Drape Effect
The second thing that I learned from my daughter’s birthday party is that there are not enough empowering images of fierce girls in the media. Before you say DUH, keep in mind that I wasn't browsing chic magazines, commercials, or sensationalized media outlets. I was googling the world wide web for images of little girl knights, ninjas, and mummies. Those are legitimate search words. Nothing sexy or weird about it. Seriously.
I needed the pictures for a treasure map. With a quest you kinda have to have a map. On ours we put the six rooms where the party goers would travel to complete each Magic Tree House challenge. On the map I wanted to use icons/pictures and not just words. Since the partiers were all girls, I wanted the map to have girl centric imagery. So I googled and searched royalty free picture sites for girl knights, mummies, ancient Olympians, ninjas, and pirates.
I did not type in woman or costume or cute. I knew that much. But, dang, all the world wants to see is objectified women. Why does that hold so much (negative) power?
For the girl knight I could only find images with bare mid-drifts (who would joust in that?) and super sexy buxom knights. Women may not have been actual knights in those days, but I can find plenty of dogs dressed as knights. Sure, that’s funny. But if they think of putting a dog in a suit of armor, what about an American Doll or a Barbie? Or anything a girl can see herself as.
The second thing that I learned from my daughter’s birthday party is that there are not enough empowering images of fierce girls in the media. Before you say DUH, keep in mind that I wasn't browsing chic magazines, commercials, or sensationalized media outlets. I was googling the world wide web for images of little girl knights, ninjas, and mummies. Those are legitimate search words. Nothing sexy or weird about it. Seriously.
I needed the pictures for a treasure map. With a quest you kinda have to have a map. On ours we put the six rooms where the party goers would travel to complete each Magic Tree House challenge. On the map I wanted to use icons/pictures and not just words. Since the partiers were all girls, I wanted the map to have girl centric imagery. So I googled and searched royalty free picture sites for girl knights, mummies, ancient Olympians, ninjas, and pirates.
I did not type in woman or costume or cute. I knew that much. But, dang, all the world wants to see is objectified women. Why does that hold so much (negative) power?
For the girl knight I could only find images with bare mid-drifts (who would joust in that?) and super sexy buxom knights. Women may not have been actual knights in those days, but I can find plenty of dogs dressed as knights. Sure, that’s funny. But if they think of putting a dog in a suit of armor, what about an American Doll or a Barbie? Or anything a girl can see herself as.
I scoured the web for girl ninjas. Same problem. What kind of ninja is going to be showing that much skin? Ninjas in bikinis? No to the no. I found countless images of turtle ninjas. So what's up with that? And here’s a probing question for the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…why no Mary Cassatt Ninja Turtle or Georgia O’Keefe Ninja Turtle—why all male turtles named after male artists?
I had trouble finding girl mummies. Common sense tells me there should be mummies of both genders.
I ended up having my older daughter draw the map. I hope she is always able to make her own way like that when the worn path is so unappealing and disempowering.
The map she created turned out awesomely and it successfully transported the party goers to many magical places. The girls found a Mama T-Rex's lost eggs, dressed up as mummies to fool a real mummy, jousted a pinata as knights, built a rocket to escape space, did the limbo in Hawaii to outmaneuver hot lava, and were the first girls to compete in the ancient Olympics. My older daughter also dressed up like a pirate to chase them between challenges. She was born for that role.
So. The first thing I learned was that a tree house cake is an *experience* well worth having. The second is that girls are really being cheated out of strong role models for their imaginative play. Sexist brainwashing starts early. And finally, I learned that if you want to mummify seven little girls you need approximately five rolls of toilet paper and four adults. Also, little girls are not super psyched about being mummified tightly. They like a loose drape effect.
Always willing to share my life lessons!
So. The first thing I learned was that a tree house cake is an *experience* well worth having. The second is that girls are really being cheated out of strong role models for their imaginative play. Sexist brainwashing starts early. And finally, I learned that if you want to mummify seven little girls you need approximately five rolls of toilet paper and four adults. Also, little girls are not super psyched about being mummified tightly. They like a loose drape effect.
Always willing to share my life lessons!
As a bonus, I will remind you to be careful what you google for. Just sayin’. Gregorific had to wash her eyes several times.
Keep having fun,
~gregorific
~gregorific
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