INSIDE EDITION talks to one family that is pushing convention aside to let their little boy dress like a princess.
5-year-old Dyson Kilodavis calls himself a "princess boy." He loves to twirl in his pink ballerina tutu and wear his mom's lip gloss.
"I wear dresses and I wear pink stuff," said Dyson.
It's an unusual admission for a young boy and initially it left his mother Cheryl upset and confused.
"When was the first time you realized Dyson was special and unique?" INSIDE EDITION's Lisa Guerrero asked.
"As soon as Dyson started walking he would put on my tank tops, cinch them at the waist and really pose," said Cheryl.
For the next year, the Seattle mom encouraged Dyson to wear only boys clothes. But she says he took a stand on Halloween when he demanded to wear a princess costume.
"He came up to me and he said, 'Look Mommy, I'm a beautiful princess,' " said Cheryl. "And I said, 'Boys are not princesses, girls are.' And he looked at me and he said, 'I am a princess boy.' "
It was actually his big brother Dakobe and his father Dean who said they should let him be a princess if that's what he wants.
Dyson wore the princess costume and then started wearing brightly colored girls clothing every day. He has even designed a green sundress lined with turquoise duct tape.
Despite his love for dresses, his parents say he definitely identifies himself as a boy and likes to do boy things.
"When you dress up, do people ever think you are a girl?" Guerrero asked Dyson.
"Yeah, sometimes," he replied.
Concerned that her son would be bullied, Cheryl wrote a children's book about a boy who likes to wear sparkly dresses. She called it My Princess Boy.
Now the family is coming forward to make their story public, hoping to spread a message about acceptance.
"Can we please raise our children to accept each other and can we as adults model acceptance with each other?" said Cheryl.
But could all of this attention actually backfire?
"Some critics might say you're really exposing Dyson and your whole family to a lot of maybe unwanted attention," said Guerrero.
"I don't think I'm setting him up to be teased. Dyson is making choices to express himself," said Cheryl.
"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Guerrero asked Dyson.
"I want to be a princess boy, and I want to design clothes," he replied.
But like any other child, he also wants to be accepted for who he is.
