The "P" Word

I have a new friend. She is new to this planet, having arrived here just last February. Her mom and I became friends a couple of years ago in a college class, and in my spare time I babysit. It's nice because it gives me some money apart from my regular job, and my new friend is the bee's knees.

She has super long eyelashes, but not much hair. She is a snuggler, and I love to snuggle. She is one of those babies that just kind of leans and cuddles in, and loves to be held. Her mom told me that she and the dad don't use the "P" word around her, but she hears it a lot when they go out. Pretty. I mean, I get it that they don't want her looks to define her. And she is more than just a pretty face. She is smart and funny and crawls both backward and forward and pulls herself up on things.

She seems to think that I am the bee's knees, too, because when she sees me she smiles and puts her arms out for me to pick her up. Yesterday she did that, and I took her and we were just sort of talking and I said, "So how ya doin', Princess?" I gasped and immediately looked at her mom. "Uh, another "P" word, huh?" Her mom smiled good naturedly and said, "Yeah, we try not to use that one either."

But the thing is, as soon as I said the "P" word, my friend broke out in the biggest smile ever and laughed. She knows she is a princess, and she likes it that I get that about her, her princessness, or princesshood. If anyone would understand, it would be me. I drive a pink car, for goodness' sake.

So I had a little talk with my friend and told her that we are more than our looks, that we are smart and funny and talented and kind and wonderful and strong, and the sky is the limit as to what we can accomplish. I asked her if she knew that Barack Obama (Can you say "Barack Obama"?) was re-elected President, and that he respects women and will work to make sure no one puts baby in a binder? She thought that was funny, that baby in a binder thing. So I said it a bunch of times really fast. Babyinabinderbabyinabinderbabyinabinder.

We can be anything we want to be. Scientists and professors and mechanics and well, maybe one day soon Hillary Clinton (Can you say "Hillary Clinton"?) will become the first woman President of the United States. It is wonderful to be a girl. It is the best thing ever, to be a girl in a world like the one we live in today.

Her mom had Sesame Street on, and I told my friend about PBS and how Big Bird and Elmo and Abby weren't going anywhere. Today's post has been brought to you by the letter "P," and it's for all the pretty princesses everywhere.

Susan

Girl Power

I was fourteen when I had my first professional haircut. I visited a hair stylist in our tiny little town, and he was a man. He took my long, straight, parted in the middle hair and cut it in a really cute shoulder length bob with bangs. He took me from looking like every other girl in the 9th grade to an individual. It cost $4, which was a large sum of money back in 1972. It was a great cut with awesome structure, and I could step out of the shower and dry it and I was good to go. It might have been inspired by a great man who passed away today, Vidal Sassoon. A revolutionary, he took us from teased, sprayed beehives to wash and wear hair. If you have a really good cut, you can shake your head around as much as you want, and your hair just falls back into place.

I am a girly girl. I like nail polish and trying out different hair colors and styles and pretty clothes and well, I even wrote a post called High Heels. I tell myself this story, that I look pretty good for 53, but the other day I was washing my hands in the restroom at school and looked up in the mirror and got a flash of my paternal grandmother. I look a lot like her, and it was scary for a minute. I think every woman should feel good about herself. Hair, makeup, cosmetic surgery, whatever makes you feel like you can go out and set the world on fire. The sad thing is, some women spend a lot of money on all that stuff and still feel bad about themselves.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's photograph is all over the place this week. Her hair is unstyled, she's wearing glasses and her only makeup is a little lipstick. It doesn't seem that earth shattering to me, but it has lots of people talking. She actually looks relaxed and happy in the picture, and I am just glad we have a smart woman like her going to places like Bangladesh and India. I hope I get to see a woman president before I die, and I hope it's Clinton.

Julia Bluhm is a fourteen-year-old young woman who got a bunch of signatures on a petition and went to Seventeen magazine with a simple request. She wanted them to have one photograph in each issue of their magazine that was not photoshopped. The big cheese at the magazine met with Bluhm,  they denied her request, but they said some very nice things about her. Bluhm's concern is quite valid, that teenage girls see unrealistic images in magazines and feel bad about themselves. They see super skinny models and develop eating disorders trying to get themselves down to that weight.

Sassoon was a genius. Clinton is brilliant. But Bluhm? Girls like her are going to change the world.

Susan