Mum’s Brilliant Post Defending Her Son’s Right To Wear Nail Varnish Is Going Viral
Who says boys can’t play with nail varnish? [Photo: Rex Features]
Devon Berryann’s son likes to wear nail polish and girls’ clothing, including tutus. The six-year-old from Pennsylvania often talks about liking other boys at school and how he hopes to marry them and adopt babies one day.
And that’s all just fine with his mum. She just wishes other people were equally as open-minded.
So, after learning that her son had been teased for having his nails painted, Devon has written a heartfelt appeal to let children be who they want to be.
Taking to her Facebook to share a picture of her little boy wearing a tutu, Devon penned an open letter with the hope of encouraging people to be more accepting.
“Maybe he will outgrow it. Maybe not,” she wrote in a post that has since been shared over 20K times. “I love and accept him for who he is. I always thought that doing that would protect him from the pain of hurtful words and bullies, and I didn’t worry.”
Devon Berryann shared this image of her son in a tutu alongside an inspiring message [Photo: Facebook/Devon Berryann]
But a couple of days ago, Devon almost had a change of heart when her son came home from school and told her that kids were making fun of him for wearing nail varnish. It made Devon question whether she should try to talk him out of wearing it, and encourage him to “hide that part of himself.”
“For the first time ever I was scared that he would be gunned down one night when he was out having a good time with his friends,” she wrote. “In that moment I was so terrified that I wondered if it would be better to stop appeasing him.”
But then Devon reminded herself of all the reasons she always let her son be the person he wanted to be.
“Because it makes him happy,” she wrote. “Because nothing hurts more than seeing your child truly sad. Because pretending to be someone you’re not to please other people only leads to self-loathing. To depression and to suicide. And that too made me afraid. Why do I have to fear for him because of what he likes and who he cares about?”
Boys can rock a tutu too! [Photo: Rex Features]
After realising that she shouldn’t be trying to change her son, Devon instead focused on trying to change the attitudes of others.
“I want this world to change. To be better for him. To DESERVE him. Because he is a wonderful, amazing person,” she wrote. “As scared as I am, I know that this world is not going to change with more fear. It has plenty of that. What it needs is more love and acceptance.”
So instead of taking away the things that bring her son so much joy, she bought him more nail polish, let him wear wear his favourite tutu and she posted his picture on Facebook with her inspiring message of acceptance and love.
“So here he is world,” she concluded her post. “See my boy for the amazing person he is. Show him love. Show him acceptance. Help us change the world into one that deserves him.”
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