As parents, my wife and I selected the media my daughter was exposed to very carefully. We avoided Disney probably partly out of snobbishness, but also out of a desire not to raise a princess. We actively sought out media with strong female characters, like Phillips Pullman’s His Dark Materials series and Harry Potter. Nevertheless, our daughter developed a very strong “feminine” side, mixed with a very strong “masculine” side. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when she expressed interest in high heels and princessy dresses. I thought we had nipped that nonsense in the bud.
Henward and MacGillivray helped explain some of what had happened:
“In her concept the contradictory nature of the talk (i.e. representing oneself as masculine and feminine) is not that of a confused child but one who switches between and among different subjectivities” (Henward, 2014).
It wasn’t my daughter who was confused, it was me.
Henward and MacGillivray helped explain some of what had happened:
“In her concept the contradictory nature of the talk (i.e. representing oneself as masculine and feminine) is not that of a confused child but one who switches between and among different subjectivities” (Henward, 2014).
It wasn’t my daughter who was confused, it was me.