I was out for a walk yesterday with the dog and the baby, and we paused when we passed an elderly woman who wanted to talk to us. I was curious to see which of my companions interested her. Generally those who are enthusiastic about the dog pretend they don't even see the baby. This gets especially strange at the dog park, where I can have a ten-minute conversation about Walt with someone who never acknowledges Isaac, grinning away in the baby carrier strapped to my chest. The reverse isn't quite as extreme, but there isn't much overlap -- few people are equally enthusiastic about both species of small mammal.
Anyway, it turned out she was interested in Isaac. "Oh," she exclaimed, "what a beautiful baby! Is it a little girl?" Isaac was looking pretty grunge in a plaid flannel workshirt and denim overalls, so I thought this assumption was impressively un-sexist of the old woman. But it turned out she wasn't considering his outfit, because she went on to say, "I thought that any baby so beautiful must be a girl." Not exactly gender-neutral after all.
But is that true? Can you tell the difference between six month old girls and boys? Or was this just some crazy form of compliment?
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