Pop-culture dress-ups and gender

News feeds are wonderful things, things pop up, slap you in the face and say "Hey wake up! This is the real world!". The image below popped up in my G+ feed from Common Sense Media with the title: The 5 Worst Pop-Culture-Inspired Halloween Costumes of 2014 and 5 We'd Like to See Instead. The image instantly made my blood boil... I mean is that really a costume? Too far! They've sexualised a damn snowman! Is there no shame?! When looking at dress-ups for girls in particular I feel we get a pretty raw deal. The media is rife with these images, images that make me and many women and girls I know feel inadequate, playing to deep seeded self consciousness.

With Hallowe'en coming up I once again am thankful for having a boy child. All he wants to do is dress up as a Zombie, skeleton, mad scientist or Jake the dog from Adventure Time. No guns, or overly macho 'super heroes'. I'm pretty lucky that his view of gender isn't defined as pink Vs blue, actually it's not luck, it's been hard work. For six years we have been trying to dispel myths that paint males and females as different in anyway other than anatomically. He is surrounded by strong women and sensitive men, it will be interesting to see what kind of man he grows up to be.

Looking for a costume for a friend's Superhero/ Movie themed 30th Birthday last year I was desperate to find a female costume that didn't contain lycra. I asked my friends on Facebook*, no help at all! *Please forgive my rude language in the post below. Let's get back to this later.

Screen shot of The Dread Pirate Librarian's Facebook post. 

I know that young boys are not immune to media stereotypes and the pressure to become the macho 'man' is just as oppressive as being 'sexy' is for girls. Society needs to do more for the coming generations by not forcing these images onto our developing minds of the future. For the purposes of this post I want to focus on girls as feminist issues are currently gaining momentum with a new generation of women owning the word (check out Emma Watson address the UN). So how about if we supported our children to be inspired by real, positive examples that our girl’s can look up to? What would it look like if young girls dressed up as famously intelligent trailblazing women? Ask google and thou shalt receive! I came across several blog posts linking me to Jaime Moore's gorgeous photos of her daughter Emma. Moore looked to real women for inspiration, as she was uncomfortable with the “unrealistic fantasy” Disney princesses create for young girls. She chose five iconic women from history, dressing and posing Emma to resemble them.

Source: Jaime C. Moore Photography

“My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that’s what really matters. I wanted her to know the value of these amazing women who had gone against everything so she can now have everything.” Moore wrote in her blog on 9/5/2013.

So what next? How do we change the way female bodies are represented? One at a time... starting with yours and your daughter's. Talking freely with children about gender and stereotypes and what they mean. In regards to my own costume dilemma, I chose to cross-dress rather than fit into any of the stereotypical costumes available to me at the time (Also working around my husbands rather unkempt beard). So Tin-Tin and Captain Haddock went to the ball and lived happily ever after. 

Mr & Mrs D.P. Librarian as Captain Haddock & Tin Tin 2013

For another interesting look at Pop-culture and gender check out Popculture Maz's feelings on girls in gaming.