Homecoming Schooling Queen...
It hit me when I was folding the laundry and came across a lap comparison of hand-me-down t-shirts for my young boy and me young girlio's. Sport and team shirts were intermingled on both sides of the gender spectrum (thank God, and Rochester girls' youth sports), although I did notice that as time has progressed, our youngest segments of the family population have been wearing an abundance of pepto-pink hand me downs. That I was still lacking a Q post hit me when, after the third or fourth Star Wars hero dooood shirt passed by, a "Homecoming Queen" shirt fell into my lap, complete with the pretty purple crown.
One of the reasons we homeschool here at Daddioso's is to have greater influence over the sex roles portrayed and promoted in our learning environment. I've been reading Jean Baker's How Homophobia Hurts Children and this statement resonated with me as a reaffirmation concerning homeschooling:
"A teacher sets the standards and norms for the behavior of the children..." [for 7+ hours a day], "and models attitudes about gender-role expectations and about acceptance or intolerance of diversity of all types, including sexual orientation. A teacher's attitudes will strongly influence the peer group norms, whether it be toward tolerance of differences or toward demands for conformity."
Seldom do young girls' clothing promote the fact that our young women, as our young men, grow to become heroes. Heroic leaders, warriors, pilots, athletes, sailors, police officers, firefighters, race car drivers, Jedi Knights (though notice it was
'Men who stare at Goats, right?--sorry, I just watched it today), we find on both sides of the gender spectrum. On children's clothing, however, not so much.
Boys' clothing promotes and worships the male hero: active, adventuresome, confident, kickA$$, leader dooods with a light saber, a gat, and a surf board to boot.
Girls' clothing tends to promote, well, other things: cutesy, coy, bossy, sassy, shiny, cheetah spotted, leopard printed, tiger striped (ok, enough with the feline already!!!), princess-y, homecoming queen, oh I wish I were beautiful and the best of both worlds bullcrap.
I need me some hero worshipin', adventuresome ass clothes for girls, pronto; in cool colors and sizes (don't get me started on hoochie mama clothes for infants and toddlers). No more pink crowns, pink ballet slippers, pink wands, pink tiaras, pink ponies (with hair to braid, rather than to ride for adventure), or pink lipstick on my girls' shirts. Give me like some, Grace Jones from Conan (minus the racial spearchuckin' imagery), tough broads on a Harley, judo flipping, a$$ kicking, dunk on you and slice you up with my light saber lady shirts. Yeah.
It seems clear to me that the hero worship remains uneven. Even those men who grow up to find less 'exciting' careers are still praised as heroes if they go to work everyday and bring home the bacon, while women who work continue to be pressured to maintain both their professional face (no coincidence in word choice there, as they are judged more harshly for looks in the workplace), and their feminine grace (including maintaining the perfect home and the perfect mother role). I know of far too many dual professional families where mommy is still nanny, alice from mel's diner, sheila from the washateria and wanda the maid. Yet and still they are still painted as either not as competitive in the workplace or parentally insufficient: absentee, cold and unfeeling toward the children.
O.k., I know, its just a pink t-shirt (stating that my 3 year old is a homecoming queen--why, who wouldn't want to be, right?), but I think there is some link there. Maybe we should all have a cup of coffee and a slice and think about it.
Anyhow, now for the latest and greatest from the homeschooling king and queens' picture archive (though perhaps next time, I'll have to discuss the idolation of royalty*):
Big Ange, representing to the fullest!
Hanging at Great Grandma's digs in the chair from the ole' country...
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| Down by the Chicago lakefront with Willabear |
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| Checking out the rudder |
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| Chillin' with Nasir al Din al Tusi (13th century Muslim astronomer) |
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| At Buckingham fountain in the Chi with pops |
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| Next in line for Girls Camp at Ajawah |
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| Ajawah is awesome |
Let's go big Zay!
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| Get your catcher on girl!!! (Her favorite position--gotta get us some catcher's gear). |
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| 2nd place at the tourney |
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| Back to nature, planting trees and building birdfeeders... |
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| wylin' out with the girls |
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| huggie budz |
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| in the cast of Tom Sawyer |
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| Keeping tabs on Columbus and the Pinta (check out People's History by Howard Zinn) |
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| Locks for Love: Before |
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| Locks for Love: After |
First Piano Recital at First UU Church!
Let's Go Indy!!!
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