Yugio vs. Princesses

Recently the newspaper published an article about a mother in Georgia who created a new super hero for girls after realizing that her daughter wanted nothing to do with the standard fairies and princesses so often associated with little girls. I thought the idea was a brilliant one and that it was great to have some more variety, but I was taken aback by the overall tone of the article. In all honesty, I was actually infuriated when I first read it, but I've taken a few days to cool down so as not to go on a tangent of a half formed and immaturely written argument.

The article begins with a story about a 5-year-old girl who "played with race cars and dressed up as Superman" instead of singing "Bibity-Bobity-Boo" and dancing around in tutus. Her mother decided to create a new super hero named Super Tool Lula. Super Tool Lula wears a blue jumpsuit, green goggles, and a tool belt. After explaining this story of this woman and her adorable daughter, the article continues on to address a growing princess craze that overall seems to be deemed as BAD.

Going back and rereading the article I realize that they do make some very valid points. After young girls grow out of the princess phase, there is some cause for worry about the impression of the importance of appearance that it leaves. However, I do not think this idea is well presented. It is not so much the early years of princesses that cause these kind of ideas, but rather the TV shows, magazines, and clothing/makeup commercials that girls view when they are older. The girls aisle does tend to be extremely pink, but the idea that pink is a girl color is a corrupt stereotype all in it's own, and to suddenly try and avoid it, as a radical interpretation of this article might suggest, only makes matters worse.

There are several places in the article that make the Disney princesses out to be the bad guys. To that I say: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? One mother "didn't ban princess stuff, but she avoided the Disney characters."  Disney princesses were such a large, wonderful part of my childhood that I think it is extremely unfair to deny little girls the opportunity to experience the joy that these characters bring or to act as though it is unhealthy for girls to love them as I did. Cinderella taught me to follow my dreams, Jasmine taught me to make my own decisions, Pocahontas taught me to accept other's differences, and Mulan taught me to fight like a girl. There's a reason princesses have become so popular. It is because most little girls love them, not because we force them to, but because they just do.

That's not to say all girls will like princesses, but alternatives aren't as hard to find as the article made them out to be. Last time I checked there was no sign over the toy section of Target saying "Girls Only Allowed In Isles Containing Barbies, Baby Dolls, or Dresses". If they don't want any of the glamour, show them the Hot Wheels or try a blue bike instead of the pink one. Once I hit age eight it was bye-bye princesses and hello Yugio. My Barbies were secret agents not fashion models, and instead of the Bratz movies I watched Justice League. If girls don't want the stereotypical fairy wings and tiaras that's fine, and there are plenty of alternatives for them to chose from.

Moms, if I were to make a suggestion to you having recently lived in the "little girl world" very similar to your own daughters, embrace the princesses and the fairies. It's totally natural for them to love it, and it helps build the idea of being proud to be a girl. Disney princesses are a must have in any household, but keep a nice balance between Cinderella and Mulan. However, don't get crazy with the girly stuff either. Make sure they know ALL of the options and banish the FOR BOYS and FOR GIRLS labels as soon as possible. If your daughter doesn't like the standard little girl items, Pokemon, Yugio, Batman, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Hot Wheels, and even Greek Mythology are all nice alternatives to try.

Princesses aren't bad, but Yugio is pretty awesome too.

Don't forget to also check out Super Tool Lula at http://www.princessfreezone.com/

A Poem

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m just going to jump right into this,

Because I can’t think of any eloquent introduction,

And there is something I need to say RIGHT NOW.

YOU. ARE. NOT. WORTHLESS.

You are not ugly,

You are not stupid,

You are not

Fat,

Awkward,

Dumb,

Untalented,

Disgusting,

Irrelevant,

Deformed,

And most of all you are not unloved.

No matter what you might be thinking,

No matter how many people might hurt you,

No matter how many people might insult you,

Someone loves you.

Even if you don’t think anyone on Earth does,

And you are wrong by the way,

Someone else does.

And I speak of Him discretely

Because I am often confused,

And I worry I may say the wrong thing.

But I do know this:

God. Loves. You.

So please, do not hate yourself

Because it’s like taking that blanket your friend made for your birthday

And throwing it in the fire because you thought it was ugly.

It’s like grabbing a picture drawn by a toddler

And ripping it into shreds because it wasn’t good enough.

You. Are. Perfect.

Please do not hate yourself

Because you two are going to be together for a while.

And please, PLEASE, do not hurt yourself

Because no one likes to see a masterpiece ruined.

You’re here in this world for a reason,

And you only get one chance.

Don’t destroy it with your own hands

Because they are beautiful,

And so are you.

You've got it all wrong!

There seems to be a popular idea in our generation that when you like a person you either admire them from afar or enter into a hand-holding, walk me to class, presents on Valentines Day, boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. But what if you're not sure you want to be this person's girlfriend and just hanging out as friends doesn't really give you any idea about whether or not it would work? Never fear, fellow pubescent teenagers! I, as always, have an answer!

YOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG!!!

Have you ever heard of dating? Of course you have, but you use it in the wrong context. Dating is not the same thing as your serious boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Dating is when two people go to dinner or a movie in order to see if there's any chemistry between them. Sure, it's possible to gauge some chemistry during day-to-day interactions, but there are so many "rules" about how to act around someone you like that it's so much easier to pull down those walls and to talk like you might if you were actually in a relationship.

Furthermore, jumping into the boyfriend-girlfriend stage without this middle step is why so many relationships go down the toilet (you like my creative expressions?) within two or three weeks. Within the first week or so (give or take a few days) it becomes apparent that the chemistry won't last, but instead of simply not going on another date, so-called couples face the dreaded Break Up.

So the solution is a simple one. Potential couples go on several dates in order to assess chemistry and to make sure it will last. If the dates grow less and less awkward and both parties are comfortable with the idea, it is plausible to procede into the RELATIONSHIP level. If dates become more awkward, one or both parties refuse to go on any more dates, and the end is simple and clean.

On top of all that, the heartbreak is half as painful. It's a lot easier to hear "I had a fun time, but I don't really want to go on another date right now." than "I don't like you anymore. I'm breaking up with you."

I myself have also been victim to this faulty reasoning of our generation until last year when I had this beautiful epiphany that has made my life so much easier. (Not that anyone has asked me out since then, but that's not my point!) Granted, there are always exceptions to the dating system, but, as a whole, I seriously think this is how it should work. See! Don't you feel so much lighter now? It's like I lifted a giant burden off your shoulders, and you're ready to take on all guys (or girls) who ask you to be with them! Instead of saying "ok" and watching the whole thing go up in flames, or saying "no" and always wondering what could have been, you can say "Let's go on a date!" and it all becomes so much easier.

I'm a Failure

Hello! My name is Emma, and I'm a failure. I'm not a failure at life. I'm not even a failure at most things in my life. I'm a failure at vlogging. Vlogging, for those of you who don't know, is a combination between the words "video" and "blogging". Basically, what you do is set up a camera and tell your feelings to it, then, you edit out the awkward parts where you said "um" twenty times, and finally, upload it to YouTube (or Flikr or Twitter or Tumblr or whatever).

I'm a frequent YouTuber. I'm subscribed to several people, many of whom would be classified as vloggers. A while back I decided I wanted to be a vlogger too. This is where the failure comes in. I made an introductory video where I just talked about myself, and it was at this point I realized how awkward and shockingly uninteresting I was in front of the camera (And it was truly shocking because believe me, I'm normally a very interesting person). But I kept at it! I did get better at talking louder and being more animated and not so boring. One of my biggest problems was simply organizing my thoughts and what I wanted to say. I solved this problem by writing an outline that I would look at in between the clips that I filmed, but it still wasn't enough. There was always this clip where I made a weird face, or this one where I said that in a weird way. So now I've quit. Because on top of all that stuff, those videos take up SO MUCH ROOM! And when I have tons of videos clogging up my hard drive I can't play my favoritest (yes, I know that's not an actual word) computer game ever: Sims 2!

So anyways, I'm a failure because I can't vlog. But I'm okay with that, because I tried it, and it was interesting, and now I'm moving on. That's why I started this blog! I really like to write, and people tell me I'm good at it (I like to think I'm good at it). So I thought, "Duh! You idiot! Just write a normal blog!" I don't have to worry about the organization thing or the I-don't-like-this-part thing because I have as much time as I want to edit my posts, I don't have worry about talking coherently (because I'm sometimes really bad at that), and I don't have to worry about putting on make-up! Hooray!

This is the start of something beautiful. XD