On what it means when little girls wanting to be princesses...

There's an interesting article in New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/24/magazine/24princess.t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin of a (feminist) mother pondering over what it means when her little girl wants to be princess, and likes only pink, though at the back of her mind, she still hopes her daughter would one day find her Prince Charming who would love and respect her and share half of the daycare.

I have a little girl and a young boy. I can understand how she feels about all these girlie things that don't do much to potentially improve the self-esteem. Having said that, I disagree with what one mother in the article says “What am I supposed to say?” when her young girl shows her something that makes her look more like little prostitutes.

I would say, tell them. Tell the kids what is proper and what is not. We should not let the commercial firms dictate what is supposed to look right or not. If a dress is too skimpy, say it. Parents have to start the assertion when they're young; not when they're 10 or 12. That would be too late.

And I would also say, all these feminism and social movement focus on just the women. Have we thought of how young boys are brought up? Have we, as parents, told the boys too, of what is respectable and what is not (clothing or behavior, for example)?

Many a time, I've heard of women saying, they're given the chance to prove themselves along their career path and they shine, and 9 out of 10 of the bosses are men who understand this. Like one of the guys I work with, who has 2 girls: His tick on it is that, he treats those who work for him like he would like his daughters to be treated in the future, and that lets him to allow the female workers to flourish.

I'm not saying, we as women have to be given the chance by men. I did not grow up in America. I grew up in a country where women and men are treated like equals (one of the most capitalist places on world - go figure it out). :) In fact, the idea of feminism never crossed my mind when I was growing up. When I was a little girl, I liked princess stickers, but I didn't like pink. I did like play-acting cooking in the kitchen. My mother is a strong-willed woman. She never told me, I can be whatever I want to be. But everyone in the house, boys or girls, do the same chores. We're expected to deliver the same results (school or sports). And that implicitly told every one of my siblings (me included) that we go out and compete as equals. We do not fret over whether we're boys or girls.

Of course, back then, things were alot more innocent. Perhaps these days, we *do* have to tell our children explicitly what we expect them to do. And you know what, children will rise up to the expectations. They will. Not that we should force our wills on them on what they should do in their life, but if we don't have expectations, they will flounder.

Sometimes, I feel impatient about all the talk of feminism and its movement. We should go out, teach our girls *and* our boys. Perhaps then, our next generation will treat each other a little more equally.