Girls

[Ganymede]

Since we're thinking about the names girls get called...

Male epithets remain powerful; female ones get subverted by negative stereotypes:

King - just means King. King of the Road. Elvis.
Queen - bloke in a dress

Prince - Prince among men. The artist formerly known as Prince. Princely sum
Princess - whiney materialistic daddy's girl. Girl in frills and a tiara

Author - authorial, creator, film director
Authoress - lady novelist

Doctor - Doctor!
Lady Doctor - just, well, less than a doctor. Probably just treats children and hoo-hahs.

Sir - knight, gentleman, person being served
Madam - procuress, woman too full of herself

Gentleman - person of great social and personal integrity
Gentlewoman - this word is barely used anymore

Lord - of all he surveys
Lady - wife or daughter of a man with a title. Someone who knows how to behave herself.

Names for men: guy, bloke, chap, hunk, geezer, man (there are more but quite hard to think of... surprisingly few...)
Names for women: doll, chick, girl, lady, piece of skirt, babe (this list is actually endless and could degenerate...)

Must get back to work....

 

[lukesdad]

My boys are mummys little helpers
....and I did domestic science and sewing at school
....and I'm a chef, you'll never hear me swear

 

[asterix]

My boys are mummys little helpers
....and I did domestic science and sewing at school
....and I'm a chef, you'll never hear me swear

It was a massively sweeping generalisation. You don't have to swear (audibly) but I can't let you off the hat.

 

[MontyVeda]

And what do the presents girls generally get say about their roles...
http://reelgirl.com/2013/12/if-you-wont-buy-your-kids-racist-presents-dont-buy-them-sexist-ones/

I was considering buying my nieces a dvd each this xmas... but since almost all of the dvds aimed at girls specifically seem to revolve around finding a 'prince' whom the protagonist may one day marry, I quickly lost interest in that idea.

 

[Spinney]

I was considering buying my nieces a dvd each this xmas... but since almost all of the dvds aimed at girls specifically seem to revolve around finding a 'prince' whom the protagonist may one day marry, I quickly lost interest in that idea.

Films with strong female protagonists are there, but few and far between.

The Alien series springs to mind as a good one...(not much use for your pressie buying though!)

 

[Ganymede]

Films with strong female protagonists are there, but few and far between.

The Alien series springs to mind as a good one...(not much use for your pressie buying though!)

Applying the "Bechdel Test" is an interesting, though discouraging excercise:

Is there more than one main/named female role?
Are the female characters shown talking to each other?
If they talk to each other, do they talk about anything except the main male characters?

You will find that lots of films with feisty women characters do not pass this test - quite often if there is more than one of them, the women never even meet.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Which amounts to pretty much the same thing. "Domestic science"?

Actually it wasn't domestic science at school, it was home economics.

 

[MontyVeda]

we did both 'domestic science' and 'home economics' at my school... cunningly combined into one lesson.

 

[asterix]

I was considering buying my nieces a dvd each this xmas... but since almost all of the dvds aimed at girls specifically seem to revolve around finding a 'prince' whom the protagonist may one day marry, I quickly lost interest in that idea.

Hunger Games part 1 ( & 2 might be out in time)? Altho' I don't know how it ends so there may be a 'prince' but so far not so bad. OK, some of the characters are very bad indeed but you get what I mean.

 

[Spinney]

Hunger Games part 1 ( & 2 might be out in time)? Altho' I don't know how it ends so there may be a 'prince' but so far not so bad. OK, some of the characters are very bad indeed but you get what I mean.

I think it's OK from that point of view - I've read all three books.
Although she becomes more of just a figurehead as the story progresses, but I think Katniss does count as a 'proper' female protagonist in the way we are discussing here. In Hunger Games it is certainly her that wins, not Peter.

 

[MontyVeda]

Hunger Games is a bit on the old side for 'the girls' as they're aged 7, 9 and 11. Maybe Kill Bill 1 & 2, plus Shogun Assassin

 

[User482]

Actually it wasn't domestic science at school, it was home economics.

 

[byegad]

We bring up girls and boys differently, right from day 0 the first question people ask of a new baby is:- Boy or girl? I have two female grandchildren, age one and 9 months. Their mums are very different people and so are the girls. The older one is very into dollies, even now and despite her having an older brother. The younger one is an adrenalin junkie, only really happy bouncing up and down, thrown into the air (And caught of course!)or being swung around. But her mum's idea of a birthday present was a free-fall day and her 'hen do' involved white water rafting.

Just watch people with a boy and girl child and you can see how differently most people treat them.

 

[Over The Hill]

Contrary to my present avatar I really love the type of woman who is confident and intelligent and is as comfortable without makeup as she is with.
A few more role models that demonstrate you can get on by just being good at what you do rather than having to twerk would be good.