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That’s Sarah Jane from Doctor Who. The reference comes from a 1974 episode. My daughter has a strong sense of feminism to begin with, but I’m glad she has role models like Sarah Jane to look up to as well.
Over the weekend she (my daughter, not Sarah Jane) had an accident on a skateboard and broke a tooth. Today at the dentist she was told – and this is as close to a direct quote as I can come up with having not taken notes – “Oh you can’t ride skateboards, you’re a girl!”
Not recognizing such words unless they are coming directly out of Betty Draper’s mouth, I was utterly confused. However, in an uncharacteristic fit of having the presence of mind to respond appropriately, I was able to reply with something I felt was at least halfway reasonable: “What? What do you mean? Girls can totally ride skateboards.”
“But we have to have pretty smiles,” she reasoned. As if that somehow explained away the medieval attitude.
“Margie’s smile would be pretty even if she didn’t have any teeth,” I replied, to make my point extremely clear.
Thankfully, what my daughter pulled from this experience isn’t that girls are weak, or something delicate and only to look at, but that she should really learn how to use a skateboard now. She may have inherited my rebellious streak.
I’m not sure if I should follow up on this by writing to the office manager or something, or if my comments were enough to just leave the issue as it is. What do you think, wise readers?
And on to the awesome!
~Stuff I pinned on my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~There’s a lot of buzz about how women’s volleyball is photographed, and what women wear in this particular sport. Let me be clear and say that I don’t really care what they wear so long as they want to wear it. This story on XOJane makes it sound like it’s part of the job to have to be objectified and that is extremely uncool, if you ask me. Furthermore, it has been noticed that photographers tend to photograph beach volleyball differently than other sports. Ugh.
~More Olympic drama. This time it’s about Gabby Douglas’s hair. I LOVE her response. It’s properly WTF. UPDATE: Someone shared this story on SOAM’s Facebook wall, maybe the real problem here is the media? (Big surprise.)
~A humorous take on the “Who Wore it Best” features in celebrity gossip mags.
~All about oversexualized women in video games. Fantastic article.
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~Stuff I pinned on my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~Is this Olympian too fat? (Answer: NO.)
~I can’t help but feel there must have been some other way to deal with the bullying than plastic surgery for a 14 year old. In my opinion, she was beautiful before the surgery. Also in my opinion? The kids bullying her are probably still assholes even after she had surgery.
~The Bloggess on choosing to be child-free.
~When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? <-- A fantastic article on the history of how we have dressed babies and young children compared to how we do now.
~Quotes from dads about how having daughters have changed them. <--These? Are real men.
~I used to believe I was too fat to show my arms, but then I realized how foolish I was to let some arbitrary rule keep me imprisoned in sleeves on hot days. This post talks a little about that. And then scroll down to Nadia from Australia’s comment because she gives a whole new perspective.
~The Huffington Post has a gallery of thighs up. Guess how normal you are? COMPLETELY NORMAL.
~A letter to her body. She happens to be a mother, but the thoughts very likely apply to nearly every woman in our culture.
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~Stuff I pinned at my TIAW and Wisdom boards.
~One little girl’s thoughts on why women are awesome.
~I love The Bloggess.
~Teenager Julia Bluhm took on Seventeen Magazine and won. The magazine promises to do an issue with non-retouched images of normal-sized women. I love the youth of today.
~A fabulous post from Hello Giggles about Thinspo/Pro-Ana philosophies and how they are changing our world.
~”A pretty girl next door can have a vagina too, and sometimes things come out of it.” <--Best line from this article about how one feminine product company had the balls (what? ovaries are shaped like balls, too) to say “vagina” on television.
~All this buzz over 50 Shades of Grey has me sick to my stomach about the impending death of feminism in our culture. Here’s a hilarious review you need to read and share.
~Rita Arens (my former co-worker in BlogHer’s Own Your Beauty) wrote this awesome article in response to Land’s End’s “math is hard” snafu.
~Remember the Calming Manatee? Here’s a Loving Lion we all need to keep in our lives.
~Last week, in the aftermath of Comic Con, Simon Pegg got into a Twitter war over some comments he made about female cosplayers. He made this response. I agree with some of what he said, and think he misses the mark on other points. (Although I do feel he’s honestly trying to understand.) Either way, it’s a good read with food for thought. If we keep the lines of communication open at some point we will begin to understand each other.
~Nobody asks to be raped. Ever. <-- Awesome PSA from Scotland.
~On how to Be Less Crazy about Weight.
~Naked, plus-sized beauty protests at Berlin’s Fashion Week.
