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Recently I came across a post on Instagram that said “My generation had princesses to look up to. Our daughters have generals.” And I couldn’t help but feel proud of how far we’ve come from the ‘damsel in distress’ tag women were associated with. No offence, but Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were a sorry excuse for role models. I’d rather fangirl over women like Shuri, Rey, Okoye, Nakia and Wonder Woman.
In fact, not just for our daughters. It’s about time we break gender stereotypes and stop allocating only ‘manly’ superheroes like Superman and Batman to our boys. There are valuable lessons to be learned from these female characters and it isn’t fair to categorise them for only one half of the population.
Mother of two, Katie Alicea recently wrote a post about her 5-year-old son, Isaac who chose the coolest backpack ever.
Little Isaac here, when given the chance to pick a new bag for his first day of school, selected a Wonder Woman backpack, complete with the iconic tiara and the Lasso of Truth.
When an apprehensive Katie asked him whether he was sure about his choice, sweet Isaac excitedly replied:
“Yes, I looked at all of them and I love superheroes the MOST and this Wonder Woman backpack is my favorite! It has a CROWN, Mom! IT’S PERFECT!”
Oh, bless his heart!
Katie writes that she has some apprehensions about Isaac’s choice, for a reason that’ll make us curse our existing toxic gender roles:
“I admittedly have some fear for my sweet Isaac. For how the world can treat someone who doesn’t easily fit into stereotypes or who blazes their own path instead of following everyone else. After he chose the Wonder Woman backpack, I asked if he was sure, not because the backpack bothered me, but because I imagined Isaac being made fun of at a new school when he has been so desperate to make new friends.
Why are we trying to get our boys to live in a muted world of blues, browns, and greens, where it’s fine if they play with guns and trucks, but not with barbies?
There are so many wonderful new books and TV shows which feature strong, intelligent, capable, and heroic girls and women, and therefore our boys have the opportunity to grow up being exposed to messaging about women that are empowering instead of diminishing. I was happy to know our efforts have worked and Isaac doesn’t see Wonder Woman as an inferior or weaker superhero, but just as awesome and amazing as the rest of them.”
The little angel Isaac and his 3-year-old brother, on the other hand, are thankfully still oblivious to this tendency of the world and had a blast with the backpack.
Have you seen anything cuter?!
Katie’s post caught the eye of someone special and the Amazonian herself took to Twitter to praise the little Wonder Boy:
Just read this article about breaking gender stereotypes by Katie Alicea. Such an important topic and something I believe in so strongly. I hope Issac wore the crown and his WW backpack proudly to school. 🙅🏻♀️#WonderBoy pic.twitter.com/sCbfprbG5y
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) August 7, 2018
Go, Isaac!
Like Gal Gadot, the good folk of Twitter cam forward in support of Isaac:
1. Can’t wait to see what Brie Larson has in store for Captain Marvel.
That’s awesome! I just got a #CaptainMarvel backpack which i proudly wear daily! Those stereotypes must be vanished! pic.twitter.com/9c389Ojbtt
— Rafael Rodrigues (@RafDanvers) August 7, 2018
2. Here’s another gem!
— Sara Mason (@sfmason72) August 7, 2018
3. Awww… This cutie is starting early.
Wonder Woman is for everyone, even boys 😍 pic.twitter.com/GOMri5ZRak
— Rosie Bonilla (@RosieLloyd76) August 7, 2018
4. I need to get myself one of those tiaras.
Right there with him to support!!!! pic.twitter.com/ESwHuWlVP7
— Matt Marr (@theMattMarr) August 8, 2018
5. And it works the other way too.
My daughter with her “boy” Star Wars backpack wait no it is just a backpack. Star Wars Wonder Woman it doesn’t matter kids should get what they love. pic.twitter.com/10i4MxbPIQ
— littleradish (@thelittleradish) August 7, 2018
6. Absolutely! Amazing time to be alive.
https://twitter.com/IsaiahA90488281/status/1026971595485720576
7. He sure does.
There shouldn’t be restrictions to what we love and believe in @GalGadot. That boy has great taste. 🙅🏻♀️💪🏼😊❤️#breakinggenderstereotypes pic.twitter.com/1czfmt92DT
— James Nanawa (@jounin00) August 7, 2018
8. Damn right she does.
My 4 year old daughter says I’m as strong as Wonder Woman, a peer at work asked me if that offended me, I was like “dude, have you seen her? She lifts tanks, for God’s sake!”
— Family Man (@Riffke) August 7, 2018
Gender stereotypes are something that we ourselves install into the heads of oblivious kids at a very young age. Unless we make a consious choice right now to stop doing it, the vicious cycle will continue forever. Let’s take a leaf out of little Isaac’s book and forget our preassigned notions on what a specific gender must be like.
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