I’ve had a lot of arguments with strangers online because I likely have some sort of personality disorder, but anyway, just remembered an argument I had once and was irritated anew, so you get to hear about it!

This individual argued that it’s better for little girls to dress —

up as Batman than a Disney Princess. Why? Because Batman is a superhero, while a princess is just a monarch who inherits a throne. Never mind how irritating it is to shame kids for what they want to dress up as (don’t tell children they can’t be princesses!!)

But also, Batman is the king equivalent of democratic capitalism? He basically owns Gotham?? He inherited it??? He’s good cus he chooses to be good, much as princesses are good cus they choose to be good

Very few superheroes are regular joes who struggle their way into becoming a superhero without some sort of unfair advantage. Sam Wilson from captain America is the only one I can think of who gets there on pure merit. Are there others who are not genetically/monetarily gifted?

So why are superheroes so aspirational while princesses are not? One answer, sexism. We start shaming kids for liking stereotypically feminine things young. Stories about fighting evil physically? Aspirational! Stories about withstanding evil through sheer moral fortitude? Stupid

Never mind that not all children like violent stories, or that some children like wholesome, sanitized love stories (I did as a kid ). We must deter children from liking the latter because it’s somehow sexist to enjoy a story where a good person survives evil and finds love

The flip side of this coin is compulsory femininity for young girls, which is not ok. But if you really want to be fair to your child, let them enjoy the stories they like without shame. And let’s expand the repertoire of wholesome romantic stories available to children