Encouraging Girls Without Dissing Boys

The topic of feminist messages for boys has been on my mind for some time, but it's been coming up a lot so far this year.

I got a comment in an order from Melissa in El Paso, TX saying:

"I love how the site and products encourage girls to be strong without engaging in boy-bashing (I have a son too!)."

This might seem hard to believe, but I'd never quite thought about it that way. I mean I've always hated that slogan, "Girls rule, boys drool." It just doesn't make sense to me to be encouraging one person while putting down another. I want all the Sticker Sisters goodies to have a celebratory, fun tone that doesn't come at the expense of anyone else.

I was thinking about this when Janet in San Francisco e-mailed me for advice:

"In a couple of months I have a chance to go to a family reunion and deliver stickers, shoelaces, bandaids...into the hands of at least eight grand-nieces whose parents may or may not get the reasoning. (Ages: 18 months to 15 years, with a cluster in the 5-10 range).

Meanwhile, the girls have three brothers/cousins in the impressionable age range of 5-7. They will get gifts too. To inoculate the boys against "girls-rule" teasing (which can lead to a backlash by parents and other folk, thus negating the valuable consciousness-raising), I'm looking for some good messages to incorporate on the boys' gifts. You've undoubtedly thought this question through: I notice that your messages are pro-girl but not anti-boy. What messages do you like for giving confidence to boys, without putting girls down?"

So that brings me to my biggest challenge. While Sticker Sisters will always be focused on girl-positive messages, I've had a lot of requests for items for boys as well. Of course boys can wear "Girls Rock," "Action Not Glamour," or "My Kind of Princess..." t-shirts. And I've had some very cool ones do just that! But let's be real--most boys aren't going to wear those shirts.

Anyone have ideas on messages that would be appealing to girls and boys?

 

Target Women: Disney Princesses

Have you seen the "Target Women" videos? They're hysterical! This latest one fits right in with our new My Kind of Princess shirt.