Avoid Gender Discrimination

As parents it is very important that we avoid gender discrimination concerning our kids, both boys and girls.  Many times it comes up unintentionally, but it can still be negative gender discrimination.  Here's an example of potentially inadvertent gender discrimination and a way to avoid it.

My youngest daughter recently celebrated her 4th birthday.  My wife and I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she said she wanted a superhero cake.  No problem, but here's where gender discrimination can creep in.  Most superheroes are male.  We're starting to see strong female characters in superhero comics, but historically, the superhero market is dominated by males.  This is a situation where a parent, with no ill intention at all, might give his/her daughter a choice of a few female superheroes, because she's a girl.  Maybe the parent mentions Wonder Woman, She-ra, etc.  Don't do that.  Doing so sends a message to your daughter that male superheroes are for boys and female superheroes are for girls.  Superheroes are for EVERYONE!!!  Even adults like me!!!

Chances are that if your daughter mentions superheroes, she already has a few in mind.  Let her chose the superhero free from parental influence.  If she chooses Spider-man, then she chooses Spider-man.  If she choose Wonder Woman, then she choose Wonder Woman.  The point is letting HER choose her cake.  Speaking of the superhero cake, my daughter chose Batman.  My wife does an amazing job making cakes from scratch so I'm giving her some props.  Check out her amazing Batman cake!

How cool is that!  It tasted great too!  

The moral of this post is to do whatever you can to avoid unintentional gender discrimination.  Girls are girls and boys are boys, but there is nothing wrong with them choosing the same cake or liking the same things.