Pigtail Pals is committed to providing you with the resources you need to Redefine Girly in your own communities. Watch this space for printables you can use.
12 Responses to “Printables”
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I like your letter, but I find that it is the more subtle forms of girly that invade my daughter’s classroom. Her preschool teachers effectively limit commercialization in ways that I truly appreciate. But many people still compliment her whenever she wears something pink or sparkly. She seems to grow taller when she can find things to wear that her teachers will compliment. She spends a great deal of time in the morning and at the store choosing what she will wear and my efforts to push the boundaries of what she’ll wear seem to matter less than the compliments she gets at school. How I wish they would compliment her for her spark or her imagination instead of her sparkly headband or encourage her to run fast and work up a sweat instead of smiling when she plays “kitty ariel” AGAIN like she plays most every day. And don’t get me wrong. I WANT her to be able to decide what she will play, but I imagine a world where more of the adults she encounters will encourage her to stretch taller and see how high she can reach, who she can bring along with her (instead of who she will exclude), and what she can build when she gets there.
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Anne-Marie Reply:
August 27th, 2011 at 10:37 am
That’s my sister! *beams with pride*
Anne-Marie´s last blog ..Health and Happiness
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Laurie Reply:
September 7th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I SO agree with Holly! Complimenting and encouraging our kids on what they do and say is more important then the God given appearance. The point i believe is let your child, girl or boy, be who they are. If they want to go to the grocery store in a cowboy outfit or a pair of princess pj’s let them. They feel ‘awesome’ let them.
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I kind of feel like it would be presumptuous to give this to a teacher. AS a public school teacher, it feels a bit patronizing and preachy to me. I AGREE with everything in the letter, but I just think that teachers would respond better to a conversation. Something like, “I have these concerns about our greater culture…” and then see what s/he says. It feels to me like treating the teacher like you are questioning her judgement in the letter. Just my point of view.
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melissa Reply:
August 29th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Robyn-
I hear what you are saying, but this is meant to be a conversation starter. This is meant for a parent to set up a conference, and use this letter as a road map for that discussion. We want teachers to know this is a group of parents who are educated on the topics, and harms, of gender stereotypes and sexualization so that a parent’s concerns are not discredited as being an individual oversensitivity or ‘issue’. While some teachers may be put off by this, some parents really need the talking points and research-based content to help to have that conversation in the first place.
Know that we are operating with the best of intentions, we want positive change for our kids, and we need to get people talking. Teachers are professionals and most do their jobs well…but we still need a great deal of change for our kids, and our kids spend a great deal of time at school. Parents always have the right to advocate for children. I stand by my work.
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my daughter’s 1st grade classroom only has legos, blocks and books available during in-class free time! after reading this letter i’m pretty proud of that fact!
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Thank you for your blog. I wanted to share a couple of tidbits of fem-related media I thought you might enjoy.
There was a great Op Ed on Huffington Post about how to reinforce little girls little ego’s without specifically complementing their aesthetic value:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html
Also, I love XKCD. The link below features a Zombie Marie Curie. It’s both hilarious and poignant:
http://xkcd.com/896/
I hope you enjoy.
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I love what you do! I have six year old identical twin granddaughters. All I hear and all they hear is how gorgeous they are. And I admit, they are stunning, but I don’t want them only hearing that and thinking that this is the only thing that matters. But I am not writing about that. My concern is all the mistake in the “Paps y sus Princesitas”. Please have another translator look at it. When you put something out there, it should be perfect. This is not meant as a criticism, I mean to be constructive.
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melissa Reply:
September 19th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Hi Marta -
Thank you for your kind words. And yes, the printable should be perfect, so I will have another pair of eyes look at it. Thank you for the heads up!
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Hi! I love your blog and your website!
either!)
I am the so very proud of a girl who thinks smart and strong are GIRLIE words!
She is 11 and plays soccer and hockey. She has had artwork in the local art musuem’s youth show. She is amazing (and NOT just to her mom
When her Nana lost her hair to cancer my 7 year old shaved her head too!
Now that her Nana is in Heaven she is growing out her hair to donate to Locks of Love. People comment on her “becoming a girl” A L O T!
She is 11 and her replies are now slightly more sarcastic…generally like…”yep that’s right, the length of my hair changes my ability to be female!”
I wish I had these t-shirts when she was little! She is getting her first one for Christmas! Thanks for thinking of strong and smart as “girlie” words too!
A proud hockeymomma2 an amazing GIRL!
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Please, look for someone who can write spanish, Im mexican and the letter Papa y sus princesitas is full of mistakes,
If you like, I could help you with anything!!
Hugs
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melissa Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
I will look into it, thank you for letting me know. Unfortunately my Spanish does not go much beyond high school.
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