When it comes to magical creatures on our children’s clothes, the gender gap is wide, and neither girls or boys are on the winning team in my (not very humble) opinion.
... it got me thinking about the differences between raising boys and girls without gender prejudices. Of course, in an ideal world there wouldn't be any differences, but there are, or there are for me. So I'm going to take a bit of time to reflect on myself, on my own parenting
For her school project, my daughter (the chicken) decided to study the differences between girls and boys t shirts in our local shops. I knew what to expect ... but frankly I was shocked.
This design came to me in two stages. I had been mulling over various phrases for a while, things like: 'Why be a princess when you can be a warrior?' or 'fight like a girl', something to contrast a stereotypical princess with a fighting spirit. It was pretty much on the back burner while I waited for a epiphany about what it would look like.
This month marks ten years since the birth of my first child. For me, this is a good time to reflect on what that experience was really like. It's time we started sharing more honestly, because maybe, just maybe, we can make it easier for those who come after us.
I feel in my bones that if we did a better job of helping women transition back into their careers after having children, that the dreadful stats about women's comparative pay and women's representation in the highest echelons' of business and society would improve. The hard work comes well before they get near the top of the greasy pole; it comes when they first have kids, more accurately the first time they return to full time work.