eumelia | It's silly, I know

I just came back from a small chore that didn't require me to walk very far, so I went outside barefoot.
As I was walking, a Granny with three children under the age of four passed me and the little girl (I'd wager she was about three) gave me a really long look and as they passed she looked up to her Granny, "Isn't she pretty?! Why is she barefoot?"
"I don't know" replied the Granny, "Maybe she just likes to be barefoot"
"Can I cut my hair like her?" (I'm not shaved at the moment, merely short and gel spiked).
The Granny tossed me an exasperated look.

I feel so validated!

I'm wearing a pastel green shirt and bubble-gum pink skirt (yes, I can hear all of you *gasp* from across the internet) and I feel so pretty! For years I've tried my hardest to avoid flashy colours, staying neutral and if I do wear a flashy colour I'll probably down play it with black, white, grey, or any other non-colour. Plus, the only non-neutral colour I loved was red. Now I want to wear greens, pinks, bright blues and more.
Yesterday I wore the pink skirt with a turquoise tank top and looked very, very bubbly.
Colours have become a "yes, more" kind of thing, when before they were a big "you expect me to wear that?!"

I think I'm becoming happier.

Also this little girl had hair down to her waist... the more little girls who challenge gender norms the better I say!

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Yeah, it's good to feel validated (don't I know it?), but...

One of the reasons we have gender norms is because of societal pressure. What this poor little girl is feeling now, at least as I see it, is just another piece of pressure in the opposite direction.

However, isn't peer-pressure in the opposite direction just as bad? Pressuring someone to not be pressured by society sounds... backwards... to me.

I'm not pressuring her in anyway.
She saw me and thought I look pretty and she wanted to look pretty as well.

The fact that it is a social norm for girls to have long hair is beside the point, the point is many girls (and I was one of them) felt compelled to grow long hair simply because we are girls, no one bats an eyes when I guy haves his head, but when a girl chooses to lose her locks it's another story.
I think that as soon as the social norms are the same for boys and girls the better, and that means challenging the current norms.

Yeah, I understand that very much! When I was young, I wanted long hair, but it wasn't something boys were allowed to do in my family. I've come to love my crew cuts and flat tops, but it haunted me as a child that I couldn't have a say about my own head, especially when the aunt that I really looked up to kept telling me I would look good with long hair. =/

It's silly, I know

Challenging norms?

Re: Challenging norms?

Re: Challenging norms?