Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Emmeline pankhurst was a bit of a fascist too @antigrinch 😕
The ‘for girls’ bit stops me buying it, why is a book about amazing women one that only girls should read? We got 101 amazing women from the library and it prompted conversations about how people aren’t binary .. they can do both good and bad (Emmeline Pankhurst, Aung San Suu Kyi for example). Or how just because you are a woman doesn’t mean you’re moral (Thatcher!)

DD and I were reading the comic today and was pleased to see this:

I would also put in a mention for The Phoenix comic;

thephoenixcomic.co.uk/product/corpse-talk-ground-breaking-women/

Although I'm sure he's dealt with Coco Chanel and Thatcher without mercy, he's probably pro trans.

Oh god. I didn't know about this. My brother gave this to my daughter and she's keeping it her dad's house so I haven't had a proper look. He accosted me angrily that Coco Chanel was in it, who was a fascist. I mumbled hopelessly. I think this means confiscation.

Wow I didn't like this in there either. Totally going to glue together!

DD was given three copies of it for her 4th birthday.

I have no problem with Thatcher being in it, (FFS who seriously wants to write the first female PM out of history? Why does she have to be more virtuous than any number of male politicians?) but Coy’s inclusion shits me and tbh his narrative fits right in with the ‘laud me for being soooo oppressed’ narrative that runs through the book.

I am not saying that oppression didn’t exist and doesn’t still exist!! I’m just saying it’s bloody hard to plough through that book with your four year old looking up at you in bewilderment as you read endless miserable tales about girls not being allowed to do anything. Thankfully this is not (yet) her lived experience. And I don’t think she needs to be bludgeoned over the head with victimhood on quite such a grand scale just yet.

I didn’t buy the book based on this story but then someone gave it to my daughter. I found it really useful to start a conversation. I said look at the stereotypes, is that what we think girls are? I also pointed out that everyone else in the book had achieved something and they boy was only in there because he thought he was a girl. I hate it being there but I would rather talk to my daughter about it before she starts being influenced by others. Teaching critical thinking to our girls is about the most useful thing we can do now and it is a good reminder not to take every book at face value. As an alternative to glueing it together consider putting a post it note on it with some good questions on it.

I'm totally fucked off with that book because of this as well. It's exactly the sort of book I'd buy for various kids in my circles, but I can't bear to.

The second volume is coming out soon. Can't wait to see who's been included in that one...

I think the oppression needs to be mentioned SilkyDrawers as children aren't stupid and are aware that most achievements throughout history are male achievements. If there's no oppression then it must just be that boys are better than girls.

What shits me is the victim mentality of nearly every story, this idea that every woman who achieved anything did it despite constant oppression from every quarter.

Maybe it’s just because DD is still very young (4), and it will seem less jarring when she’s a bit older and can understand the context of these stories a bit more. But for now I’ve hidden the book. Note to self to glue a few of the pages together

I love the book generally (although it has issues) but my main complaint is that it should be Goodnight Stories of Rebel Girls to encourage boys to read it too. I know it's probably just a small thing, but it winds me up!

(my toddler is not a genius. I'm shelving it for a couple of years! Was given it as I'm "known for these things"... )

Hmmmm... My toddler was just given this book. Haven't had a look through yet, but yikes! Pink and sparkles? Must defo be a girl then...

How disappointing.

I have held off buying Rebel Girls for DD because of that page. It would make her livid.

We have the 50 women in science one, and bought a copy for her teacher.

We glued those pages together too. I wouldn't have bought the book if I'd known

Oh, that's Coy Mathis - there's a Netflix programme about him - turned trans at 6 because he liked pink, and parents sued the school/state(?) for the right to use the girl's' toilets (even though there were three others he could have used).

A quick google finds lots of theories about the mother having Münchausens by proxy; conflicting versions of events which led to another child being disabled; claims she took fertility drugs she bought from the internet; crowdfunders for a car...

It's quite interesting viewing, but I wasn't at all convinced Coy really thought he was a girl.

And yes, glue the pages together!

Barracker No Chance. Locktite super glue.

soapboxqueen
"I glued those 2 pages together"

I love that.
With glitter glue, I hope.

bumble my son is only 8 and autistic so a conversation about it is difficult. So far he's asked me if I'm trans because I had hairy legs. My answer included the words 'no' and 'twaddle' I believe.

My dd mentioned something about transgender, which I didn't think was on her radar. I asked where she heard about it and she confirmed it was from the book I got her for Christmas. She seemed a bit baffled herself though. Not that she questioned the ideology. She was very accepting. She just didn't understand why this kid made it into the book. Neither did I, but it did lead to an interesting discussion about gender stereotypes.

Boxes, I don't know if it's the same down South but she's about as popular as Hitler in Scotland.

Plus 'Right to Buy' although popular at the time has potentially fucked up the housing industry in the UK for decades to come.

I don't know if simply being the first female to do something is enough of a success for me. I think she actually set back equality of the sexes in Politics due to being such a hated figure.

Thatcher was Britain's first woman prime minister - why not include her?!?