Friday, May 1, 2009

Girls: All complicated and whiny and stuff

This piece from CNN was horribly upsetting. Here's a few quotes from it. You really should go read the whole thing, though. The author talks about why she couldn't stand the thought of having a daughter.
Even before I had sons, I worried about having a daughter. I could handle boys, with their cut-and-dried needs, but girls were so much more complicated. Girls have elaborate hairstyling requirements. They whine and mope, manipulate and triangulate. How was I going to deal with that?
and
I know not all girls are like this -- sugar and spice and Hannah Montana. My own niece provides a compelling dirt-under-her-fingernails counter example. Plus, I can choose not to expose my daughter to the pink princess world in the first place.

But having already had two children, I've learned that you can't control their hardwiring. If she wants to be a princess, that's what she'll be. I don't allow toy weapons in the house -- which just means that my boys blithely improvise sippy-cup shootouts and remote-control duels to the death.

via.

10 comments:

♥♥♥♥♥ Jennifer™® ♥♥♥♥♥ said...
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lyndsay said...

Even worse, this piece is written by a woman. What is it with women insulting women?

lindsay said...

That article infuriates me. What if that woman's daughter someday finds it? How will it make her feel? I'd be interested to see how the author feels in 5 years, when her daughter is more grown up.

Floating around in my mind, I have this piece and one from a few days ago about how women in India find Michelle Obama a powerful woman, one who feels complete and loves her two daughters fully.

Tasha said...

It's interesting how the article describes girls are both being more difficult and easier and fails to mention that individual children have different temperaments regardless of sex.

Sylphstorm said...

I put a response to the article itself here.

lyndsay said...

I find it hard to understand how much women can insult other women (or girls in this case) on the basis of sex. Does she think she was hard to raise? Does she wish her parents had had a boy instead of her so they'd have had an easier time?

Anonymous said...

I completely agree. I get so frustrated at people that automatically are like "girls are harder to deal with." "It's hard to raise a girl in this world."

Than fucking change the world that's such a scary place for women, don't just hope you don't have a girl.

unhingedhips said...

This part made me smack my forehead:

"(the mom) "Oh, I think you should have a pink-poodle party!" "YUCK!! That's for GIRLS!!" they shriek, and I laugh along with them."

Followed one paragraph later by: "But having already had two children, I've learned that you can't control their hardwiring."

Jha said...

Good grief, did she actually say "hardwiring"? In reference to whether girls will be inclined towards pink princesses stuff?

Anonymous said...

I cannot read that article. I can tell already how much it will hurt. Girls MANIPULATE?!?!?! And WHINE? And MOPE?!?! Is she serious? Boys never do that, of course. And female children couldn't possibly be testing out the emotional Survival Skills they'll need to practice regularly in Patriarchy, where their needs always come secondary to male needs. No, that's not possible.