My first remembered cognition as a little girl was that it was a man’s world. My three year old solution was to grow up and be a man. How did that work for me? Not so much. A street photography gallery by Diane Wehr.
In my generation, women were expected to go from the protection of their father to the protection of their husbands.
Did my daughter have the same freedom growing up as my sons did? No.
Barbie comes with an explicit message to little girls. The women in my family do not give their daughters Barbies. When my four year old granddaughter, Lucy, asked for a Barbie, we told her, “Barbies are for big girls.” The other day I was telling Lucy how much she has grown up. Her reply, “Now I can get a Barbie.”
There is a robust vocabulary that marginalizes women.
Women are often on the outside looking in.
Mothers have to pass on to their daughters a message of vulnerability. “Always be aware of your surroundings.”
Today’s professional women have given it a name, “mansplaining”.