But when I tried on the Postman Pat nose, glasses, hair and hat, I looked just like.... Ruth wearing Postman Pat's nose, glasses hair and hat. So I opted instead for the Snow White outfit which seems, thanks to the black wig, to hide the real me to a greater extent (and I get to wear false eye'lashes for the first time!). And that's how I shall open Michael's school fair next Saturday.
But Snow White? What kind of a role model is she? I had a quick think about her and other female fairy tale characters last evening and realised that they all seem to send out the same attrocious message: "Girls. Find your Prince Charming (or better still, get fairy god-mother or 7 dwarfs to find him for you) and you shall live happily ever after". So now I really wish I'd opted for Postman Pat instead (despite the poor cover-up job). "What's so good about Postman Pat as a role model", said Mario last night? "Dunno. Have you seen Michael's library book?" came my reply. Oh we just love to debate these things, Mario and I. Sometimes we spend 30 - 60 seconds discussing the major issues that affect the modern age.
Anyhow, it's impossible to change my costume now (don't make me bore you with details of why - ok - if you, like me, hate minor details, go to the next paragraph now - woman who runs shop's on holiday from 5am this morning till the morning of the school fair and will already have ironed my dress and adjusted the choker).
So I am Snow White, minus dwarfs. I must say I did laugh at myself in the costume. I'm to be the Disney-cartoon version of Snow White and two things stand out when you wear a female Disney-cartoon costume:
1) the fact that your waist-line is greater than 10 inches
2) the fact that your eyes are not gigantic and your mouth isn't minute (is that how you spell my-newt? But it's the same as minute... hmmm. Oh well)
(It also looks very odd if you adopt anything other than a "shoulders back and breath in" stance - I caught myself slouching "Rigsby-style" in the mirror and made a mental note not to do that on the day!!)
But HELP: what am I going to say? How am I going to open the fair? Do I put on a Snow Shite (sorry, but I am leaving that typo there!! There's no way I'm removing that typo!!) type voice? If so, is it girly and pathetic or should I work to improve the role model and try to sound a little, oooh, I don't know, intellectual or something? What if the children point at me and shout "That's Michael's mummy"? How am I going to carry this off?
A stiff drink beforehand is not the answer - I considered that for a brief moment and decided swiftly against it...later, yes. At 8pm that evening I'm meeting a good old pal of my mine and a stiff drink'll definitely be my number 2 priority.
Lessons learned: never volunteer to do anything. Ever again.
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6 comments:
If I had to pick a Disney character to portray in costume.. I would have chosen Mulan..
Snow White.. well.. she had a really good work ethic. I mean, who else would have walked into a house filled with 7 messy bachelor dwarfs, cleaned it up, and cooked them meals? Not me..
I agree that you have to keep that straight posture, I just can't picture that character slouching.. ha ha
Well..have fun with it for a few hours, and then ditch that costume.
"I had a quick think about her and other female fairy tale characters last evening and realised that they all seem to send out the same attrocious message: "Girls. Find your Prince Charming (or better still, get fairy god-mother or 7 dwarfs to find him for you) and you shall live happily ever after"."
Yeah, well, you can't trust Disney. Try the real fary tales and you get a somewhat better (less saccharine) version of events.
FWIW, my take on this is that this isn't the message of the story. That is, this isn't why the story is told. It is the cultural assumption that makes up part of the story. The storyteller didn't set out to sell this picture (of wife-and-mother as the destiny of woman). Rather, the storyteller assumed that destination, and wove an interesting and intriguing story around it. It's a subtle difference, but a crucial one.
Of course, reinterpreters of the story (like Disney) do sometimes dwell rather on the domestic aspects of the heroine's destiny!
pax et bonum
Hmm - if someone rumbles you you could always ask which one is Michael and say how much you'd love to be his mummy...
Thank you for all your comments and Fi: Thank you for using my dust to a dyson line!
You make a very good point, John (as always, I mean that goes without saying). I do continue to note how females are stereotyped in children's books - and I'm not talking fairy tales now. Michael has a book all about aeroplanes (published in the '90s so not too out of date), and it shows a pilot (male) and 3 cabin crew (female). Hmm.
Sorry for my lack of blogging - I'm so busy at the mo I've no time to think. Normal service should resume next week
When my godson was three he didn't believe that women could drive. Despite evidence to the contrary (his mother driving, for example) he still thought that driving was something men did, especially when it came to professional driving. And this was only 18 months ago.
I despair of the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes. They even get in my head, and I hate them - the use of 'he' or 'she' when talking about hypothetical people such as cleaners, for example.
I share your concern, Sarah, and I have noticed that gender stereotyping is magnified for very young children (since having two of them myself). The world of the 0-4 year old is dominated by women who run toddler groups and song groups etc. and who, as mothers or child-minders, take them along. Men are rarely seen in my world - but when they are seen, they are fixing something or being a daddy who's just come home from work. Generally speaking, people still very much stick to giving "boys' toys" to boys and "girls' toys" to girls. And boys' toys tend to be so much more stretching and developmental than girls' toys - e.g. lego Vs a doll.
By the age of 4, boys like superheros and girls like pink dresses, nail varnish and princesses and that's what's encouraged.. That's my perception - I'd be interested to hear other views - dissenting or supporting. (Yes - I'll agree - I'm probably not being a good role model for my daughter (or my son) by being a stop at home mum).
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