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This article is part of\u00a0<\/i>Upstream,<\/i><\/a>\u00a0The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/i><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Country music singer and boy mom Maren Morris posted a <\/span>video<\/span><\/a> claiming she got into a heated argument with a man who told her boys need to \u201ctoughen up.\u201d Well, Maren, they do.<\/span><\/p>\n Morris said in her video that the man\u2019s comment came at a party where the adults were discussing gender stereotypes, a totally normal and light conversation topic for a weekend soiree.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy son doesn\u2019t need to be tough, especially in the way you\u2019re using that word,\u201d Morris shot back in her video. She explained that she was nervous her son was learning simplistic gender stereotypes like \u201conly girls can like pink\u201d and \u201cgirls can\u2019t like Spider-Man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She proceeded to admit she paints her six-year-old son\u2019s nails and makes friendship bracelets with him.<\/span><\/p>\n But the issue isn\u2019t whether boys and girls can like the same things. It\u2019s whether boys and girls should be developed in the same way. And the answer is no.<\/span><\/p>\n I agree with Morris that children seeing gendered toys and colors in black and white, no pun intended, can have a detrimental impact on their impressionable minds. <\/span>The West is undergoing a gender-obsessed craze wherein perfectly healthy young girls are chopping off their breasts because they like the color blue and \u201cfeel\u201d like a boy. <\/span>For most of history, we understood what it meant when girls appreciated traditionally masculine things. We called these girls \u201ctomboys.\u201d This wasn\u2019t something to be medicalized, but a phase they grew out of or into.<\/span><\/p>\n Through therapy-infected conversations on TikTok and Snapchat, a generation of girls has wiped the \u201ctomboy\u201d out of existence, replacing her with cross-sex hormones and chest compressors. <\/span>I strongly believe in the sentiment that girls who like Spider-Man, the color blue, and trucks are still girls. Liking toys traditionally associated with boys doesn\u2019t make girls \u2014 or any child \u2014 the opposite sex.<\/span><\/p>\n Play exploration simply doesn\u2019t work the same with boys, though. Parents who dress their boys in pink tutus, paint their nails, and encourage them to play with Polly Pockets (are those still cool?), are engaging in undeniably problematic behavior. <\/span>Call me a hypocrite. I\u2019ll wear it like a badge of honor. My take is simple: Boys and girls are different, and their creative exploration in childhood should be curated differently as well. This applies especially to the clothing choices of young boys.<\/span><\/p>\n Boys don\u2019t become men by accident. Masculinity is something that is crafted and reinforced by strong parents. When strength is treated as optional, even in play spaces, boys don\u2019t just become softer versions of men. They become confused.<\/span><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t hypothetical. We are seeing in real time how toxic parenting that pushes gender non-conformity can shape a man\u2019s identity later in life. <\/span>In 2022, I had the privilege of interviewing detransitioners for a <\/span>documentary<\/span><\/a> highlighting individuals who underwent gender transition surgeries and later regretted their decisions. Detransitioner Walt Heyer was among those interviewed.<\/span><\/p>\n Heyer \u201ctransitioned\u201d and identified as a \u201cwoman\u201d named Laura Jenson. He later detransitioned and dedicated his life to exposing the sham of \u201cgender-affirming care.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In our interview, Heyer said he initially became confused about his gender when his grandmother, \u201cMamie,\u201d would make him colorful dresses and give him preferential treatment when he was dressed like a girl. He said crossdressing was a common theme in the stories of boys who were confused about their gender in their teens. The same was not said of girls. <\/span>This is not a coincidence \u2014 because boys and girls are different.<\/span><\/p>\n People are quick to point out the asymmetry of how boys and girls should explore gendered toys and how the double standard \u201cisn\u2019t fair.\u201d Good. <\/span>Fairness, when defined as sameness, isn\u2019t reality. Boys and girls are not interchangeable, and raising them as if they are doesn\u2019t produce the equality feminists seek. It produces confusion in vulnerable young men.<\/span><\/p>\n There <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> inherent differences between the sexes, and those must be developed in adolescence. <\/span>Strong men showcase toughness, discipline, and emotional control, and that is developed through structure in their clothes and play, not gender fluidity. <\/span>Boys, in the words of some unnamed Tennessee man, need to \u201ctoughen up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n