"Girls can be pirates" article in the Guardian

[bluechameleon]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/05/girls-can-be-pirates-too
Pretty good article I thought. This is something I feel very strongly about. I have two boys and the almost 4 year old sometimes says things are "for girls" or "for boys" which I assume he gets from nursery. I'm not sure I agree that it is worse for boys though - it may be less acceptable for boys to like "girly" things but that is because girly things are valued less and seen as less important/worthy/valuable. I think that overall girls do worse out of this undervaluing of anything girly.

I think it gets harder to have traditionally "girl" interests as boys get older. I don't have sons or even nephews, but I've been observing a pair of young dancers come up through one of my schools and they're definitely finding it "less cool" in the upper juniors. Playing an instrument often fades off then too.Girls can stick with football and martial arts through to about Y9 before the rot sets in.

It's an interesting article but from 2015. Going by recent editorials I wonder if they would still take the same approach.

Sorry, I didn't notice the date. I saw it on the Let Toys Be Toys Facebook feed.

Aaaaar, it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day yesterday, me hearties!

As I have mentioned (far to often) before: There was a large survey that clearly indicated that strict adherence to gendered toys was favoured by the less intelligent children. Whereas the more intelligent children were acceptant of children playing with toys "belonging" to the opposite gender and more willing to play with those toys themselves.

I remember some of the girls I went to school with clearly stating that the boys would find me less attractive (implicit: than them) because I liked "boys" things like comic books, technology, board games and hard rock. Turned out that the opposite was true. The boys liked that I had what they defined as good taste in leisure activities. When we were young, some of my DH's friends were a bit jealous that he dated someone who liked Marvel comics. DH did and do appreciate that I like those things. (Didn't appreciate having to wait his turn reading if I got hold of the new Marvel comic first). We really should renew our subscription.

2015?

Pfft

They don't seem to be able to fathom the logical inconsistencies in their attitudes towards women. Stupid Guardian (not you, Hadley)

They can indeed
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Badger

Love it. I have a book on my to-read pile called "Bold In Her Breeches: Women Pirates Across The Ages", I really must get to it soon.

Grainne O'Malley was another, I think.

Grainne O'Malley was a pirate queen. Also, she decided not to married anymore to her husband by locking him out of the castle and shouting 'i release you' when he turned up. She had a meeting with Elizabeth 1. A very interesting woman.

There are tonnes of female pirates from right across the world and all the way through history.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_piracy

though I fear Ann Bonny and Mary Read might find themselves transed these days.

I think I'm love with Lady Mary Killigrew - having been caught and tried as a pirate, she gave up piracy and took up fencing stolen goods

I'm rather fond of Ching Shih - www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ching-shih-prostitute-pirate-lord-002582

Ching Shih set forth very strict rules regarding the treatment of captured prisoners – female prisoners in particular. Female captives who were considered to be “ugly” were released, unharmed. A pirate who wished to take a beautiful female captive as their wife was free to do so, but they were bound to be faithful and to care for her. Unfaithfulness and rape were both offenses for which a pirate would be executed. Harsh capital punishment was common for pirates of the Red Flag Fleet who did not stick to the code. Deserters would be hunted down, and their ears cut off when captured. Other punishments included flogging, quartering, and clapping in irons.

I think I'd rather stick in the safer waters of Nancy Blackett and crew.

The guardian could do with rereading that, schools could do.

DD had a party at the pirate-themed soft play - no one thought that odd. A mixed sex pair of school friends with close birthdays had a 'pirates and princesses' party, which caused momentary quandary until the obvious solution of going as a pirate princess occurred to her.