Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Holiday Gift Guide for "Nonsexist Holiday Shopping"



Here at ChiIL Mama we're all about non sexist child raising and letting kids play the way they want, free of gender role pigeon holes.   I've had loads of happy little boys over to play dress up over the course of my kids' childhoods and they were elated to be able to rock the tutus, wigs, fairy wings and hair ribbons without flack.   My boy and girl both enjoy motorcycles & active toys, dolls & stuffed animals without judgment or interference on our part. 
I'm raising an 11 year old, long haired boy who has been mistaken for a girl since he started growing his hair out at age 6.   At first he was taken aback, but I told him people are going to make silly appearance based judgements and you can either cut your hair or not let it bother you.   "But I really like having long hair," he replied.   I countered, "Then don't let it bug you."   He's been remarkably zen about it ever since, and politely says, "Actually, I'm a long haired boy" to anyone confused. 
I'm also raising the anti-princess...a 9 year old powerhouse of a kid who is all about being mighty and all but told off her 2nd grade class a few years back when every girl but 1 said her favorite color was pink.   My darling daughter yelled out, "LAME.   My favorite color in the world is black.   Then I also love green and blue and a whole bunch of colors.   Just because you're a girl, that doesn't mean you have to ONLY love pink....or even like pink.   I don't."   Wonder where she gets it?!   Man I adore those little outspoken individuals my kids have become.   So, we were super stoked to hear about Ultraviolet's new endeavor.
Today, Ultraviolet released their first-ever Holiday Gift Guide for "Nonsexist Holiday Shopping" in an effort to combat the deluge of pink, sparkly, princess themed gift options for girls.  
UltraViolet members submitted thousands of suggestions for the gift guide, and cast more than 300,000 votes for the best. The gift guide includes toys, books, games, and movies--from The Serpent Slayer and Other Stories of Strong Women, the Girls Are Not Chicks coloring book, and “Maria the Scientist” paper doll kit for younger kids to the book The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate and the movie Iron Jawed Angels for tweens and teens. 
You can see the guide here: http://www.weareultraviolet.org/giftguide broken down by age groups.
The final "UltraViolet Gift Guide: A 21st Century Guide to Nonsexist Holiday Shopping" is here! 
The gift guide includes some pretty awesome toys, books, games, and movies.  Some toys and books will be familiar, some will be brand-new, but all go way beyond the typical pink sparkly princess section at your local toy store.
Take a look at the gift guide, and share it with your friends--every mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and grandparent out there needs to see this as they do their holiday shopping. It's super helpful, and a lot of fun to check out.
UltraViolet is an online community of over 300,000 women and men who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media.

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