Feminism

Charlotte enjoying herself on a fire truck when we visited a fire station 2 years ago.

I've never really associated myself as a feminist until I find myself starting to correct Charlotte every time she makes a sexist statement.

"My teacher said blue is for boy. Girls cannot like blue. Girls like pink and purple."
"No, Charlotte. I like blue. Sometimes, daddy wears pink, too."

"Only girls can cook. Boys cannot cook. My friend said one."
"Look at Masterchef! Gordan Ramsay is a man and he can cook really well."

"Why that gorgor has long hair? Boys cannot have long hair."
"Well, Aquaman has long hair."

"Boys like cars and motorbikes. I like cars but I'm not a boy. So I cannot like cars."
"I'm not a boy, too, but I looooovve cars."

"Teacher said boys cannot do things nicely. Only girls can."
"If you guide them, they can do it nicely, too."

"Emmett cannot play with my baby (a soft toy) because he is not a girl."
"Well, I think it's ok. I mean, daddy takes care of you and Emmett when mummy is not around, doesn't he?"

The more I address to statements like these, the more furious I become. It dawned on me how much people consciously or subconsciously genderlize everything! From colours to toys, outfit, hairstyle, the book they read, the things they do and the food they eat!

And then I realized, I am a feminist myself. I find myself constantly fighting for equal rights, especially when I know that I am capable of doing so much more than what other defines that I cannot.

I remember comforting Charlotte and tell her that it's ok if she doesn't like ballet. Hiking sounds fun. It's ok if she doens't like to wear dresses in pink. I, too, prefer wearing long pants cause it gives me more mobility freedom.

I hope I could talk to the school one day on these comments that was picked up in school. However, I understand that parents play a bigger role. So I pledge to raise my children differently so that they believe they have the opportunity to succeed in school, college and career, regardless of how they look, where they start or where they live.