Source: whovianrules.tumblr.com via Bonnie on Pinterest
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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.
August 8th, 2012 at 10:38 am
There’s a similar remark in one of my favorite classic detective stories, Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers, written almost 70 years ago. At that time, in the context of the book, it’s a “…whatever” moment for the protagonist (a strong woman who supports herself through writing). She disagrees, but smiles and nods, because it’s not her family, not her business. SEVENTY YEARS LATER that kind of remark isn’t acceptable. I think I might say something to the office manager. Or not, I can be kind of chicken. 😉
August 8th, 2012 at 8:40 pm
I’m kind of speechless over here. I just…nope. Speechless. I think I’d probably write a note or send an email to the office manager, maybe just a heads-up to talk to the staff about THINKING before they speak, and realizing that they live in 2012.
Sheesh.