GO YOU CUBS!!! GO YOU CUBS!!!!! GO YOU GODDAMN WONDERFUL CUBS!!!!!!
OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I've got something to say about this thing I keep seeing on my Facebook.
Last year, when Supergirl started airing on the CW, I thought that would be a show that Laney and I could watch. But during the (charming) pilot, Laney kept rolling her eyes and saying "Why does she have to wear a skirt?" And I'd say, "Maybe she likes to wear a skirt?"
The wearing of a skirt, you see, is not an inherently political act.
Supergirl isn't sexualized. She isn't fetishized. She has agency and intelligence. Her skirt does not impede her heroism. But somehow her skirt made her suspect. Somehow my feminist daughter picked up the belief that Girl Stuff Iz Bad. We had a talk about it. The seeds are planted. But, goddammit, you guys: feminism doesn't mean rejecting femininity.
Which brings me to this facacta thing that I have seen on my Facebook roughly eleventy million times over the last couple of days:
Oh my god, you guys! Are we really at the point where we're gonna tell our daughters that it's better to be Batman (note: MAN) than it is to be a Princess? I get that the gist is supposed to be that this girl is an independent free-thinker. But the "Batman"-ness of it cannot be ignored! The fact remains that this meme asks us to celebrate the girl who aspires to a Man.
(And god, the worst man! Batman has been a tiresome, gravelly-voiced, self-important sack of no-fun ever since Michael Keaton hung up his cowl. Latter day Batman sux. Bring it.)
The girl who likes cosmetics and clothes is not doing Girl wrong. The girl who likes superheroes and sports isn't doing Girl right. There's no right or wrong way to Girl. Girls just are.
Femininity and masculinity are, on the other hand, constructs; things we choose to dress ourselves up in. And the thing that's been historically and culturally associated with the ladieez isn't suspect for having been so.
There's not a damn thing wrong with a girl (or a boy) who likes a sparkly dress and tiaras! Tiaras are fucking fabulous! I wish I were wearing one right goddamn now.
There's not a damn thing wrong with a girl (or a boy) who wants to rock the cape and a cowl (although, you might want to expose her to some better superheroes because, as been previously stated: Batman sux).
Now that's been said, LET'S GET SOME RUNS!!!
