The Lost Message

There are a lot of messages out there for female empowerment. Girl's Inc is an organization to help girls grow up to be "strong, smart and bold". It's not alone. Below is a PBS link that lists 8.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/parenting/raising-girls/body-image-identity/positive-organizations-can-help-young-girls-find-their-inner-girl-power/

Boys just have the Boy Scouts. But this isn't about the number of organizations targeting specific genders. It's about the messages overall. They are positive messages.

Be strong
Be smart
Be independent
Be bold
Be responsible

But they are targeted to girls. As the mother of a boy I find myself asking "does Zach feel empowered?" That started when he was about 2 years old. He loved the TV show "Cabbage Patch Kids". It taught a lot of positive messages and made both genders appear capable. But, we had to on demand it on "Kabillion Girls Rule". He heard that as part of the commercial before every episode. At 2, what message was he getting? He heard "girls rule" but he never heard "boys rule".

Every kid should learn to be empowered to be strong, smart, independent, bold, and responsible. It's not just a girl thing. They are positive messages. But it's a lost message for boys.

It's assumed that boys already feel empowered to be strong, smart, independent, bold and responsible. But, they learn to feel empowered through the examples set by their role models and the messages they hear in their environment. That's how girls learn these same messages. Why is it assumed boys already feel empowered and girls need these extra reminders?

Feminism is about equality between the genders. It's not about one gender being better, it's about both respecting each other and treating each other equally. It's about women making the same amount of money as men. It's about losing the labels for "man job" and "woman job". It's about reducing the number of misogynistic chauvinists in the world.

I think these are positive messages in general. But they shouldn't just be targeted at girls. The ads should feature girls and boys. Accomplishments should be celebrated equally. Because the same amount of effort went into completing them. It shouldn't be a bigger deal when your daughter wins a dance competition then when your son wins a Tae Kwon Do competition! They are equal accomplishments. The equality message is lost when they aren't treated equal.

Boys learn they have to work harder to be good enough. Girls learn they are better then boys because their accomplishments are celebrated more. Both messages are wrong. The message most parents try to teach get lost. The message that both their son and daughter are equal and both worked hard for their achievements.

Boys need to be empowered too. It's time to drop the "girl power" and switch to "I've got the power". It's time for Kabillion kids to rule instead of just the girls. Boys are at risk for problems too. It's time for them to hear other boys say "I will not be a statistic..............I will be better". Because when the message is for girls only, there are boys that might be learning that girls are better. No one is better, we are all equal.

The Lost Message

I've got the power to be strong
I've got the power to be smart
I've got the power to be independent
I've got the power to be bold
I've got the power to be responsible

And my gender doesn't matter!!!