Packs for Pride
My job has a drive every year for backpacks to be given to children staying overnight with their mothers at various abuse protection shelters. The backpacks are required to contain some essential items and a small toy. I went crazy putting together backpacks for two little girls. It hurt my credit card, but kids and Christmas is a weak spot for me. I purchased, as follows:
- A "Hello Kitty" backpack
- "Hello Kitty" gloves and hat set
- A cute stuffed cat
- A "Cats and Kittens" coloring book
- A box of Crayola crayons
- A set of cat pajamas
- "Hello Kitty" underwear
- Days of the week socks
- "Hello Kitty" toothbrush and toothpaste set
- A black and pink backpack
- A set of white knit hat and gloves with purple circles on them
- A stuffed tiger
- A Doodle Pro (along the same lines as Etch-a-Sketch)
- Green pajama pants with pink polka dots and pink pajama top
- A pack of undies with cute frogs on them
- Days of the week socks
- "Hello Kitty" toothbrush and toothpaste set
Most of my co-workers were shopping for little boys, getting them superhero pajamas with matching action figures. Someone got two backpacks for little girls with make-up sets and plastic jewelry. Eww. I tried to make my contributions less gendered and included a creative activity in each one. But seriously... EVERY back pack and pajama set I looked at was Bratz, Disney Princesses, Barbie or fucking High School Musical. (I know that "Hello Kitty" is kind of gendered, but I was trying to go with an overall cat theme).
I was trying, as a rule, to get stuff which wouldn't have offended my feminist sensibilities as a child. (And I say feminist sensibilities with the utmost seriousness. I ignored dolls, beheaded Barbies and played with toy dinosaurs and animal figurines. When I played pretend, I was always the hero, NOT the princess). But damn... I remember having more choices as a kid, which weren't all automatically super-girly. Is our culture getting even more rigid in childrens' gender stereotypes?
I think I am going to go curl up in a corner and cry.
- A "Hello Kitty" backpack
- "Hello Kitty" gloves and hat set
- A cute stuffed cat
- A "Cats and Kittens" coloring book
- A box of Crayola crayons
- A set of cat pajamas
- "Hello Kitty" underwear
- Days of the week socks
- "Hello Kitty" toothbrush and toothpaste set
- A black and pink backpack
- A set of white knit hat and gloves with purple circles on them
- A stuffed tiger
- A Doodle Pro (along the same lines as Etch-a-Sketch)
- Green pajama pants with pink polka dots and pink pajama top
- A pack of undies with cute frogs on them
- Days of the week socks
- "Hello Kitty" toothbrush and toothpaste set
Most of my co-workers were shopping for little boys, getting them superhero pajamas with matching action figures. Someone got two backpacks for little girls with make-up sets and plastic jewelry. Eww. I tried to make my contributions less gendered and included a creative activity in each one. But seriously... EVERY back pack and pajama set I looked at was Bratz, Disney Princesses, Barbie or fucking High School Musical. (I know that "Hello Kitty" is kind of gendered, but I was trying to go with an overall cat theme).
I was trying, as a rule, to get stuff which wouldn't have offended my feminist sensibilities as a child. (And I say feminist sensibilities with the utmost seriousness. I ignored dolls, beheaded Barbies and played with toy dinosaurs and animal figurines. When I played pretend, I was always the hero, NOT the princess). But damn... I remember having more choices as a kid, which weren't all automatically super-girly. Is our culture getting even more rigid in childrens' gender stereotypes?
I think I am going to go curl up in a corner and cry.