Some serious stuff...

  This
Yeah, I know, dailyfail yadi yada yada....But this time, this article was actually pretty good.
I have a daughter and almost every day, I think of how to help her grow into a healthy, wholesome and clever woman.
We have had toys, both for boys and girls, same as clothes. When she was 3, we watched a lot of the old Spiderman-cartoons, and she wanted clothes with pictures of Spiderman. And most clothes for girls are just endless pink frills and princessy stuff. So I had to buy her boys clothing, so she gets the images she wanted.
Why are kids so hardly pushed into extreme moulds. There is something called balance, to keep both sides there, feminine and masculine. Neither of them are better from each other, but when both sides are balanced, it makes things a lot easier.
Being a total princess, or tomboy makes you lose out on things. Learning to break free from the moulds people try to put others has been one of the biggest challenges of my life, and I'm getting there slowly, but surely.
I wouldn't blame just toys, or media, but bad parenting put together with these things just makes the soup a lot to handle.
I find it strange how men are raised with the thought that empathy/sympathy and certain levels of tenderness are cowardly and un-manly, and somehow makes them girly. Empathy/sympathy shouldn't be gender-dependent.
Also women who like DIY or can handle tools, and are straight forward are considered as tomboys, or at least manly.
It's all these stereotypes that we keep on teaching to our own kids, instead of trying to learn to balance things.
And as it comes to sexualisation. When you are a parent, you become very aware of everything being sold with sex. Music, clothes, soaps, tv shows, perfumes etc etc. The list goes on.
In the old days sex stayed in the bedroom. Now it's on the streets, newspapers, adverts...Music had innuendos, and hidden meanings, now it's just blatant, raunchy and in your face.

I have been extremely lucky to be loved, and raised in a manner that has given me self confidence and ability to use my own brain. We never had money, or toys, or things, or owned a house, a car, but I did grow up into a chick with some cojones.

This is what I try to teach my own daughter. Like whatever she wants, be confident, love herself as she is, love the imperfections too, and that bad days happen to everybody, we just need to learn how to deal with them the best way possible. Life isn't a picnic, things sometimes go wrong, sad things happen, and you can't control every aspect of your life.

I don't want to sound patronising, or mean, but I want to get people to get their brain switched back on. As it seems to have been on the OFF-mode for waaaayyyyyyy too long.

I could keep on going on these subjects forever, but I won't.

Toodle pip dudes and dudettes...