to want my dd to have decent female role models.

[justGetEmOut]

I want my dd to be inspired by amazing women. I do NOT want her to imagine that a woman's greatest achievement is to marry a footballer and then get cheated on, or for her greatest ambition to be to have nice hair or to be a fecking Disney princess.

My ds's want to be like Brian Cox, or David Attenborough...AIBU to want by daughter to have a female equivalent to admire? (At the moment she only has Amy Pond, and she's a flipping SIDEKICK...and a fictional one at that.)

How do we show our dd's that a woman can be valued in society for something other than how she looks?

When I was little I wanted to just like the blonde one from Abba. I told my DD1 this and she replied "I want to be just like you"

Karen Brady - this dawned on me the other week when she was giving another of her 'talks' to the women about how they don't have to become the ridiculous bitchy stereotypes to get ahead in business. No tabloids seem to hide on beaches trying to get photos of Karen in a bikini - she just has an air about her that prohibits that.

And yes, Amy Pond isn't a bad make-believe role model.

For younger ones, the female presenters on CBeebies are a good start - especially with a bit of science from Nina!

I think girls (and boys!) need good role models of both sexes. Particularly in friend/family circles. IMO a role model doesn't just mean someone you aspire to be like - it can also be inspiring in another way. For example, I think a girl needs good male role models to show her what she can expect and deserve from a future husband, and the father of her children, if she wants a husband/children in the future. If she only knows deadbeat guys she may end up with one in the future because she thinks that's all there is and that she doesn't deserve better.

Ellen Macarthur? Stephanie Flanders? JK Rowling? Marie Curie? mind you...

Teraspawn, thank you so much for that Vi Hart link earlier! The woman is a total genius. My dds and I loved the "Wind and Mr. Ug" vid.

Thanks everyone, I feel really inspired by all these amazing women, and will make sure that both my dd and my ds's are aware of the way that these women have contributed to society.

Brilliant point, Scrotal, about relationship role models. Good male role models have such an important part to play in self esteem, and I guess that's the biggest decider in ensuring we end up with dd's who aspire to great things, and ds's who admire and respect those kind of women.

(...and Amy Pond IS pretty cool!)

melpomene No worries! I just discovered her myself, I must admit those videos have been a major distraction from my revision...

To all those saying "Why not have male role models?" - I think that's a really good point, and of course girls can have male role models. It would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

The benefits of having strong female role models is that women are raised knowing that they are female and believing that it is important and says something about who they are, and how they should act, and what they should do with their lives. You grow up seeing women around you, and in books and on TV, to see what a woman is and what she does.

It's important to have role models from all walks of life but it's the ones who are like you which make your aspirations feel more realistic. It's a hard step to go from thinking you could be Cheryl Cole to thinking you could be Brian Cox, but if you start by thinking you could be Ada Lovelace then it's less of a step.

My mum used to change the gender of the lead characters in storybooks for me. At least until I learnt to read. As I got older I used to think Lucy in the Narnia books was kickass (although re-reading them now she's pretty wimpy in the scheme of things), and the pirates in Swallows and Amazons are brilliant (haven't re-read them for a while though).

DH and I just tried to come up with some names that weren't already on this thread. Horrified to say I couldn't think of any. However DH's first reply was "other than you" and I do think that a parent is the key role model. My mum certainly was for me even though we've taken very different career/relationship paths. We have a lot of female friends that I would consider very good role models for my kids (DS needs female role models too).

How about Camila Batmanghelidjh?
Amazing woman, a psychotherapist, who founded London charities 'place2be' in her twenties and 'Kid's company' in her thirties. So far her organisations have cared for 14,000 vulnerable children and adolescents, often those who are living in conditions of physical and emotional deprivation and exhibit challenging behaviours, therefore labelling them 'difficult to reach'.
Her commitment and compassion are truly inspiring.

Surely if we are serious about this thread, somebody has to mention Thatcher? One of most successful UK PMs, three Election victories and went toe to toe with leaders around the world.

My DDs have their music and dance teachers as very positive role models. And unlike school, they will remain with these teachers for quite a few years.

I think it is great that my DDs would like to be 'like' these teachers, as opposed to somebody on TV, etc.