y I was confronted with the notion that I don't dress my daughter "girly" enough.Interesting I thought.
"Girly enough"? What does that mean exactly?
I was told that it is harmful to girls everywhere if we do not celebrate their feminine side. But what is the feminine side? It's something we created a long time ago through our own stereotypes... Girls wear pink tutus and have bows in their hair, wear bling and pink ribbons.
But is that really what defines a girl? I don't think so.
I can remember dressing what some mothers would call "boyish", I played with boys, and I played in the dirt. But I'm all girl, and I celebrate my independent nature everyday!
So why all the fuss about what we wear and how we dress our girls?
The zen approach would be to say we celebrate the person and what is, not what we think it needs to be.
I would l0ve to hear your thoughts and comments on this!
2 comments:
Keep talking Teresa. I have an almost 10 year old girl (and a 10 month old girl) and have been very defiant about conforming to the stereotypes our culture puts on them. As a result (in part), my older daughter can smoke all of her male friends in basketball, on a bike, volleyball, the ski slopes, etc. and has confidence that would have long ago dissolved with that pink tule tutu had I forced her to be a princess with a hair bow. I have thought about designing a line of girls' clothes that don't scream "diva", "princess", or "brat"-literally. Keep avoiding the hair bows--here's to raising strong women. :) Deirdre
I agree completely with your comments, Teresa! Girls need to know from an early age that their value does not depend on what they look like, and they should be free to follow their own dreams, not the expectations of others or society.
Societal stereotypes limit both boys and girls. Let's give kids the love and support to be whoever and whatever they want to be!
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