Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Power of Pink.

                                                          
       Here’s something that bothers me:  Why, in society today, do we classify everything that is pink and feminine as bad?  Parents don’t want their daughters to play with fancy princess Barbies, because that will make her weak-minded.  Oh shoot, they kind of already are...  That’s what you’re saying if you think a girl will be given a princess doll and think she has to be a princess too.  

       Girls don’t know any better. Oh wait, Barbie has many different professions, even though she has big boobs.  Whew.  Is it okay for a woman to not have a profession?  Can she just stay home with her children?  Should women be embarrassed to have breasts?  They’re only for sex stuff right?  I mean, what else do women use those things for?
     
      Crap, I don’t even know if I should brush my daughter’s hair for school.  What will she think I’m saying to her?  "Society expects your hair to be pretty?"  Shit.  What about those hair accessories she got in her stocking?  The ribbons and sparkly barrettes...  That’s an eating disorder waiting to happen.  We don’t want these vulnerable young girls to think they have to look a certain way, right?  Right?!  What the Hell, Santa!

       Mothers should downgrade their own appearance and attire, and maybe gain a few pounds, so our daughters don’t have unrealistic expectations for themselves in the future.  We sure as heck better not put on makeup, or for God’s sake, style our hair in front of our daughters.  That will teach them that we’re not happy with our natural appearance. Should we care about our appearance at all?  Should children have overweight Barbies because that’s how many people in America live?  Would those be better "role models" for our children?  Should we wear high heels in front of young girls?  How can we explain that one, huh?  “I like them because they’re pretty and make my legs look nice?”  Can we even admit we like shoes?  Shoot, that sounds superficial! Fancy shoes are a no go.  Fancy dresses, especially in pink, are also a no go.  And short skirts--those are hoochie.  Women’s bodies are all about sex, so we need to cover them up.  

     Let’s see, we should dress more like men?  Check.  Blue is good, but pink is bad.  Check.  Thin bodies and breasts are… bad.  Check.

      But, oh no!  Should men shave their faces in front of their sons?  I mean, that might give them some unhealthy obsession with having a hairless face in the future.  And, oh. my. God--When they hit puberty, what happens when they grow facial hair?  How do we handle the catastrophic moment when a boy thinks, "I should shave because that’s what men do"?  What if he becomes a superficial person, obsessed with his smooth face? Nah, boys are smarter than that.
           
     What in the Hell is wrong with pink?  We are so worried about our daughters being “too girly” because that is equivalent to weak and conceited.  Girl = weak.  Boy = strong?  Tell your daughter she can’t like princesses, but of course your son can like Ninjas or robots that shoot at each other? Those are fine role models.  Boys can like dump trucks and garbage trucks with moving parts, but we don’t worry about that encouraging our sons to only aspire to be sanitation workers and manual laborers do we?  Can a pretty girl--a Barbie in a fancy dress, for example--be more kick-ass than a freaking Ninja?  Hell yeah.
           
     We don’t want girls to play with Barbies or “girl” toys, yet all “girl” toy genres have male characters too.  Now go on over to the boy section and try to find a female Imaginext toy…  There are none.  The luck of finding a female figure in the “boy” themed toy aisle is slim to none.  Not only can we not find girl characters for our girls to play with over there, we assume the boys should only have boy action figures.  They need to learn that only boys can fill those "manly" roles…  Obviously that’s why there aren’t any girl Police or firefighter action figures.  Duh.

      I have to spend $12.00 more for a small set of Police Legos, just to get one with a girl police officer.   That’s what my daughter five-year-old daughter wants to be when she grows up:  A police officer.  You know why? Because she wants to be like Wonder Woman; she wants to be a hero.  (Cringe... She chose a big busted, leotard-wearing role-model)...  

     Gosh, and I was so worried she would want to grow up to be a princess! I mean, girls aren’t too bright.  They see something and they have to copy it, like little minions to Mattel and The Barbie Empire.  They can’t think for themselves.  Frankly, I’m shocked that she would actually translate the hero part of Wonder Woman into a real-life thing like a police officer.  I mean, it’s a miracle.



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