Reviving Ophelia
First, let me say that if read through a cynical eye, what I'm about to say could look bad. Don't do that.
My wife is a high school english and theater teacher. She is busy with her play and I am busy with a new product launch and a project kick-off. Therefore I often bring her in to work so we can spend an extra twenty minutes together.
I saw something today that made me sad.
Today kids dressed up for halloween, and you got the typical high school dress-up (A sweet girl dressed like a goth, a kid dressed like a nerd, etc.)
Two girls were dressed up like the "Playboy Bunnies." My wife suggested that they change, and they agreed to do so, but it made me sad.
These were little girls, nice girls, your-hot-girlfriends-little-sister-who-will-be-cute-in-five-years kind of girls.
How did we communicate to them that what would be really cool is if they dressed up like girls from a girlie magazine.
Obviously, they get that message everywhere, but I had not thought about how much it sucked.
We expect our girls to be brilliant, genious, ditzy, assertive, non-threatening, porn star, virgin, sinner, saints and then we wonder about depression and identity confusion in teenage girls. That's not fair, and little girls spend time crying because of it.
I don't really have a plan of action other than this--if I ever meet the editor of Maxim I'm going to kick his ass.
I welcome more proactive suggestions.
My wife is a high school english and theater teacher. She is busy with her play and I am busy with a new product launch and a project kick-off. Therefore I often bring her in to work so we can spend an extra twenty minutes together.
I saw something today that made me sad.
Today kids dressed up for halloween, and you got the typical high school dress-up (A sweet girl dressed like a goth, a kid dressed like a nerd, etc.)
Two girls were dressed up like the "Playboy Bunnies." My wife suggested that they change, and they agreed to do so, but it made me sad.
These were little girls, nice girls, your-hot-girlfriends-little-sister-who-will-be-cute-in-five-years kind of girls.
How did we communicate to them that what would be really cool is if they dressed up like girls from a girlie magazine.
Obviously, they get that message everywhere, but I had not thought about how much it sucked.
We expect our girls to be brilliant, genious, ditzy, assertive, non-threatening, porn star, virgin, sinner, saints and then we wonder about depression and identity confusion in teenage girls. That's not fair, and little girls spend time crying because of it.
I don't really have a plan of action other than this--if I ever meet the editor of Maxim I'm going to kick his ass.
I welcome more proactive suggestions.
1 Comments:
Ryan,
Man...I hear ya...and yet, I am part of the problem. I am a sexual guy...and while I'm neither looking for high-schoolers in bunny outfits or picking up the latest from Maxim, I am one of those guys who thinks about sex more than I want to, and who has to actively TRY not to apply those thoughts to the wrong people.
Do you think it's inherent in our creation? Doesn't seem like it should be, does it? Do you know if our American males are more sexually-minded then our European, African or Icelandic counterparts? (I don' t know what continent Iceland is in...a fact that just occured to me now).
Hmmm....
Peace,
Justin
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