Cuddling in bed with my youngest this morning, we watched Strawberry Shortcut's The Sweet Dreams Movie. It's actually a very cute video (if you like that sort of girly thing). About never being afraid to dream, not letting anyone steal your dreams. You know, that sort of thing. But as I lay there cuddling with my sweet, impressionable young daughter, I let my mind wonder. Wander, even. What do boys of this age watch on video as they cuddle with their mommies? And -- do those said videos lack the same honor for females that their counterpart videos for girls lack for males?
I mean, truly. Am I the only one who's noticed that, while Dora is a wonderful teacher of espanol, pretty much every single male in any given episode of Dora The Explorer is an idiot or bad guy? Well, ok, Boots is nice. Boots is a boy, right?
So I was thinking about Batman and Spiderman, and the era when they were introduced in pop culture. I wonder if it has to do with the women's lib movement? Did they notice that those shows only had men as heroes? Is that when they introduced Wonder Woman and She-ra? Well, I say, at least they made up for it and didn't present all women as imbiciles. Women can be heroes as well as men. It's an invidual thing.
I realize I could very well be overthinking this whole thing. I just don't know. I mean, their young minds are so impressionable. And they take in way more than I can even imagine. Especially as they watch TV and movies.
I want my daughters to know that they can do anything they set their mind to. I want them to dream of being somebody's hero. Everybody's hero, even. But I want them to know that, while women can be effective at this, so can men. It's not about one sex being superior to the other. It's about everybody doing and being their best. It's about doing and being who God made us, to our full potential, no matter what sex we are.
So -- next time we watch Dora, maybe I should start a conversation about who can be a hero. Or maybe that's too much for my youngling to grasp. I don't know. Maybe I should just stay mindful of it and take every opportunity to reiterate that anyONE (male or female) can be the hero and do the hero things that God gives them to do. Or maybe I should just sit back, relax and learn some more espanol. Because, after all, I have been known to overthink things...
2 comments:
I had to chuckle when you asked what boys watch when they snuggle up with their Mommies. HA! I wish my boy would snuggle up with me and watch a movie. I wish my boy would just watch a movie. :) Unfortunately, I can't say much about the Superman/Batman Superhero thing because no boy in my house has gotten into that. We're all about John Deere, tractors and farms here. But now that I think about it, maybe I need to make sure my son knows that anyONE can be a farmer too. He's convinced that only boys can drive tractors. :)
I appreciate your thought process here, Bria. Raising girls is definitely a tricky thing in today's world. Makes me thankful I only have one. :)
Love you!
As a fellow Thinker-Too-Harder, I'm with you! I frequently insert teaching points when I hear something they're watching on TV I don't agree with. For instance, "Can dinosaurs talk? Were there trains when dinosaurs were alive? Of course not! If a book or show is wrong in one place, it's probably wrong in other places, too." The other day Edward asked "This book says this is a stick insect - is there such a thing, Mom?" I said "Yes, there is, but I'm so proud of you for not believing everything you read! What's the ONLY book we can ALWAYS believe? Right! The Bible! Because it is God's Word."
I think maybe teaching our kids to question and reason through things using the unchanging truth of scripture will help them have the ability to not blindly accept the things they see and hear. But you're right - they take in so much subconsciously - we can't possibly address it all! We do what we can, but we can trust God to help us. He's the best parent there is because He can see exactly what's in their hearts and minds and can address it all, at exactly the perfect time in exactly the perfect way! Aren't you SO relieved for that?!? :)
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