What's In It For Girls?

What's In It For Girls?

Growing up in the 1970s, there wasn't much on my radar in the way of female role models. What did the culture have in it for girls? In the fantasy realm, females were absent except for Wonder Woman. But because she was the only one, she seemed like a cultural anomaly. She was the only strong (and of course, not overtly) woman in a man's world. It was the world I knew through the TV series. She got to be strong through the eyes of justice, a magic lasso- you know a compassionate strength.

She cloaked herself in mystery, worked in secret in the military, and kept her magic to herself. The way she used her magic was first to transform herself. Once she decided it was appropriate to invoke her powers for a situation, she would transform herself--by taking off (some) of her clothes. Honestly, I think that sort of thing leaves a mark, don't you? Gen X girls, soon to be young women, were watching and absorbing as much of this as we could get from 1975-79.

What exactly was getting hammered in I can't really say, but I am sure that the culture has a lot better things to offer some 30+ years later. In her search for superheroes and role models, my daughter is offered a far more nutritionally rich media diet than I ever had.

For International Women's Day 2014, I've chosen to anchor my full post over on the BlogHer platform. You check it out there.



I tend to write to recognize International Women's Day annually on or about March 8th. To read posts from past years, this link will get you to the collection.