Geeks and Gender Stereotypes

It occurred to me, as I sat with my wife and two boys watching the Best of Both Worlds Concert: The 3-D Movie: Extended Edition tonight, that gender stereotypes in my geeky household are far less pronounced than you might find elsewhere. And I’m cool with that.

My boys’ best buddy down the block is a classic pre-jock. He plays something like a dozen different sports, and he plays them well. My boys have a ton of fun with him; he’s a good kid. But I wonder if my boys must mystify him sometimes. Sure, my older boy is in little league, but he also loves to cook, and you’re more likely to find him on the couch in front of an episode of Good Eats than you are watching cartoons or playing videogames. My younger, who is the kind of kid who can make friends anywhere he goes, has a bed full of stuffed animals.

So it strikes me that geekery makes gender stereotpying, if not obsolete, at least old-fashioned

But I wonder if this is just a conclusion based on a look in the mirror. We are pretty laid-back California types, and seperating the Barbie dolls from the GI Joes has never been all that important. What I’d like to know from you, our readers, is what the experience is like in your households? If you consider yourself a geekdad, are you raising your kids in distinct blue and pink worlds, or does the game console equalize all, and your daughter it just as likely to frag you in Halo as your son? Do you play table-top RPGs with your children, and daddy’s little girl likes being a half-orc anti-Paladin with a vorpal blade? Is your son more of the Crafting type, and into making his own felted laptop cases? Tell us what it’s like in your geek-influenced households.

Updated: I completely forgot I’d taken these snapshots at our local big-box store the other day when I noticed some mildly disturbing gender stereo-typing on display with the early Halloween costume items.