How to teach a pre-school about feminism

[AmandaPayne]

DD1 asked me today what my book was about. I am reading Living Dolls. I must admit I was a bit stumped about what to say.

It got me thinking about how to start explaining feminism to her. She's nearly four. We have had the odd conversation about how nurses aren't always women, etc, in response to tv, or dolls or whatever, but other than that not much has come up. I've also started teaching her about saying no if she's not enjoying something being done to her - so when we play tickling, if she says stop I stop (even when I know she actually wants me not to and is going to say 'again' in about half a second).

I'm interested particularly in what messages people have started to give their pre-school and infant school children. I want this to be something that builds gently throughout childhood, rather than an idea I have to battle against if/when ingrained ideas about princesses and pink, or only boys being train drivers or whatever manifest a bit later.

Doh. Must preview messages.

How to teach a pre-school child about feminism

Interesting.no idea but marking my place.

My daughter is a bit older but I tend to just be factual in a simple way with her. Haven't read Living Dolls but guessing it's about beauty? So I'd say "oh it's a book about women who get fed up with being told to be pretty all the time"

My preschooler has tried to tell me that mummies are nurses and daddies are doctors.

His dad is a nurse we just talk about how both men and women can do all/any jobs etc but they already have some worryingly ingrained ideas about how mummy will wash that for daddy or similar. Not helped by my feigning inability to use a screwdriver so that we can delay replacing batteries in noisy toys

I try to correct all the sexist crap my poor DDs have instilled in the them by the wider world. Like that pink is only for girls, boys can't have long hair etc etc. Challenging the accepted gender-sterotype norms as and when you encounter them should hopefully mean your child grows up less constrained by them and able to think for herself.

"My preschooler has tried to tell me that mummies are nurses and daddies are doctors. "

Where do they get all that stuff? Seriously, in 2013?

MerryMinge, my dd came out with something similar, despite the fact that she had only ever seen a female doctor and two of her friends have dads who are nurses.
It is bizarre.

Not from us, tis bizarre indeed. DS and DH also both long haired too.
I suspect preschool. I am friendly with the boss and told them in front of DS not to tell him that again!

"it's only fun if both people want to play" when they wan't to keep playing a game with us after we've said we're finished etc