Self Portrait Saturday: Princess Power

 

 

(I battle evil monsters, too.)

It’s uncanny, really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Womanly Arts: Pigtail Pals and Operation Beautiful

One of my favorite websites that I follow on facebook Pigtail Pals posted this picture this morning:

Which was a great way to start the day.

Here is an excerpt from Pigtail Pals mission statement on their website:

“I’m not anti-pink. I’m not anti-princess (although I really do not dig the Disney version). I’m not anti-girly. I’M ANTI-LIMITATION. I want my daughter to be bold. I want her to be unafraid to be intelligent. I want her to be respected for her accomplishments. I want her to know that she can be an astronaut, a doctor, a pilot, a carpenter, a firefighter. She will not be raised to think that the world belongs only to boys and that she is merely a pretty thing in it.

I think our girls deserve more. I think they deserve better. I think it is time to redefine girly.

Redefine Girly means that our girls will show the world they aren’t demure princesses or sassy divas or spoiled brats. Our girls will show the world they have great potential. Redefine Girly means we can expect the same things for our daughters, from our daughters, as we do our sons.”

I ♥ Pigtail Pals

But then I read in the comments that she got the photo from Operation Beautiful. I was not familiar with them, but I’m glad I am now!

“The goal of the Operation Beautiful website is to end negative self-talk or “Fat Talk.”  If this little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic negative self-talk is  — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically.”

So…

Good Morning, Beautiful!

Man Up Monday: A Real Man

My Dear Son,

When it comes to being a man, we will work together to develop an idea of what we think a man is. Our ideas will, of course, be informed by the images in the media. But as we are free thinking, intelligent beings we are able to seek out those examples that are most in line with our values and refuse or analyze those that are not. We will start with my and your dad’s ideas and build from there. We will add Daddy’s later. For now, this is just my list. These are the most important qualities that I believe a man should have. But, they are not reserved only for men. These are qualities that a woman should have as well. As you get bigger, you will hear people describe something called a “real man.” This is what they feel is the ideal of a man. There is no one definition of a real man. In fact, one person’s ideals might change over time. The reality is that there is no definition of what a real man is. If you try to act like someone else’s idea of how a real man should act then you are probably not being true to your own self and heart. As Daddy likes to say, “To thine own self be true.”