Princess Boy is more than just a book, it is a true story of a young boy named Dyson who loves to dress in pink colors and dresses. Is this a journey of self-awareness for accepting the gender path and choices of children in light of bullying? Or, is the choice to support a child's expression a path to forging an institutional label that will have deleterious results later in life?
Dyson, 5, is like any other boy in urban America. He loves cartoons, toys, laughing, playing in trees, playing checkers, and other fun-loving, child-like things. The difference is that he likes to do it while wearing dresses--bright, pink ones.
When asked why he does it, young Dyson said, "I'm a princess boy, and I love the colors of pink and red". When his mother, Cheryl Kilodavis, learned Dyson wanted to be a princess boy for Halloween, she resisted the desires of her youngest child. Over time, she and her husband embraced his independence and his means of expression.
They soon dropped their adherence to social pressure and reinforced the path their son was forging. To cope with the new revelation, Cheryl Kilodavis published a book, My Princess Boy, more as a journal. It helped her to deal with her own inner issues to cope with the conflict in her mind over her son's choices to wear dresses.
As the book built momentum in the local community and Dyson's parents became sounding-boards for supporting the happiness of their children, a major book publisher offered to publish the book in the mainstream.
Kilodavis believes that we should get to a place of acceptance and not spar over the stereotypes, the hardened rules from the public, and allow children to thrive. She believes that by accepting her son and advocating inclusion, it lessens the possibility of bullying later in life. She says it is "only clothing", citing the choices of her princess boy.
Will there ever come a time that a child like Dyson will be harmed later in life by the choices his parents make to support him? Is the book merely an attempt to exploit the modern-day controversy regarding being gay and different?
It appears that Kilodavis had deep, cultural beliefs about how her son should behave. However, she soon realized that the best love a parent can give their child is to embrace the difference. In doing so, they can help the child build on the unique qualities that we all have.
