Woman Says She Should've 'Kept Her Mouth Shut' After Calling Out A Dad In Costco About How He's Raising His Son
She felt a responsibility to teach the father an important lesson. However, others believe that it was not her place.
@glasshousegoods / TikTok While a woman was shopping at Costco with her daughter, she overheard a father make an ignorant and closed-minded comment to his son. After initially remaining silent, she intervened and attempted to correct the father’s statement.
She then decided to broadcast her actions on TikTok, anticipating that most people would agree with her. However, the response she received was not the one she expected.
The mom argued against the dad that boys could play with dolls if they wanted to.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed over 1 million times, the mother claims that she “couldn’t help herself” calling out a father in the store after she overheard him telling his son that boys don’t play with dolls.
She calls the incident an “excellent example” of how she cannot keep her mouth shut or her opinions to herself. While shopping, she and her daughter passed a dollhouse on display at the same time a little boy and his father were passing it as well.
The little boy took an interest in the massive children's toy. “[The] little boy says to his dad something along the lines of ‘what is that?’” the woman says. “The dad says, ‘it doesn’t matter, it’s a dollhouse. It’s for girls.’”
Describing herself as a feminist, the woman perceived the man’s comment to his son to be offensive and sexist. However, she did not say anything right away.
A few minutes later, the little boy and his father walked by the dollhouse again and asked the same question. The father repeated that it didn’t matter since the dollhouse was intended for girls and “boys don’t play with dolls.”
Unable to contain herself this time, the woman hollered over the aisle to get the man’s attention. “But they can! Boys can play with dolls, too!” she informed the father. “The dad heard me and said, ‘but they don’t have to!’”
The woman repeated and insisted on the fact that boys could play with dolls if they wanted to.
She shared in the caption of her video that she could’ve kept her mouth shut if she wanted to, but the “feminism runs deep.”
While the woman is correct in her stance that children can play with dolls regardless of their gender, many TikTok users disagreed with her decision to interfere with the father’s parenting techniques.
She was forced to disable her comments section after being met with harsh backlash and criticism. The next day, she posted a follow-up video detailing her experience on “the wrong side of TikTok.”
While the woman now believes that she "should’ve kept her mouth shut" instead of commenting on somebody else’s parenting, she claims that after hearing he father’s ignorant statements, something “came over” her and she felt compelled to step in and say something.
In addition to receiving backlash from TikTokers about interfering with the man’s parenting, she alleges that she came across comments from people who shockingly agreed with the father’s false message.
“I am astounded at how many people in this world really do think that boys can’t play with dolls,” she says. “It really hurts my heart.”
She pleads with the app to guide her back to the more inclusive side and encourages those who share the same beliefs as her to comment on her video to ensure that she’s not alone.
Thankfully, TikTok users delivered. “Love this! I absolutely agree with you! I am raising two sons who know that playing with dolls and wearing pink is perfectly acceptable,” one user commented.
“Love it! Boys can play with dolls and girls can play with trucks,” another user wrote.
Other users believed that the woman had a right to intervene since the father was spreading sexist information to his little boy, and thanked her for being the guardian angel he needed.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.