On the occasion of International Women's Day, Crown Princess Mary shared a photo showing herself and her daughter Princess Josephine and a personal story on Danish Royal Courty’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The story is about her youngest child, Princess Josephine, who saw a headline about International Women’s Day and wondered what it meant. The story of the Crown Princess is as the following:
"During breakfast this morning, my youngest daughter Josephine noticed a headline about International Women’s Day. She asked, ‘What kind of day is this?’ I thought briefly about my answer and said that it is a day to believe and trust that she can become and do anything she dreams about and no one or nothing can stop her… because she is a girl.
She didn’t ask any further questions, so maybe my answer wasn’t a surprise to her. Maybe this is something she takes for granted, but it’s not like that for many other girls around the world.
And the International Women’s Day has different significance depending on where in the world you live. But no matter where you live, it’s an important day where we’re not only talking about how far we’ve come, but also where we’ve come from and where we want to go.
For me, equality is not about everyone being the same, but – as I told Josephine – about gender not being allowed to play a role when opportunities present themselves and decisions are being made… or when you follow your dreams."
Il me semble avoir déjà vu ce très joli modèle en soie porté par Victoria ; je pense qu'il peut être porté en robe d'intérieur et même pour la période printanière !
ReplyDeleteShe doesn´t have to "believe" or "trust" that she can become anything she chooses to pursue; she has the *right* to become anything she chooses to pursue. That is not even a question in most countries; especially not in Denmark which is amongst the most egalitarian countries in the world.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that young children are more surprised than satisfied with answers of the sort given by Mary. Not only does it sound as if said "belief" or "trust" only applies on that day; it also implies that there is a difference between girls´ and boys´ value. In fact, most very young children have very specific plans (not dreams - but plans!) what they are going to do later in life indicating that they don´t see any limits because there aren´t any.
I think it is important for all children to understand that those equal rights don´t exist everywhere in the world, and that they haven´t always existed where they do exist now.
When I was young, women´s day was celebrated in appreciation of women. Today it is made about modern feminism which often has undertones of gender conflicts and the need to address alleged male dominance / surpremacy / partriarchy. It´s so woke, it´s not funny. It would make sense if they took this energy to places where women don´t have equal rights, but instead they stir up conflicts in societies that didn´t have any issues.
Mary has now jumped on that train too.
In order to treat both genders the same, there should be an international men´s day too, but instead they´ll likely establish a LGBTQIaskfhadp`s day because that´s the politically correct thing to do.
Before anyone jumps at me, I´ll point out a counter-intuitive but sociologically undisputed fact: the more egalitarian a society, the bigger the differences in gender roles. This is especially evident in career choices. It means that once a society has reached full equality of opportunities (as is the case in most countries, certainly in the west), there´s nothing more to gain. Demanding and implementing equality of outcome inevitably means a step back and is counterproductive.
In Mary´s situation, I wouldn´t have answered something along the lines "you can become and do anything you dream about and no one or nothing can stop you… because you´re is a girl". I would have said "you can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you put in the work required and get really good at it". After all, the fact alone that you´re a girl does nothing for you. Dreaming alone does nothing for you. It´s the determination and the work that leads to success, especially if you start with little or nothing.
Of course, Josephine, being a royal princess will likely never be denied anything anyway. If anyone has unlimited opportunities to do whatever she wants, it´s likely her.
"The more egalitarian a society, the bigger the differences in gender roles."
DeleteAre you sure about that? Denmark seems to be a highly egalitarian society, I know this country very well, and women and men are - apart from their clothes, but not even there - rather or even totally equal.
In all other aspects I liked and appreciated your comment very much.
Only one more addition, it's a bit spiritual: If you set your mind on something like I did as a 14 years old, everything will happen and come true, without much strength, work or stress. Things will reach you. But this only happens when your plans are within your very own talents and needs. If parents tell their daughter she could become CEO of some bank institut, and she is much more interested in bodily things, than this parental attitude may destroy every chance.
Sadly, there are still issues to tackle even in the most progressive countries. I live in a country which has been in the absolute vanguard of gender equality for the past century, but even here there are still inequalities for instance in the valuation of the so-called pink-collar jobs -- showing in the paychecks. (In other words, you are paid more for tending machines than for tending fellow human beings.) Luckily, more and more young girls choose professions that earlier were mainly chosen by men, and even though there probably still are reactionary men who find it hard to see female ministers (including the prime minister) deciding on the affairs of the country, attitudes are changing.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what your sources are for the proposition (or "undisputed fact" as you formulated it) that "the more egalitarian a society, the bigger the differences in gender roles". To my knowledge (and based on a five decades long experience of living in one of the most egalitarian societies on this planet), exactly the opposite seems to be true. Unless you meant the fact that for instance in my home, my husband does all the cooking and the ironing whereas I, the wife, take care of the computers and other electronics.
Mary's text was wise and important, and every young girl - princess or not - still needs to be reminded of those facts. And the picture of those two is beautiful!
With respect,
Paula
In response to Paula and Katrin wondering about the gender-equality paradox.
ReplyDeleteThese links provide a good overview of what it means:
https://www.weforum(dot)org/agenda/2018/02/does-gender-equality-result-in-fewer-female-stem-grads
https://www.latimes(dot)com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-women-equality-preferences-20181018-story.html
(exchange the "dot" for a " . ")
Love the picture of these two they are very alike. I think Princess Mary was just talking to her daughter. It's what she should do, encourage her to believe in herself and her future achievements, Just because she is growing up in a Royal family in a country that does equality well is not a guarantee. Princess Mary is a great role model for her daughters and all young women.
ReplyDeleteAh! at last the bright colours and light fabrics of spring.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long cold winter in our part of the world.
Lovely photo of mother and daughter.
The picture is from last summer, when the family was on holiday. It is not new.
DeleteVirginia
ReplyDeleteDear Vanessa, I think with regard to Princess Mary your criticism is unfair. This is a mother SPONTANEOUSLY explaining feminism to a small child so that she feels comfortable, nothing else. Your learned interpretation is probably correct, I am not a specialist, but attacking Mary on political grounds as though she were giving a carefully prepared political speech is incomprehensible. This is fasion blog and not a platform for unnecessarily lengthy intellectual topics.
Virginia
Mary´s message on the occasion of International women´s day is neither spontaneous, nor a private moment, nor directed at a child. It is a message to the people trying to establish a certain view of things. It´s nicely disguised as an innocent personal story, but if it really was personal, why would she share it with the world? It is a semi-political move by a high-profile person, let´s not be naive here.
DeleteMy point is that feminism won´t make a child feel comfortable. I tried to explain why. That´s all.
Mary´s message came with this blog post, so I think it´s fair game to comment on. We can of course comment on the photo too, but I doubt it´s currect (given the season), and we cannot see much of the outfits anyway. But if you want to hear my thoughts on the fashion featured - I think it´s one of the better H&M dresses. Nice colours and pattern, I like the more open neckline (but not the too high pointy bits poking at the neck) and I like the tailored waist. I think that bold patterns easily get too busy if it´s a lot of fabric, therefore, I think I´d like the dress better at knee length and with an even hem (also to minimize the nightie vibe). The brown belt - why not. Josephine´s dress (?) looks nice in colour and pattern. That´s all I got.
I was really touched by Crown Princess Mary's word to her daughter Princess Josephine.....I am so proud that here in the United States we have finally elected a woman of color as our Vice President. I am so proud of Vice'President Kamala Harris!
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