ have my sympathy - it must be hell trying to decide what names to choose, then figure out who should be given which name once the babies are born!
I set in place a number of rules when it comes to choosing a name.
No biblical names
No naming Creature after someone I know
No naming Creature after someone I know's children.
No naming Creature after an ex.
No uber-common names [e.g. Chris, Mark, Michael, Maria, Sara]
No extremely uncommon names
No names that are easily warped to become something rude [e.g. Josh,Garrett]
No names that are easy to make fun of - mainly because I'd be tempted to do so myself.
No stupid names
The initials must not spell something that will make a bully squeal in glee.
Those guidelines meant that I said no to pretty much all suggestions put forward by people who wished to give their input. Unfortunately, I also had to change my own mind a few times as well.
You know how everyone seems to have names up their sleeve that they'd like to call their child, should they ever become parents? Well, mine were Rhiannon and Gawain. Thanks to pop music, I know for a fact that if I were to call any daughter of mine Rhiannon and live in Malta, more often than not people will call her Rihanna. *shudder* Besides from that unpleasant factor, I know both a Rhiannon and a Gawain nowadays - and one of my friends actually named her own daughter Rhiannon, so that is a no-go.
I also happen to have a severe aversion to most unisex names, as they tend to be too masculine/feminine at the best of times. Therefore, I completely ignored them whilst brainstorming for names.
At one point, I had decided I would call a boy Duncan - which meant I'd have to listen to Princes of the Universe once he's born... And a girl would be called Yvaine, after the Fallen Star in Stardust - one kickass novel written by God Himself - Mr Neil Gaiman. This was the plan until it happened.
"What?"
Well, I was finding it so difficult to come up with a name mainly because I'm the kind of person who needs to see a face in order to assign a name to that being. So, when I got to have a 4D Ultrasound Scan, and I actually saw Creature's face, I realised that neither names were appropriate, and therefore I would have to start my quest all over again.
My Creature :)
I spent the next few days constantly staring at the 4D images, trying to decide what name Creature looks like, besides from Creature, of course. And then, one night it hit me. I had finally found The Name.
At this point, you're probably hanging on the edge of your seat in anticipation. "What is it? Tell us! Tell us!" you're screaming frantically at me.
Sorry, but not yet.
It isn't that I'm being evil..... well, not just that, anyway. Remember the 10 Name Choosing Commandments I listed previously? Number 3 is the reason why only a handful of people I trust know the name.
Friendships can be ruined over someone stealing another person's future baby name. It has happened in the past, and undoubtedly, it will carry on happening. If you're one of them Name Stealers - SHAME ON YOU!! It is really annoying when it happens, especially if the person robbed of the name has the same kind of rules I do. Please, don't. If you like a name someone has had up their sleeve for a while, and you would like to use it, ask them first. They might not agree to its use as a first name, but perhaps they'd be fine with it being used as a middle name!
So, now that I've chosen a First Name, I get to repeat the same process all over again with a Middle Name. Wish me luck!
