...I really need to trust my ideas.........va-va-......voom
Alright, I never claimed to be a poet *plfeet*. So my "peach" was a hit. Well I think it was...she told me she loved it so I feel like it was a success. Since its given I can say what it was...it was a homemade tutu. I made it with light green, light purple, light pink and white tulle and BRIGHT skinny coordinating ribbon. It looked fairy-esc, which is totally me! I love girly things but like I said before I am not all pink ribbons and bows and I don't think that should by any means be forced on lil ones.
Where did this come from you may be wondering. Well a friend of mine posted this video about GoldieBlox. I LOVED it. I mean just absolutely adored it because it shows girls doing engineering type building "experiments". Something I do agree we do not encourage our young ladies to do enough. What irritated me is my friends caption for the video. It said something along the lines of stop buying everything pink for little girls. My question is, why blame pink?
I am certainly not a huge fan of pink...I never have been, I am more of a purple/blue kind of girl. But just because a girl is girly doesn't mean she can't be interested in science or engineering. I mean GoldieBlox stuff is actually mostly light pink, yellow and purple, stereotypical girl colors. So her comment pisses me off. It's not the color, its the message. When I was five I got my first "kiddie" microscope, a few years later I got a much nicer one and I freaking loved it. I caught and released critters, played (hard) outside, built with Legos and created domino rally runs. All considered "boy" activities. But I also wore frilly outfits (mom made), had baby dolls and took dancing. My point is I was very girly by most standards yet I am and always will be a science nerd. I love science, I love science fiction, I love knowing how things are made and how inventors come up with their ideas.
What I am trying to say is people/parents need to stop blaming everyone else for creating future women. Ladies and gents, it is YOUR job to encourage your daughter. Just because it is something boyish doesn't mean a girl cannot play with it. Expose your daughters to science/engineering and see if she likes it. If she doesn't that is okay, it is not everyone's cup of tea. Yes, I know there is a stereotype that females can't or aren't qualified enough for those types of jobs/futures but that stereotype is there because of us. Because our society at some point decided women were inferior in intelligence. We all know this isn't true but its up to YOU to mold the next generation. My mom NEVER discouraged me from being me, if anything she encouraged me to be different. If I showed interest in something she let me explore it, if I got bored with it we moved on...if I showed more interest I got more exposure to it. And no I did not come from a family with money so I wasn't able to just do whatever I wanted but she was always very supportive. And yes people tried to put me in a "girly" box. For birthdays I would get things like "girl talk", pink everything, barbies and baby alive type toys. I liked that stuff enough but I remember one year a boy in my class gave me a bug/critter catch and release kit and it was my favorite thing. He clearly understood me and we were best buds, till he went to another school :(.
In other news, this goes for boys too! Stereotypes go both ways!!!!! I know a boy playing with dolls is a big no no in our society but what is the big freaking deal??? Kids should be allowed to like whatever they want without parents being afraid it might "turn them gay". I played with trucks, he-man and GI-Joe...it didn't change the outcome of who I am. Come on people, it is 2013, we all should know by now playing with barbies wont make a boy like other boys just like playing with trucks wont make a girl like other girls. You can beat "masculine" things into your boys all you want...but if they are going to be gay, they are going to be gay, deal with it and quit creating more flipping stereotypes! With that said not all homosexual men are "girly" and not all lesbians are "boyish", staaaaahp it right now!
Back to the subject matter, quit trying to force kids into your ideals. If your daughter likes pink princesses that is okay, if she likes frogs & snails & puppy dog tails, that is okay too. If your son likes trucks and superheros that is okay, if he is full of sugar & spice & everything nice that's okay too. Forcing boys & girls into boxes of what boys/girls should be just enlarges the gender gap. We are supposed to be moving forward, becoming more accepting not acting like just because one has or does not have a penis/vagina makes a difference in what they are capable of accomplishing.
Rant over, NOLA Gurl out :P
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