Because whenever Disney does something stupid, I MUST say something about it.
This.
This.
And this.
Here's an idea. WHY DON'T WE STOP MAKING GENDER-SPECIFIC ROLES IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
-Pauses to cough-
No, seriously. I'm actually not mad at Disney for being stupid. I expect that from them, because it's Disney. Point of fact, I have much experience with the stupidity that is Disney.
I'm not mad that they're trying to remake the movie. In fact, in the right circumstances, I would totally be all for it. Like, if they remade the tale for a more modern audience, where the girl gets a life, the boy has a personality, and it's not full of issues that most parents are not entirely sure they want their kids to hear about. Like abuse and bad relationships and the whole slew of things you find in Rapunzel that make you wonder why the hell it was ever considered a children's fable in the first place. (I have nieces and a nephew; I can say this.)
No, what I'm angry about is this gets into the whole stupid 'Boys can't like princesses!'/'Girls must love pink and pretty and frilly things!' argument that seriously screwed with my head as a child.
I'm totally not kidding. I got it into my mind - through many influences - that being girly meant you were weak, and being weak was bad. Therefore I went total tomboy for most of my childhood and teen years. I refused to wear dresses unless pretty much blackmailed into it, I hated the color pink with a passion, I even shopped the boys' clothing section for while I was in high school. Because I wanted more than *anything* to be a boy.
I'm still not even entirely clear on what really got it through my head that girls aren't weak, and being feminine isn't wrong. (Which yes, I know now, before anyone jumps on me in outrage. Really, I promise I know.)
... Honestly, I think it was fandom. I know starandrea was a huge influence on the way I think now. (I so love you Stars. You're totally my hero. ♥) I know my Shi-chan helped a lot too, because she is damn proud to be a girl. Brother did his share in helping with my self-esteem, too. But mostly I think it was really fandom in general that made me look at girls in a different light.
For anyone who's still worried, I've totally got my hair all done up in clips at the moment, in this messy/cute style. And I'm wearing fuzzy pink socks. Because they're warm and fuzzy and pink, and that makes them awesome.
But really. If we would *stop* making these stupid 'boys must be this way, and girls must be like this' roles in the first place? SO MUCH good could be done. Boys wouldn't be afraid of not being 'manly enough', because it wouldn't matter. Girls wouldn't worry about being strong enough without losing the chance to really *be* a girl. Because really, how does a specific chromosome change who you are inside? Excluding biology, what really makes us different? How does being able to bear children rather than produce sperm make anyone any less human than someone else?
And if it doesn't, why did we tell ourselves it did in the first place?
Although I have to say, when I found this under the comment responses to cereta's post, I felt a little better. -Tries not to giggle and fails-
I would be headshakey, but I'm too busy watching my son be a butterfly princess.
This.
And this.
Here's an idea. WHY DON'T WE STOP MAKING GENDER-SPECIFIC ROLES IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
-Pauses to cough-
No, seriously. I'm actually not mad at Disney for being stupid. I expect that from them, because it's Disney. Point of fact, I have much experience with the stupidity that is Disney.
I'm not mad that they're trying to remake the movie. In fact, in the right circumstances, I would totally be all for it. Like, if they remade the tale for a more modern audience, where the girl gets a life, the boy has a personality, and it's not full of issues that most parents are not entirely sure they want their kids to hear about. Like abuse and bad relationships and the whole slew of things you find in Rapunzel that make you wonder why the hell it was ever considered a children's fable in the first place. (I have nieces and a nephew; I can say this.)
No, what I'm angry about is this gets into the whole stupid 'Boys can't like princesses!'/'Girls must love pink and pretty and frilly things!' argument that seriously screwed with my head as a child.
I'm totally not kidding. I got it into my mind - through many influences - that being girly meant you were weak, and being weak was bad. Therefore I went total tomboy for most of my childhood and teen years. I refused to wear dresses unless pretty much blackmailed into it, I hated the color pink with a passion, I even shopped the boys' clothing section for while I was in high school. Because I wanted more than *anything* to be a boy.
I'm still not even entirely clear on what really got it through my head that girls aren't weak, and being feminine isn't wrong. (Which yes, I know now, before anyone jumps on me in outrage. Really, I promise I know.)
... Honestly, I think it was fandom. I know starandrea was a huge influence on the way I think now. (I so love you Stars. You're totally my hero. ♥) I know my Shi-chan helped a lot too, because she is damn proud to be a girl. Brother did his share in helping with my self-esteem, too. But mostly I think it was really fandom in general that made me look at girls in a different light.
For anyone who's still worried, I've totally got my hair all done up in clips at the moment, in this messy/cute style. And I'm wearing fuzzy pink socks. Because they're warm and fuzzy and pink, and that makes them awesome.
But really. If we would *stop* making these stupid 'boys must be this way, and girls must be like this' roles in the first place? SO MUCH good could be done. Boys wouldn't be afraid of not being 'manly enough', because it wouldn't matter. Girls wouldn't worry about being strong enough without losing the chance to really *be* a girl. Because really, how does a specific chromosome change who you are inside? Excluding biology, what really makes us different? How does being able to bear children rather than produce sperm make anyone any less human than someone else?
And if it doesn't, why did we tell ourselves it did in the first place?
Although I have to say, when I found this under the comment responses to cereta's post, I felt a little better. -Tries not to giggle and fails-
I would be headshakey, but I'm too busy watching my son be a butterfly princess.