Dad, who dressed up as Elsa, now wants to make film on gender neutral parenting
"Coming home from childcare one day, he was completely distraught from being bullied because he had an Elsa doll."
More parents are taking a keen interest in the gender-neutral approach to parenting and are beginning to realise that children can be raised without being labelled and/or put in gender-specific boxes. And to stress on its importance, a father from Melbourne, Australia had decided to dress up like the character of Elsa from from Frozen 2, so as to encourage his six-year-old son to embrace his authentic self.
Scott Stuart’s son Colin has always considered Elsa to be his idol. Scott wanted his son to feel confident about himself and thus decided to dress up like Elsa, too, so as to do away with toxic gender rules.
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“He fell in love with Elsa when he was about three, and it went from wanting the toys to eventually wanting the Elsa costume. When Frozen 2 was premiering in Melbourne, he wanted to wear one of his Elsa dresses, but he was starting to hit an age where he was starting to feel like other people would laugh at him. That’s why I dressed up like Elsa as well to support him. With that, we thought we could teach him to have the confidence to be true to himself or we could teach him to change himself to ‘fit in’. We obviously chose the first one,” Scott told POPSUGAR.
One of my favourite pictures of all time. He is just so comfortable in his own skin ❄️
A post shared by Scott Stuart (@scottcreates) on
Scott has also started a campaign and wants to raise enough funds so he can make an animated short film called ‘My Shadow is Pink‘. The story is about a little boy who is born with a pink shadow, and likes princesses and fairies, and everything else that is considered to be ‘not meant for boys’. He wishes his shadow was blue, like his father’s. But his father supports him and tells him that the most important thing in life is to be true to yourself. The film promises to touch the topics of gender identity and stereotypes, self acceptance, equality and diversity.
When my son was 4, he loved Batman, Superman and all those "manly" things. But his biggest love was (and still is) Elsa… he used to have an Elsa doll that he LOVED. He was so proud of it – he would take it everywhere and show it to everyone. . One day he came home incredibly upset from childcare saying that "Elsa was for girls". . That night, I wrote the first draft of "My Shadow Is Pink". Now, a few years later, it's finally finished. . It's about a boy who has a pink shadow that likes princess, fairies & "things not for boys"… but he wishes he had a blue shadow like everyone else in his family. He learns that everyone has a shadow they wish, at times, was something else… and he has to learn to love and accept his shadow as it is. . I'm so incredibly proud if this book, and I'm so grateful to @larrikinhouse for getting behind it and publishing it, and my agent @sarahmck.literarymgmt for all your help! . It's been an enormous amount of work getting it ready, but it's now going to be hitting shelves in a bookstore near you from August 1st. . If you want to join the list to get notified when resales are open, you can join the list (link in bio). . #kidlit #kidlitillustration #kidlitart #toxicmasculinity #genderequality #boysdancetoo #boyscandancetoo #boyscanbeprincessestoo #raisingboys
A post shared by Scott Stuart (@scottcreates) on
On the fundraising platform Kickstarter, Scott writes: “This story was born out of my own experience with my son when he first fell in love with Queen Elsa. Coming home from childcare one day, he was completely distraught from being bullied because he had an Elsa doll. That night I started writing the book behind this film, and started envisioning this on screen.”
“I truly believe this film can give young kids permission to be true to themselves, even when it’s uncomfortable,” he adds. Scott hopes to complete the film by December 2021, and hopes to raise enough funds by August 12, 2020.
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