In the first picture we find Ellie, a classic example of what Peggy Ornstein refers to in her book Cinderella Ate My Daughter. The critique of princess culture is not a hatred of pink or a hatred of fairytales, but rather a desire to allow women to have many versions of what being a successful adult means, and not just a pretty, dainty, heterosexual woman.
In the second two picutres we find Maria and Alex, who got stereotypical identical fishing games, but Alex's is all different colors and depicts actual fish, where as Maria's is decked out in Princess colors only and you are forced to fish only for jewels. As is true for kids, however, toys are toys, and so Alex came to find, wihtout any pressure from us, that he really liked playing with jewels and sparkly fishing games, and Maria much preferred the different colored fishes. Everybody wins. In their play we have come to discover that Alex is actually very fond and adept at walking in high heels, and Maria aspries to be a dinosaur tamer.
Kids are so awesome, why are adults so constricting to their creativity, and to their gender? The answer is, you dont have to be! YOU can end gender policing.
As I mentioned to you in class yesterday, my wife's younger cousins are at the point of college now, and I can see the importance of a more gender neutral upbringing for them. Two of the cousins are female, and I've had the opportunity to see them as they've grown over the past 10+ years. One of them in particular is an excellent student. She takes her education very seriously, and rather than being raised to be a "girly girl"....not sure who to credit this expression to....she's alway had strong involvement in sports and all levels of physical activity. She's involved in drama activities, student clubs, music, and still enjoys what would typically be defined as being feminine. I know that her family is proud of her personality, as I would be if having a daughter such as her. To raise a child in a one sided manner reflective only of what gender stereotypes dictate seriously limits their creative possibilities.
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