Princess Finlay Blog #3

My mom found out I was a girl when I was still in her womb.  My dad chose not to know the gender for either of his kids and when I was born I was a surprise to him.  I would be the second daughter for my parents.  My dad may have secretly wanted a son, but he never said that out loud.  Growing up, he gave us opportunities to learn from.  I learned different things that might be considered boyish in today's society.  We learned to snowmobile, fourwheel, change a tire, or change the oil. 

My dad is a firefighter and I can remember the other firefighters saying things to me when I was younger like, "where's your Barbie?"  And I would respond with "I hate Barbie!"  I was never a Barbie collector or doll collector.  I did not fancy myself as a Disney Princess when I was younger, however I am currently joking with my boyfriend that my biological clock is ticking and I have baby fever.  This led us to an interesting conversation about whether or not it was nature or nurture.  Do women actually have a biological clock because that is how we sustain as a species, or is it a myth to keep us entranced in the princess realm?    

Thinking about my nieces who are 4 and 5 years, and were obsessed with the Frozen movie when it first came out has left me feeling like a bad aunt.  They were Anna and Elsa for Halloween that year and I had to stop myself from lecturing my sister about the implications.  This past Halloween one was a bad witch and one was a character from a movie called the Descendants.  They both have implications and stereotypes supporting the female representation. 

I think about the shows I watch with them.  There is Doc McStuffins and Octonauts, which each come with their own laundry list of stereotypes they are fulfilling and rebelling against.