Fierce Girls

There are days when you need a little sign that things WILL get better more than others. I was having one of those days pretty much every day last week because ZOMG. What is going on? Why is sexism suddenly proudly sitting at the table and acting like it's perfectly welcome there?

Oh. Yeah. I KNOW WHY.

Anyway, I'd had quite enough of the subtle little things that weave their way through the days and thus was looking forward to the weekend. Where there would be lots of dance recitals. What better way to be all "girl power" than a dance recital!

Actually, that might be the worst place. Between the costumes and clichés, sexism is alive and well. And, while I generally love the studio Alexis goes to, there's this thing that makes me CRAZY. They're actively trying to encourage more boys to dance, which is good, but they seem to be doing that by giving boys prominent roles on the competitive teams. So, that team that Alexis spends hours and hours working towards? There are boys who can barely stand in tap shoes on that team. She's probably got a few more years of practice before she'll get the chance to do that which people with penises get to do just for having a penis. Like, seriously, there are boys on the team who look like they just started (because they did!) while the girls have to able to perform at a very high level to even be considered.

(Can you tell this gets me riled up? It got worse when I started thinking about how the studio also has a race/diversity problem. Maybe they should solve that by putting girls who aren't white on the competition team as well, talent or skill be damned. I'm sure that would work out juuuuust fine.)

ANYWAY.

I needed some signs. I went to two dance recitals. Alexis kicked butt, as usual, and between her performances, I found my signs.

Two of them, in fact.

The first of the signs I discovered while reading the recital program from back to back. Way at the end, there was a list of seniors who are graduating out of the studio this year. They each have a little paragraph about what they plan to do next. They listed their college and major, mostly.

Of the six graduates, three plan to major in engineering. One plans to major in biology. One plans to major in dance. The sixth one is going to beauty school.

Half engineers. Three of them. THREE! STEM is changing, kids. Slowly but surely.

The other sign came from one of Alexis' teachers. I ran into her during intermission at one of the recitals and was treated to the latest in Alexisisms. Keep in mind, Alexis is all in on reading about strong women right now. She saw Hidden Figures and it changed her outlook on a lot of things. We've spent hours talking through what about that movie (and the book, for what it matters) is fact and what is fiction. There has been a lot of research done, as well as a lot of follow-up reading about other ways women have flown under the radar for years while also changing the world.

(This one. Oof.)

Alexis gets it right now, is what I'm saying.

And that's obvious from the story her teacher told me. The teacher needed help moving a table, so she said to the class, "I need a strong boy to help move this table."

Alexis replied, "What, is this 1952? I will help." She then went on to explain why the teacher's question was offensive and THAT'S MY GIRL! I adore that she has the confidence to speak up when smells a rat.

It reminded me of the time she thoroughly lectured someone for using "scream like a girl" as an insult.

And the time she told off some people for saying that a woman should never be President.

So, the little things may be happening all over the place, but somehow this next generation is going to make it better. They simply won't tolerate the stupid.