Society Wins

Hello everyone! It has been a ridiculously long time since I have written anything. If you follow my Facebook and Twitter pages you will see that I have shared memes and tweetable moments, but no new blogs. As L grows, it feels like I have less time for writing. Hopefully it's just a phase!

As we were getting dressed to go to the grocery store yesterday, we had an interesting conversation. It was a very warm day in the Rockies, so I allowed L to choose a dress with some leggings. As soon as she put the dress on she told me she was very pretty because she was wearing a dress. I assured her that she is always beautiful, inside and out.

Fast forward two hours later. After waking up from a car nap and then having an accident in the car (don't even get me started on potty training), we had to change her clothes. I had no clean dress for her to change into, just t-shirts and leggings. L proceeded to cry and say, "I need to wear a dress so that I can be very pretty." Again, I shared that she is always pretty, that she doesn't have to be pretty, yada yada. I finally asked her who says that you have to wear a dress to be very pretty. She screamed, "NO ONE."

That's when it hit me. You really can't pinpoint who says that because in reality, it is everyone. Society has taught all of us to comment first on what young children, especially girls, look like, "You're so cute!" As much as my husband and I have tried to counteract this, it is somehow engrained in L's head at three years old.

I challenge you to notice something different-confidence, curiosity, perseverance, etc.

Do you have a story or idea about gender roles? Please share in the comments.

#SocietalRules #clothing #motherhood