In lieu of any of the zillions of other things that she could have done with her afternoon, Junior Miss Twelve got into character. She took great pleasure in swooping around in her cape, vanquishing forces of doom and swiping drinks from her sister’s lemonade stand. I took special delight in her masked mania because I had just read Blue Milk’s post on Disney princesses, and by following her links and some of the discussions, had gone on a whirlwind tour of the princessification of the young girl nation that has many thinking parents concerned. I reflected on my budding teen daughter’s early years, trying to remember if she’d gone through a pink, frilly stage, but I have to say that I don’t think she did. The younger sister certainly had a love of all things pink that is just now starting to fade, but it never extended to a love of princesses.
I do remember being concerned about the girls being exposed to the objectification of women, and I did have an issue with the way women were portrayed in Disney cartoons. I also felt strongly that the majority of shows on television presented gender roles and relationships between the sexes in a highly simplified, rigid way. Commercials in particular bothered me, and I was concerned that if my children were exposed to this sort of stuff regularly that they would absorb it all as fact. It was one of the reasons that I ultimately made the decision to get rid of the TV. One less thing to worry about, one more way to help create a space in which those unique young imaginations could flourish with as few external images as possible. It made me sad when I saw three and four-year old children role-playing characters from TV shows when they could have been inventing their own characters, and I was pleased when my own TV-free kids did exactly that. It also saved me from having children begging for the latest toy, or the newest fashions. I had kids who, when asked what they wanted for Christmas, were unable to think of anything other than crayons.
Ditching the TV was one decision that I’ve never regretted. It probably isn’t the only reason that I have a superhero for a daughter, but I’m betting that it’s one of them.
I always like to read the links you mention in your posts. Gives me much to think about. Glad to hear it M. Thanks for letting me know!
Good for you on getting rid of the tv. I think you are absolutely right that we have to be so careful in what sort of characters our kids are provided as fodder for their imaginations.
My son has gotten much further into war scenarios than I would have liked, but in a really weird way (and I may be far off the mark on this) I am glad because he plays a lot of active, strategic kind of games with his younger sister, who then is just as comfortable playing princess as she is playing a more aggressive protagonist in her imaginary scenarios.
I guess it’s all about maximizing their choices.
I hear what you’re saying about maximixing choices. I would be just as happy if the girls played princess, as long as it was a choice based on their own imaginative powers. I think that by limiting their exposure to media influences, they’ve been protected from the limiting notions of gender based potential that main stream sources seem to rely on. They’ve always just made things up, and done them, without considering whether it was “okay” for a girl to do. The girls have tended more towards traditionally girly games, and the boys to the strategy, war sorts of games that you mentioned, but there is considerable overlap, and they’ve all been willing to adapt their games to whomever is around to play with. I hate the idea of them prematurely limiting their choices, play or otherwise, based on what our current mainstream sources deem appropriate.
There are so many things I see in kids that I am certain come from television. It is a constant reminder for me how happy I am that we don’t have it! (Other than the occasional movie.)
I grew up without TV (until I was eleven) too, and it is something I am very thankful for.
My kids, too, have trouble coming up with gift ideas and when they do it’s something like entomology pins (which is what Zach really wants right now).
Junior Miss Twelve is definitely one of my favourite super heroes!
It’s interesting that you and I were both raised without TV. It must play a part in our parenting decisons…
Hey, I just checked out the “possibly related posts” section about mimicking Disney Characters….boy talk about totally UNrelated!!
lol. I like your blog. elaine over at wannabe hippie has a post about her daughter going to princess camp! wtf? only in America?
oops, i used ‘wtf’ – apologies *slaps hand to forehead*
I definitely think that the television has a huge impact on our daily lives. For most people, it’s a constant source of relaxation and entertainment. However, we can often become so absorbed in what we are watching that we don’t even realize what we are being exposed to. Sitting in front of the TV, if even only for a short amount of time, can lead to many things parents probably wouldn’t want their children seeing. So, why do the producers let this happen? It’s all a way to make money, no matter what the price. It’s a sad realization but it’s true and young kids are completely suseptible to its power.