Bad dad, super awesome big brother.

[HYHYBT]

Serious Sam you just see his arms, so you can play as a big muscular bloke and not walk away with homoerotic imagery, unless bulging biceps accidentally turn you on.

Accidentally?

[bara]

Accidentally?

Ive seen some pretty buff women...

I was never attracted to that. But hey, to each his/her own.

[mikoyan29]

Insert obligatory comment about pink originally being a boy's color due to it being a variation of red, and blue being considered a more feminine color, in Victorian times.

It's funny, when coaches paint the visitor's locker room pink, it has the opposite effect of what they are hoping.

[Bardmaiden]

Hell, my favourite colour is blue and I play Final Fantasy games (primarily male protagonists), Neverwinter Nights and Elder Scrolls (choice of character), along with Mario and Pokemon series (Mario=male protagonists, Pokemon-choice of character)

Hey that reminds me of me! My clothes are blue, black or red with odd bits. But you named almost every one of the major games I own. Can't wait for FFIII-2 to come out

[Panacea]

I had a friend growing up who went through what this kid is likely to have coming his way.

He was a small, skinny kid, very pleasant but a bit of a geek. He fell in love with King Tut when the King Tut exhibit came to the US. He didn't like sports, but liked acting and drama.

His father tore up his entire collection of books, posters, and other odds and ends on King Tut and tried to force him to go out for the football team. I remember how distraught he was that his father destroyed his favorite hobby just to get him to throw a football around (kid sucked at sports, obviously he never made the team).

Kid did end up being gay, which probably would have been the case no matter what.

And I don't see anything wrong with the color purple. It is the color of royalty.

[Amanita]

Wow, what that father did is just unforgivable. I still haven't really forgiven my dad just for threatening to burn things of mine for various reasons. I know that had he done that, it would have permanently damaged our relationship.

If I knew a parent who was planning on doing something like that (destroying something the kid loves as punishment, or to try and force the kid into something else), I would be all over them telling them NOT to do it. Yeah, I know outsiders are not supposed to question the sacred cow of "parenting philosophy" (HATE that term), but having been threatened with that myself, I couldn't stand by and say nothing. I would say to that parent "Disposing of or destroying whatever it is that your kid loves in order to make him take up something you love is just not going to work. It's only going to make him resent the hell out of you, because you destroyed something he cares about. And it's not going to make what you're pushing him into more appealing, if anything it will make him less likely to want to do it, because he will associate it with what you did to him. Do you really want a child who hates your guts?"

This isn't a case of a parent taking away something harmful (like a kid who is on facebook so much that their homework never gets done, or a parent finding aerosol cans in a kid's room and suspecting that the kid is huffing), this is pure control and dominance behavior, trying to force the kid into something he's not. And it's just plain cruel, "parenting philosophy" my ass.

That, and destroying valued belongings (or threatening to) is a common tactic of abusers.

[Rageaholic]

@Amanita: Yeah, I hate that "parenting philoposphy" and "parential rights" shit. It's just another flavor of political correctness, and assuming that all views are equal. No, fuck that shit. We should call people out when they are being obviously cruel to a kid. Especially when their own view states that the kid's interest don't matter and that they have no right to be their own person. That shit is abusive and wrong, and just because some dumbasses don't see their kids as individuals, doesn't mean we should respect their right to violate the rights of their kid.

Why can't parents realize that kids are their own people and NOT a reflection of themselves?!

[Rapscallion]

Why can't parents realize that kids are their own people and NOT a reflection of themselves?!

In some cases, it's because at a younger age the 'own person' is the sort of person who would do their 'own thing' and run out in front of cars as 'their own idea' and the parent remembers this. It depends on what age the child is, for a reasonable assessment, I guess.

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

It depends on what age the child is, for a reasonable assessment, I guess.

If a kid is old enough to explain what color they like and why, then they're old enough to have that preference respected.

^-.-^

[Rapscallion]

I was more talking in general terms than the specific case.

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

So was I. If a kid can explain their reasoning and it isn't flawed, they should at least be respected, especially in cases of personal preference that does nothing to put them in danger.

And that the parent can remember a time before that is a cop out. They can also remember a time when the kid shit his pants, but you don't see parents keeping their kids in diapers past when they've been potty trained.

^-.-^

[jedimaster91]

The article mentions the game he wanted was Mirror's Edge. From what I know of the game, it is not what one would consider "girly." The first-person view can make the game difficult since you can't really see where you're jumping. And there are guns and the option to throw bad guys off the roof. I might pick it up myself some day.

Dad obviously doesn't know a whole lot about gaming.

[Amanita]

The "running out in front of cars" thing really can't be compared to liking King Tut instead of Football, or wanting a game with a cool female character instead of a blood and guts shooter. I'm sure we can all agree that running out in front of cars is harmful, and the kid needs to be taught better. But outdated sexist notions aside, what's harmful about not liking or being good at sports, or preferring one color over another?

[lordlundar]

The article mentions the game he wanted was Mirror's Edge. From what I know of the game, it is not what one would consider "girly." The first-person view can make the game difficult since you can't really see where you're jumping. And there are guns and the option to throw bad guys off the roof. I might pick it up myself some day.

Dad obviously doesn't know a whole lot about gaming.

Probably just saw the cover and went "IT HAS A GURL ON IT!!!!"

[HYHYBT]

Probably just saw the cover and went "IT HAS A GURL ON IT!!!!"

"What, don't you like girls?"