Feeling inspired this morning by a great blog post about "How to Talk to Little Girls" (book by Lisa Bloom) and wanted to share.
a little excerpt (from the blog); the book "encourages adults to ask little girls about ideas and books, instead of complimenting their looks. 'Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything,' says Bloom. 'I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are...It's our culture's standard talking-to-little-girls icebreaker, isn't it?'
SO true. Sie & I have talked about it in the past - it's so easy to tell Helen, "you're so beautiful" but we also need to emphasize, "you're so smart", "you're so hardworking", "you're so strong!" I know I am guilty of focusing on all things girly/exterior with my niece Isabella, too. She's into make-up, nails, hair, clothes right now and it's so hard not to jump in head first on all these fun common interests (haha)! Next time I see her, I'm asking her 1) what books she's reading and 2) what's her favorite subject in first grade... we can take it from there.
Reading this blog is a great reminder to me that I want to be a strong, thoughtful, intelligent role model for all the little girls in my life (daughter/nieces/cousins). Someone who values their opinions, thoughts, and loves them for exactly who they are. I hope to emphasize all women are capable of and show they can do anything with hard work and determination!
Happy Thursday.
Happy Thursday.
2 comments:
You go girl! We do that as women, too.
It's what is in the inside that counts! But...I still have to tell her she's beautiful, too.
Love this post, Kate! Helen is so cute, but you can see from those alert little eyes that she is working hard to understand her new world around her as well.
Hope all is well!
Post a Comment