The Princess Myth
I just read this article about the princess myth and if it’s harmful to little girls.
Though I liked pink for a while when I was a child and liked to draw princesses too, I’ve never identified with princesses and never wanted to be a dumb, blonde celebrity. My sister and I never played princesses, we were having shipwrecks and went exploring (those were our favorite games). For years I thought I was a tomboy, but I’ve realized that I simply wasn’t an average girl, just a girl, period. And yes, I think the Princess Myth can be harmful to girls, just as anything else can. It can teach them to be passive victims and I really hate that. On the other hand, as someone’s pointed out, if done the right way, I suppose this myth can be harmless. After all, nowadays there are warrior princesses too.
Last summer I saw a group of children playing. Not surprisingly the boys were cowboys and the girls were – prey? Squaws? In any case, the boys, who were ‘armed’ chased the girls, who were shrieking and conforming to all the myths about the helpless little female. It was really hard for me to keep quiet (sometimes I can’t, as when I see children doing something potentially dangerous), but I did. They’re not my kids and I’m sure the mothers would have objected to me trying to educate their children.
Grr. Oh, well, maybe those girls will eventually grow up to be sensible human beings too, and if not, well, it’s not surprising. Sigh. I’m many things, one of them being a pessismist.
Tomboys
I just read an interesting article about tomboys. It opened my eyes about a lot of things. Primarily one. I wasn’t a tomboy. Here I was believing myself to be one, and I wasn’t. Apparently, while I hate pink and frills and preferred to be friends with boys, I still like dresses – simple but pretty ones – and I like wearing my hair sort of semi-long. I’m looking forward to becoming a mother and of course – I love guys – not just as friends, but in every way.
What does that make me? A girl, albeit a less girly one? Of course in a way, this is great news. I’ve always felt I had as much right to be a girl, as all the pink, frilly ones. Just my type of girl, not theirs. And it seems I always was.
In fact, I think everyone should be who they feel comfortable being (naturally as long as they don’t hurt anyone else), without having to adopt one label or other. Genetically, we are one sex or another. As individuals, we’re just who we are. We should dress how we like too. Everyone looking exactly the same is such a bore.
The writer of the article suggests that these days no woman has to imitate men to achieve what she wants. I think we could go one step further – today it’s probably a requirement that women wear provocative, ‘feminine’ clothes or even pose in the nude to get anywhere. That’s sad. But everything else seems to be quite good, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
