The messages we send...

Last week, when we talked about gender roles and how we need to be careful of the messages we send, I was reminded of my 11-year-old (female) cousin who I nanny during the summer. I noticed that whenever we would have our afternoon snack, she always avoided ice cream or anything considered "bad for you." She would every once and a while sneak in a comment about how she didn't want to gain weight (even though she is skinny as a twig). Another thing that really grabbed my attention in regard to her image was that she believed it was important she wear make-up when she goes places and wants to look nice. And where these ideas came from -- her mom. That's not to say her mom came right out and put these exact ideas in her head but she learned them from her example. It's really sad that an innocent little girl would even concern herself with these things but with the media and society as it is, it's inevitable she would perceive things this way. This whole situation has impacted me to make a difference by talking to her about female media messages and explaining to her why she shouldn't take everything at face-value. A great example of this is Dove's "Make Over" video, because it demonstrates how unrealistic the messages we receive can be.