I was lucky. My
parents never suggested that anything was out of my reach, just because I was a
girl, or that anything was
offlimits because of my sex. If I wanted to grow up to be a
ballerina, an
astronaut, a
surgeon, the
prime minister, well, it was up to me to work for it and find out what I needed.* I was taught to
bowl, and
throw, to
cycle like a lunatic, to ride
horses at high speed, to use a
library, and to
fight my corner.
My school, however, disagreed with this modern nonsense, and insisted that I wasted time baking
jam tarts and learning to sew
aprons, and worrying about if people thought my bum was too big.
So, teach her:
to use power tools without fear or foolishness
the basics of plumbing and wiring
to climb a ladder
to balance a chequebook and not panic about finance
to stop apologising, and blaming herself for other people's problems
to be bold and brave and strong
to explore and cherish adventures
to climb trees and not cry about dirt on her clothes
to laugh like a drain
to ignore any comments about something being "not for girls" or "not suitable for a lady"
to value style over fashion
to understand the offside rule
to say no without guilt
that she can learn anything she wants to learn
Oh. hey. all these ideas work for
boys, too.
Now, will someone please pass me a stepladder so i can get down from this damned
high horse?
* and they didn't get depressed when I decided to join the circus or be a Great British Novelist. Still unable to juggle, and still stuck on non-fiction. Sigh.