They are all mentioned in my column this morning. I wrote it after a truly astounding event in one of my third grade classes: boys laughing at girls who like The Avengers. Kind of patting myself on the back for mashing history, feminism, pop music and superheros into one 500-word opinion piece. Superman and Green Lantern ain’t got nothin’ on me!
http://naperville.patch.com/articles/who-runs-the-world-still-not-girls?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001
Great article! It makes me sad that this sort of stereotyping still happens. Actually, just read an article by call me bookish, ranting about similar sterotyping in the gaming industry, which you might want to check out 🙂 http://callmebookish.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/are-you-serious-games-for-girls-still-about-cooking-shopping-and-snagging-a-man/
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Hey! Thanks so much for the referral. Is that called a ping? I’m so out of it. Anyway, thanks. A nice end to a crap day!
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Maybe – I know the automated ones when you do blog posts are called ping backs, but I’m not as social media savvy as I might be 🙂 I’m sorry your day wasn’t so great and hope tomorrow is better!
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This reminded me of the girl who got made fun of for liking “Star Wars”, because the boys in her class didn’t believe girls could or should like Star Wars. It is one thing to market to a particular demographic, but it’s another thing to believe that a demographic not being marketed to is wrong for liking something that wasn’t marketed at them. I suppose some people think the Bronies are weird, gay, pedophiles, or creepy in some way, but guess what? I’m married to one, and while I admit such an admission might raise a few eyebrows, I’ve always appreciated the fact that my husband doesn’t scorn something just because it’s “for girls” or for people of any particular demographic. Meanwhile, I’ve arranged to have the day off just so that I can go see “The Avengers”. If my husband wasn’t gung ho, I’d go see it without him! The sad thing is that if there’s one thing all children have examples of in their environment, it’s gender, and they start forming stereotypes about what boys do and like vs. what girls do and like right away. I suspect such divisions in expectations would decrease with more balanced children’s shows, storybooks, and role models (a.k.a. parents and other important adults) who enjoy a variety of activities regardless of gender. The kids are probably just regurgitating crap they’ve observed or heard at home or from other people they look up to, and what’s truly tragic is that the people they care about are probably encouraging these ideas. I hope those girls stay true to themselves, and what they really like, and that the boys learn to love and pursue hobbies they like regardless of peer pressure. I’ll have to check out Doing Dewey’s video game article, but I think more girls would like video games if they weren’t made to appeal to supposed male taste or manufactured to some distorted view of what girls like, which is apparently fashion, make-up, jewelry, and finding dates (ugh!).
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Wow! A Bronie! Cool. My son and I watched a report on Bronies and then, because we were curioius, watched a My Little Pony episode. I’m not sure if there is a difference between the show and the movies, but the animation on the show was pretty impressive. My daughter plays animal games on her iPod as well as dress up games. BUT, she’ll also grab my iPod out of my hands while I’m playing Jumbline.
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