Resources for children/from your childhood

[SuperLoudPoppingAction]

Was there anything when you were little that you can link to your being a feminist or having more confidence as a girl or woman?

I used to love 'free to be you and me'. Especially the film about the girl who could run really fast and didn't have to get married.

www.dailymotion.com/video/xs4af

Re confidence, Cosmopolitan magazine in the 1970s, which bore no resemblance to its current version. And a magazine called She, which bore no resemblance to the version which finally expired in 2011.

I read both of them as a teenager - they weren't meant for teenagers but both were pretty keen on the idea that being a woman didn't limit you. She was more down to earth.

The last time I looked at a Cosmo I was shocked how shallow it was.

I liked Ronja the Robber's Daughter and Pippi Longstocking when I was a kid (as created by Astrid Lindgren)

Weirdly, I also liked the fantasy series Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce, probably quite controversial now as the main character has to disguise herself as a boy initially in order to become a knight, and ends up coming out and rising to the top as a woman. But the books detail the frustrations of having a female body, like periods, male attention, love and how to just be a badass. IIRC there's a whole bit where the main character has this powerful magic inside her and learns how to harness it with the help of the Goddess, but to be honest it's been YEARS since I read it, so have no idea if it holds up.