Are you not worried they'll turn out a bit… girly?

Not long before my daughter was born I was chatting to someone about cartoons. I'd like to tell you that this was due to us both being parents, but in reality it's where conversations inevitably go when you're in your thirties and nerdy enough to wear superhero t-shirts in public.

 

We'd been comparing notes on what we watched growing up (she's from an entirely different part of the world, so it was interesting to hear about what was common ground and what wasn't) and what we'd managed to pass on to the next generation. 'Transformers' was a big hit across the board. We both have houses full of Disney addicts. I'd loved 'Voltron', she'd never heard of it. She'd loved 'My Little Pony'.

 

"Have you seen the new version?" I asked. "It's hilarious."

 

"No, I… hang on," she said. "Don't you have boys?"

 

"Yes. Yes I do."

 

"How do you know about 'My Little Pony'?"

 

"The boys love it."

 

"Are you not worried they'll turn out a bit… girly?"

 

And the honest answer is no, I'm not.

 

I'm not totally sure how or why they got into My Little Pony. As far as I'm aware it is (or at least was at the time) on at odd hours on one of the more obscure kids' channels on the Sky box (go past the time-shifted 'All Peppa, All The Time' version of Nickelodeon - if you hit the shopping channels you've gone too far.) It's funny, it's sweet and it has more horse puns than I could ever come up with. A time traveling pony named Doctor Hooves, anyone?

 

I'm not worried about it turning them girly any more than I'm worried about Transformers turning them into intergalactic robot warriors. And besides if you've ever met my boys you'd know it'll take more than a cartoon to soften them up.

 

One thing that has to stop, though, is using girly as a synonym for soft. I have a goddaughter who's into fairies and princesses and plays classic rock on guitar. Her little sister is similarly into fairies and princesses, but could probably Judo-throw me across the room. My own sister works for a car dealer and cuts metal and glass for a hobby. These are the new girly girls, and they are awesome.

 

There will sadly and almost inevitably come a time when one of my boys turns their nose up at something and says: "I don't like that – it's for girls." We've already had words over girls being excluded from games because it's 'boys only' – no such thing, we tell them.

 

I don't mind if my boys like ponies or if they like robots or both. I don't mind if in a few years my daughter eschews the pink Legos in favour of the spaceship sets, or if she absolutely refuses to go to the supermarket without her tiara. At least I'll know they'll have come by their tastes honestly.

 

My daughter is two-months-old and you should see her eyes light up when she sees princess stuff. Who knows? Maybe they'll do the same when I get out the infant-sized ice hockey jersey.