Middle Age Hollywood

Are A-list parents Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sending the wrong message to their 3 1/2-year-old daughter Shiloh by often dressing her up like a little boy? Manhattan psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert, who pens a column in Metro newspaper called No More Drama, weighs in on the subject with Us.

"Shiloh at three years old may very well be expressing her preference for certain clothing and playing a role in what she wears. This is quite healthy as she is learning to make choices and think independently. If though, Brad and Angelina are dressing Shiloh in boys clothing to make a social or fashion statement, I suggest they stop," Alpert continues. "It's never a good idea for parents to defy societal or cultural norms at the expense of their child to make such statements -- it comes with a cost." (Brad and Angie have used their relationship to take a stand against inequality, saying they won't wed until gay marriage is legalized.)"

Alpert goes on to say that Shiloh could be at risk of being, "picked on or ostracized by her peers, potentially leading to social problems, anxiety, and poor academic performance" when she enters school.

Carol Tuttle, a psychotherapist and the author of Dressing Your Truth-Real Beauty for Real Women, says Shiloh's style is "similar to a look Avril Lavigne made popular, and we still felt Avril's feminine nature coming through." But she warns, "if Angelina is choosing her daughter's clothes... she could be repressing her daughter's true nature."

"As parents, when we raise a child more true to our tendencies, personality traits, and nature rather than our children’s nature, we perpetuate the potential for a child to rebel in their teen years in an effort to be true to themselves," Tuttle says and adds, "Picking out their own clothes is a very healthy activity for a little 3-year-old girl."

What do you think? Are Brad & Angelina repressing Shiloh by dressing her as a boy?

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