- Jun 11, 2015
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Sexist image?
- Thread starter CoogansBluff
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I have no problem with the original picture posted. To me it just says that softball player is not the "only thing" that these girls are. As we all know, select/travel ball is a HUGE time commitment, and the girls put in a great deal of time and work to be good. Often times, we are only around the other girls on our DD's team, and their family when it is softball related....practices, games, tournaments, etc. This weekend was the first out of town tournament that we went to with DD's new team, where we all got together and went out for a meal. It was before our first game of the day, and there had been nothing softball related, so the girls all got dressed up, did their hair, did their makeup, etc. It was the first time I had seen any of them as anything other than a "softball player." Several of the parents commented that if we seen them out somewhere, we probably would not even recognize them.
That picture also says to me, that underneath the usual layers of dirt, and sweat that we are used to, there is a girl. One of the things I loved about the game when DD first started at 9 years old, was these little dainty, girly girls, when out on the field turn into something completely different. DD is a girly girl and loved to dress up, and spends tons of time sitting at her vanity doing her hair and make up etc, but when she if on the field, especially when she is catching, you would never know it.
That picture also says to me, that underneath the usual layers of dirt, and sweat that we are used to, there is a girl. One of the things I loved about the game when DD first started at 9 years old, was these little dainty, girly girls, when out on the field turn into something completely different. DD is a girly girl and loved to dress up, and spends tons of time sitting at her vanity doing her hair and make up etc, but when she if on the field, especially when she is catching, you would never know it.
My opinions on these type things are often in the minority here, but in the name of broaching a good topic, here goes ...
I find images like this one below to be annoying.
What is the message here? Is it intended to comfort those who are afraid that someone who competes hard in a rough sport isn't feminine?
I see a similar message in team photos where the players put on dresses and take pictures w/ bats and gloves, as if to say, ''Don't worry, they're still pretty girls!''
To be clear, I have no problem with any individual girl who relates to this image. If that's who she is, that's great.
But what is the point of this particular image and caption?
Anyhow, those are my thoughts on that.
I don't have a problem with this picture. I think the message it tells a girl is, softball doesn't have to be your only identity. Or it says, being a girly girl doesn't have to define you either.
We need an Australian's opion.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
It's only the word "every" that throws it off. Along with that particular photo, the implication is pretty clear. And while I'm not offended or anything (it's just a meme), it does send a message to some girls that might make them feel inadequate or like there is something wrong that the sparkly high heels are not their thing. I'm very conscious of things like this because of my older daughter, who is a huge tomboy (boy clothes, short hair, hates all things remotely "girly"). I try to protect her as much as I can from messages from society that she has to be pretty and wear make up and dresses to be a "real girl."
I think the message you're suggesting is a great one to convey. However, I don't believe this was the intent of this message. Else, why use high heels? Why have a different type face for the word 'girl' in the caption?
I agree w/ grcsftbll that ''the message is pretty clear,'' which to me is ''Don't worry, they're still girls.''
Is she not also a girl when covered by dirt and sweat? And now that it is confirmed that she's a girl, then what? How does that change things?
There are times when I really need to step back and imagine how things appear to others in a different situation.
It takes all kinds. Yes, this picture really speaks to DD 1 and the friends she used to play softball with. DD 1 still has scars from stolen bases, but can be girly as all get out.
Or I can think of the kids on DS' old HS rowing club. For the end of the year banquet the boys would stay in their sweaty uniforms while MOST of the girls would change into pretty dresses. Most. Not all. One girl who wouldn't ever put on a dress got to be a friend of DS, and she is a girl, and a very sweet one at that.
Or, I remember an old girlfriend from when I was younger. Very much the nerdy nerd, not the girly girl at all. Wasn't into dresses or makeup or any of that stuff at all. Really great person, still a friend of mine after all these years. Her husband is a top notch computer programmer.
It takes all kinds to make a world. The girly types, the jocks, the nerds, and every combination. (For example the head cheerleader and homecoming queen at my old high school is now a professor at Harvard, so she combined nerd with girly. )
So jock, nerd, girly or whatever else or any combination, our DDs are great kids who deserve all the love we can give them.
It takes all kinds. Yes, this picture really speaks to DD 1 and the friends she used to play softball with. DD 1 still has scars from stolen bases, but can be girly as all get out.
Or I can think of the kids on DS' old HS rowing club. For the end of the year banquet the boys would stay in their sweaty uniforms while MOST of the girls would change into pretty dresses. Most. Not all. One girl who wouldn't ever put on a dress got to be a friend of DS, and she is a girl, and a very sweet one at that.
Or, I remember an old girlfriend from when I was younger. Very much the nerdy nerd, not the girly girl at all. Wasn't into dresses or makeup or any of that stuff at all. Really great person, still a friend of mine after all these years. Her husband is a top notch computer programmer.
It takes all kinds to make a world. The girly types, the jocks, the nerds, and every combination. (For example the head cheerleader and homecoming queen at my old high school is now a professor at Harvard, so she combined nerd with girly. )
So jock, nerd, girly or whatever else or any combination, our DDs are great kids who deserve all the love we can give them.
Is she not also a girl when covered by dirt and sweat? And now that it is confirmed that she's a girl, then what? How does that change things?[/QUOTE]
Yes, obviously still a girl. Just not the normal thinking of what a girl is. And, before someone says it, I am not insinuating that a "tom boy" type of girl is any less of a girl, my point was (maybe not conveyed) that the picture shows that there is more to them than a softball player. Maybe the choice of the high heel was a bad choice. Could have just have easily been a cheer shoe, or a Ugg boot or whatever.
Yes, obviously still a girl. Just not the normal thinking of what a girl is. And, before someone says it, I am not insinuating that a "tom boy" type of girl is any less of a girl, my point was (maybe not conveyed) that the picture shows that there is more to them than a softball player. Maybe the choice of the high heel was a bad choice. Could have just have easily been a cheer shoe, or a Ugg boot or whatever.
- Dec 27, 2014
- 311
- 18
I don't have a problem with the picture. My ten year old spends a lot of time in workout clothes and her hair in a pony. She also likes to dress nice for school or occasions. She doesn't have to, she wants to. She also likes school. She is TAG in math and reading. She also like to play other sports. If there was a pic with a cleat on one foot and a textbook balancing on the other, would it be a big deal? Cleat on one foot and basketball shoe on the other?
To me it's just a picture expressing softball players don't have to be jocks all the time.
To me it's just a picture expressing softball players don't have to be jocks all the time.
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