The messages being sent are as follows:
Hey boys, be creative. Build things. One day you might be an architect.
Hey girls, be pretty. Dress up in shoes that warp the shape of your feet and back. One day you might be pretty enough.
As a woman looking at raising children in the near-ish future, I've become very aware of the messages being sent to my future girls. Here's a message for girls everywhere: You deserve the f*ing Legos! You are capable. You are powerful. You are worthy of love. You can play with as many Barbies as you would like to, but just know that you don't need to wear heels or a dress to be beautiful. You were born beautiful. You were born with as much potential as anyone else. You are rad!
PS For the boys out there: All of the above applies to you too. :-)
¡Viva la Legos for ladies revolution!
2 comments:
This kind of thing drives me batty. Another one: shopping for kids' clothes. In the boys' section? The tees are thick and will last the season, the shorts come down to their knees so they don't get smacked by branches or burn their thighs on the slide at the playground, there are pockets everywhere. Girls' section? Flimsy tees that cling and will fall apart after a half-dozen washes (so she'll need to shop again soon, whee!), shorts so short that climbing trees is an exercise in bark-scratchery, and packets too small to collect anything interesting. I don't have to buy them--and I don't--but they're still sending a message.
I have this conversation with the boys ALL the time. Jojo likes pink and sometimes they try to make fun of him, saying, "It's a GIRL color!" I then casually ask, "So, you don't like ANYTHING pink?" To which they respond, "We don't like ANYTHiNG PiNK!" Then I go into the list of Josah's favorite pink things.
Bubble gum
Strawberry ice cream
Cotton candy
Cherry go-gurt
Glow sticks
What about the pink ninjago guy?
"Too bad you don't like pink....jojo, want a piece of bubble gum?"
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