‘Princess boy’, 5, inspires book about tolerance
An American mother has published a cartoon picture book about her five-year-old son’s love of wearing pink dresses.
Dyson Kilodavis, who calls himself a “princess boy”, loves wearing pink and purple frothy dresses befitting a fairy or a ballerina.
His mother Cheryl, of Seattle, US, revealed that she was initially opposed to him wearing girls’ clothes and thought he would be bullied but was persuaded by his older brother Dkobe to let him be happy.
Now, with a major publisher, she has produced paperback book ‘ My Princess Boy’, designed to encourage other parents to allow their children to dress how they feel comfortable.
The book does not contain Dyson’s name or photograph.
Ms Kilodavis told the Today Show that the paperback was “designed to start and continue a dialogue about unconditional friendship and teaches children – and adults – how to accept and support children for who they are and how they wish to look”.
She continued: “I understand that we all want life to be easy for our children. I want that, too. But I don’t think bullying will stop if my son wears traditional boy clothes.
“We need a wake-up call. America needs one. The world needs one. We need to start asking ourselves why we are condemning people and things just because they are different and make us feel uncomfortable.
“Bullying is taking lives. It is unacceptable. Period. We must stop standing by while others are being harmed for expressing themselves.
“Our children are teaching us how to accept them every day. We all want our children to live in a world where they can express themselves without harming anyone else or being harmed.”
Dyson’s father Dean added: “It’s not contagious. He’s just like any other kid. He plays checkers, he plays in the trees. He just likes to do it in a dress. Big deal.”
In November, a Missouri mother became an internet hit for posting a picture of her five-year-old son dressed as Daphne from Scooby Doo for Halloween.
‘Sarah’, who writes the Nerdy Apple Bottom blog and describes herself as a “cop’s wife”, hit back at critics who told her she should not have let ‘Boo’ wear a girl’s costume and said she would not care if her son grew up to be gay.
Angelina Jolie has revealed that her daughter Shiloh, six, prefers to dress in boys’ clothes and some reports have suggested that the child likes to be called John.
