I have been following some buzz about a new book written by Peggy Orenstein called "Cinderella Ate My Daughter" Dispatches from the front lines of hte new girlie-girl culture. I was intrigued by the title, the cover, and the "flap" and decided what the heck and bought the book off Amazon. Well I got it in the mail yesterday and quickly put aside my "serious" book "Little Bee" and cracked open the cover, Chapter 1 Why I Hoped for a Boy immediately made me realize I was going to blog while I read this book. I immediately thought I might have something in common with the author and knew it was going to be a very thought provoking and eye opening book. Now while my first thought when I found out I was pregnant was not gosh I hope I don't have a girl, I will be honest and say I had some pretty strong aprehensions about having a girl. I didn't want a princess, covered in pink, afraid to get dirty or have her own opinions, (ok, I want her to have her own opinions, I just don't want them to be determined by society but of her own will), neither did the author of this book. I also was seriously afraid of dress up, barbie dolls and pig tails, ok long hair in general. And it is amazing how quickly we were bombarded with pink when we found out we were having a girl, even Kelly and I's first clothing purchase for our child was a blue sundress, not counting the Michael Jordan onesie we bought in the early 90's : ) We were commited to making a somewhat gender neutral nursery and not going over the top with pink or any girl color for that matter. I cannot say the same for the many wonderful friends and family that showered us with gifts. So.....how did our beautiful little girl become fascinated with Disney princesses and wearing dresses all the time? Society. And that is Ms. Orenstein's point in this book it would seem after reading the first chapter. Why and how did it happen? As I get in touch with my own feelings while reading this book I encourage you to share your thoughts too. I love my daughter and don't necessarily mind a love of pink, tutus, dresses and long hair, I just hope I can keep up. However, I don't ever want my daughter to feel like she has to wear makeup or dress in fancy dresses and shoes because she is a girl and because it is the only way to look beautiful.
**Note: for those of you that could give a damn about my posts on this book, sorry, just delete the email when you get it, I will be sure to clearly label a post when it is of my adorable babies.
