Abbie likes Spider-Man. She likes the way he can shoot webs out of his fingers. So last summer, the seven-year-old opted for Spider-Man-themed sandals. “You’re a boy, you’re a boy,” taunted her classmates. Abbie has long brown hair, a penchant for train sets, and a reserve that could be taken for shyness. But when challenged by the boys in her class, Abbie “took matters into her own hands,” as her mother Kim Carnell puts it, offering evidence of her gender by flashing them. The anatomy lesson may have proved her point, but it landed Abbie in trouble with her teachers – and it was only later that Abbie plucked up the courage to tell her mother what had prompted the incident. Abbie refused to wear the sandals again.