Sarah Speaks...: Too Pretty to Do Homework?

Last week J.C. Penney began selling a T-shirt that declared the message, "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me". The sales pitch with the tee read, "Who has time for homework when there's a new Justin Bieber album out. She'll love this tee that's just as cute and sassy as she is."

Men, women, parents, teachers, and children advocacy groups across the country took to the Internet to tweet, message and email their disgust, disappointment and dismay. Within 12 hours of the shirt being put online for sale (the retail store states that the shirt was ONLY for sale online and not in its stores), it was taken down with statements of apology from the company.

The idea that anyone would find this statement and this idea cute and even appealing is blood boiling. As the mother of a 3 year old girl, I have tried desperately to make my daughter- and son, for that matter- understand that "being pretty" is not the most important thing in life. Contrary to what the Disney Princess line of toys and paraphernalia will lead you to believe (Mulan being the sole exception, in my opinion...) , my husband and I really try to instill in our children the idea that being kind to others regardless of differences, being confident in who you are, and trying your best in all you do are the things in life that really matter. While sometimes I feel like we do go a bit overboard (while reading an old version of a Curious George story to my 5 year old son one evening before bed he asked, "Why do they need to say that 'the nurse was young and pretty?'. Is that really important for the story?"), I truly believe that gender stereotypes can be very harmful to children.

Don't get me wrong, we have the Disney Princess figures in my house along with a backpack and T-shirt to match. Those figures, however, get trapped in the Batcave (and escape by themselves), sit on block towers as lookouts (along with Spiderman and Handy Manny) and discuss the rescue of Luke Skywalker from the top shelf on their toy chest. While driving in the car one day, after discussing why some kids on Glee were so cruel to the character Kurt, Sam asked me if I thought there would ever be a gay Disney princess. The answer I gave him was, "Maybe Sam. That would be great wouldn't it?". And he thought it would.

As educators, I believe we have a responsibility to debate and dispel gender stereotypes. One way to do this is to share stories with our students that challenge the antiquated and "traditional" roles that boys and girls have so often been given. We can also share stories that celebrate differences and individuality. Having open and honest discussions about what girls and boys "do" or "like" is a wonderful way to get kids talking about their ideas on the subject and perhaps, shed some light on why ANYONE would think that a T-shirt like the one that was on sale at JC Penney would ever be acceptable to anyone.

Below are some books to get the discussion started. Please feel free to add your own suggestions below.