I wanted women in power to be normalized for them. I decided then and there that I would make an active effort for my sons to see female leads. We don’t shame them or try to redirect them the times that they don’t - it is perfectly acceptable to favour a male character." "Increasingly, they cite female characters as their favourites in movies or TV shows. It was the same for Paw Patrol and even the new Star Wars, despite the main character in the new franchise being female. There were already too few female characters in the movie, and then the merchandise not only failed to feature them for boys the way they did the male characters, but actively removed them from the group shots. When I went to buy my son an Avengers shirt, I was crestfallen to discover that many of the options removed the female characters in the shirts aimed at boys. Related Reading: How To Talk About Sexism With Your Son It’s certainly a step up from the not-so-distant past when parents made no effort to hide their double-standards.īut the uncomfortable truth is that we are still inadvertently raising our sons to feel they have and deserve the upper hand. When asked, I’m sure most families would say, and genuinely believe, that they are raising their sons, daughters and non-binary children to be equal, and that’s a good thing. Most parents would never overtly tell their sons that they are better than girls, or that they deserve to hold more agency in the world than their daughters. If we want to make a real dent in the global gender imbalance, we need to undo the messages we have continually sent to our boys that they are meant to hold more power. It isn’t enough for girls to see female-led movies and feel inspired. I am thrilled the girls in my life get to experience this - but I am equally happy that my young sons do, too. "My hope is this normalization will extend past the theatre seats, when they are receiving assignments from their female bosses." Coupled with the insistence on better representation for people of colour, the LGBTQ community, body shapes and people with disabilities - more than ever young people can see themselves on screen. The impact of this on young girls and women is immeasurable. More and more, we're seeing women in front of the camera and behind the scenes, equal pay for equal work and a more gender-balanced workplace.
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