Tomboy by Liz Prince
This was my favorite out of the two assigned readings. It was a little quirky and very cute. I especially love the scene where she “time-travels” in a phone box to tell a little girl not to co-opt her identity. It was a cute reference to Doctor Who. I would actually love to read the whole book now because the art style was amazing, and I like the way Prince tells her story.
The scene that really caught my attention is on page 61. When Prince says, “Let’s take the time to review some of the reasons you can be made fun of in grade…” and then proceeds to list every reason from wearing the wrong clothes to breathing wrong. The main point was that, as a girl, you cannot do anything right. She is right. While she and I have very different experiences growing up, she was constantly told throughout her childhood that the way she was performing gender was wrong. From her schoolmates to strangers, there was always some form of judgment that she was not “being a girl” right. When I was growing up, I was very much a girly girl, but even I could not escape the idea that I was not acting girly enough. If I burped too loudly or my room was too messy, I was told that it was boy behavior. In this 6-panel little box, I found myself nodding along to every reason she talked about. Even though these are little children making these judgements against peers, we need to remember that this behavior is taught young. These kids who are bullying others are learning to judge what is right, wrong, or abnormal from the society around them. It can come from their parents, their extended families, or even the tv shows they watch. However, it will be they who reinforce those beliefs onto their peers. Some people grow out of this behavior, but others do not.
I recently watched a YouTube Video talking about the TV show Bluey and its ripoff. I love the show Bluey, and the lessons its teaches kids. I have watched with my preschoolers, and I can see that it teaches nothing but acceptance. However, this ripoff teaches lessons that feel little counterintuitive. There are things that we teach our young children to do because we want to show them wrong from right in this world. However, sometimes we need a little reminder that these children will grow up and be adults. We want them to be adults who are open minded and accepting which means we need to show them by example. We need to examine our own biases and prejudices and make changes to be better.
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