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Girl Crushes Gender Norms With Her Costume For School Medieval Feast, Inspired By Her Historian Dad
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Girl Crushes Gender Norms With Her Costume For School Medieval Feast, Inspired By Her Historian Dad

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These days we can notice more and more children ditching outdated gender norms and conventions. TV historian Dan Snow shared such an event on Twitter.

His 7-year-old daughter was preparing for a “medieval feast” held by her school. Most of the other children chose a typical attire accustomed to their gender roles; boys went as knights and girls dressed as princesses. But Dan’s daughter Zia had a better costume idea. She went to the event dressed as a badass Viking fleet commander “The Red Girl”.

Not only was Zia turning heads at the “medieval feast” with her Viking costume she also shared an important historical fact with everyone. Snow taught the curious and brave girl that there were many female warriors who fought in the 10th century, but somehow this fact often gets overlooked.

Dan Snow was praised for encouraging her daughter to defy gender stereotypes and teaching her about powerful and important women in history.

(h/t: comicsands)

More info: twitter.com

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    Dan Snow’s 7-year-old daughter was preparing for a “medieval feast” held by her school

    Image credits: Dan Snow

    Most of the other children chose a typical attire, boys went as knights and girls dressed as princesses

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    Image credits: Dan Snow

    But Dan’s daughter Zia had a much better idea

    Dan was praised for encouraging her daughter to defy gender norms and teaching her about powerful women in history

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    People inspired by Dan’s daughter shared their own similar stories

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    Xiaolaohu
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Queens and princesses can be bada** too, any number of historical figures who have lead armies on their own or as regents. Most people with daughters I hope realize that girls, like boys, do what they want to do, which in my house is often dressing like a princess and wielding a sword at the same time.

    Susancnw
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When my oldest daughter was in preschool, she got in trouble for 'fencing' with a fork in the cafeteria. I had another parent as me if Highlander:The Series was an appropriate show for a child to watch, due to the "violence" in it. I was a SAHM (she assumed I was an uneducated idiot instead of wearing several hats, including wife, mom, equal partner in business--I handld the books & contract work). Just told her that we watched it as a family as we thought it had a number of good lessons including looking out for those weaker/standing up to bullies; being kind. Just because warriors stand up & do what others will not does not mean that they don't hurt, second guess themselves or agonize over a decision, even when it is the right decision. I then gathered up my daughter & walked away. The cafeteria ladies & crossing guards thought it was hilarious. PS: she "won"

    Load More Replies...
    srh
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Empowering young girls is awesome! I would wish that it would be also ok and supported if the boys wanted to be something else than knights and other boy-stereotypes. But still a boy in a princess costume would be laughed at while the girly-knight is hailed. My nephew just made this depressing experience while all the girls were told to be stereotype-free... :-/

    Vonskippy
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So a girl dresses like a tomboy for a SCHOOL PARTY and she's "crushing" gender roles? Gawd society latches on the dumbest things and makes a huge f*****g deal. Let me know when men can get pregnant then we'll talk about gender equality. Until then, fighting two million plus years of biological evolution is just plain stupid. Better to bask in the glory of uniqueness then lust after the boringness of being all alike.

    Renegade Siha
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So by worshipping male traits you are teaching about equality... okay. So teach girls to identify and worship women who pillage and murder because when women do it... they are strong and when men do it they are animals. Double standard much. How about we teach our daughters to worship women who are kind, compassionate, gentle, smart etc.

    Alia G.
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We’ll do that when we worship men who are gentle and smart and kind. I agree that respecting violent figures is questionable, but a lot of smart and nice men are not respected, but made fun of. Therefore respecting just women who are gentle and quiet is enforcing gender roles.

    Load More Replies...
    Gerry Higgins
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bad a*s women don't have to be violent warriors. They can still be ladies. Eleanor Roosevelt springs to mind. Marie Currie. Valentina Tereshkova. Amelia Earhart . The women firefighters at Pearl Harbor. the list goes on

    Jesse Saving
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is dumb. Well not the article but the title. There are no more 'Gender Norms' in the world, especially in schools. Great you dressed your kid up but don't pretend it's anything more than an idiot trying to seem better than the rest of us.

    Daniel May
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is great, but does anyone else see something suspicious. A man named Snow and a woman in red taking on a medieval like environment? It's like real life Westeros.

    Mads Sly
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When I was a wee girl, I was in love with the Redwall series. And the villains had all the best costumes, not to mention the armies/fleets of ships. Not one teacher or child batted an eyelash when I turned up as insane rat Pirate King Gabool the Wild or bloodthirsty Wildcat Warlord Ungatt Trunn. My mum sewed them all(because what shop sells child-sized rat costumes?) and my dad made all of the weapons and armour. They had great fun as well.

    KeyClavis
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No reason to not be both Princess Olga of Kiev. Yes, she was a princess, but she was also as bad-a*s as they come. She built an empire to give to her son as a birthday present.

    Sykz
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    this great!! There are many great women though out history, I am glad there are people showing their kids not all women are princess, some are pirates or leaders or even revolutionaries.

    Emmy
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Girl: Daddy, I want to dress like a princess. Dad: No. I am a historian and you are going as a Viking fleet commander so I can parade this gender bender on the internet.

    Marcos Pereira
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There we go with the BS of gender bender, smh....it is all in your heads only, like society is scare of powerful women! Give me a f.... break, there has been a lot of powerful women through out history and we were fine. Now all of a sudden, we are mean and oppressors of females. And do not get me started with "all" the other genders, hint: There were always only two genders, shhhhhh.

    Dani_has_arrived <3
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nope, in tribal history there were more than two genders and pronouns, even animals in the animal kingdom have a trans spectrum. Also when woman were powerful men did everything they could to break them and shut them up. Please check your facts before you say stuff on the internet for the world to see 😁

    Load More Replies...
    Olivera Stevanovic
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    First we were exposed to lgbt propaganda, then this BS gender crushing !!!!!!!! Can someone explane to me - WHY ? Why just we can not stay normal if we want ? Soon we would must go to parades and s**t ? Or there would be no humans on the Earth ? Maybe She - the Great Mother needs some rest of us ... I suppose

    CbusResident
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    The anthropologist Donald Brown compiled a list of human universals. (https://bit.ly/2jtwm6k)These are traits of every culture that had ever been known about when he wrote that book (published 1991). One of the human universals he noted is that males engage in 'coalitional violence' (war) significantly more than women. This is true of medieval societies, tribal hunter gatherers, western communities before during and after the industrial revolution, Asian cities, Middle Eastern villages, and on and on the list of cultures goes. So it isn't just one culture's idea that women, throughout history, have been far less likely to engage in violent combat and warfare than men were in that same society. It's a fact that was true of every culture up to 1991. Yes, there have been female warriors but they were the exception in history. The Amazons were a myth of ancient Romans who never actually existed.

    Cake
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    a) Again? Your 'facts' are wrong. 1. The amazons were a part of Greek mythology, not Roman. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons) 2. How many exceptions are there? This only a list of ancient history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_ancient_warfare 3. Margaret Mead was an anthropologist in 1925. She left New York to study the culture of the people of Samoa,(she also studied many other cultures.) She described a tribe in New Guinea where woman were politically dominant, and another where women and men took equal rolls child-rearing. She came to conclude that gender differences were a product not of biology but of culture. She wrote "Personality differences between the sexes are cultural creations to which each generation, male and female, is trained to conform." https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23831750-400-the-original-social-justice-warrior-who-smashed-stereotypes/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead

    Load More Replies...
    BobbyMcD
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    This is great. There is NOTHING good about princesses!

    Susancnw
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Princess Isabella of France...She-Wolf? Princess Chiomara- Rome,. To name two. There are a LOT of badass princesses in every culture.

    Load More Replies...
    Xiaolaohu
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Queens and princesses can be bada** too, any number of historical figures who have lead armies on their own or as regents. Most people with daughters I hope realize that girls, like boys, do what they want to do, which in my house is often dressing like a princess and wielding a sword at the same time.

    Susancnw
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When my oldest daughter was in preschool, she got in trouble for 'fencing' with a fork in the cafeteria. I had another parent as me if Highlander:The Series was an appropriate show for a child to watch, due to the "violence" in it. I was a SAHM (she assumed I was an uneducated idiot instead of wearing several hats, including wife, mom, equal partner in business--I handld the books & contract work). Just told her that we watched it as a family as we thought it had a number of good lessons including looking out for those weaker/standing up to bullies; being kind. Just because warriors stand up & do what others will not does not mean that they don't hurt, second guess themselves or agonize over a decision, even when it is the right decision. I then gathered up my daughter & walked away. The cafeteria ladies & crossing guards thought it was hilarious. PS: she "won"

    Load More Replies...
    srh
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Empowering young girls is awesome! I would wish that it would be also ok and supported if the boys wanted to be something else than knights and other boy-stereotypes. But still a boy in a princess costume would be laughed at while the girly-knight is hailed. My nephew just made this depressing experience while all the girls were told to be stereotype-free... :-/

    Vonskippy
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So a girl dresses like a tomboy for a SCHOOL PARTY and she's "crushing" gender roles? Gawd society latches on the dumbest things and makes a huge f*****g deal. Let me know when men can get pregnant then we'll talk about gender equality. Until then, fighting two million plus years of biological evolution is just plain stupid. Better to bask in the glory of uniqueness then lust after the boringness of being all alike.

    Renegade Siha
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So by worshipping male traits you are teaching about equality... okay. So teach girls to identify and worship women who pillage and murder because when women do it... they are strong and when men do it they are animals. Double standard much. How about we teach our daughters to worship women who are kind, compassionate, gentle, smart etc.

    Alia G.
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We’ll do that when we worship men who are gentle and smart and kind. I agree that respecting violent figures is questionable, but a lot of smart and nice men are not respected, but made fun of. Therefore respecting just women who are gentle and quiet is enforcing gender roles.

    Load More Replies...
    Gerry Higgins
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Bad a*s women don't have to be violent warriors. They can still be ladies. Eleanor Roosevelt springs to mind. Marie Currie. Valentina Tereshkova. Amelia Earhart . The women firefighters at Pearl Harbor. the list goes on

    Jesse Saving
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is dumb. Well not the article but the title. There are no more 'Gender Norms' in the world, especially in schools. Great you dressed your kid up but don't pretend it's anything more than an idiot trying to seem better than the rest of us.

    Daniel May
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is great, but does anyone else see something suspicious. A man named Snow and a woman in red taking on a medieval like environment? It's like real life Westeros.

    Mads Sly
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When I was a wee girl, I was in love with the Redwall series. And the villains had all the best costumes, not to mention the armies/fleets of ships. Not one teacher or child batted an eyelash when I turned up as insane rat Pirate King Gabool the Wild or bloodthirsty Wildcat Warlord Ungatt Trunn. My mum sewed them all(because what shop sells child-sized rat costumes?) and my dad made all of the weapons and armour. They had great fun as well.

    KeyClavis
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No reason to not be both Princess Olga of Kiev. Yes, she was a princess, but she was also as bad-a*s as they come. She built an empire to give to her son as a birthday present.

    Sykz
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    this great!! There are many great women though out history, I am glad there are people showing their kids not all women are princess, some are pirates or leaders or even revolutionaries.

    Emmy
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Girl: Daddy, I want to dress like a princess. Dad: No. I am a historian and you are going as a Viking fleet commander so I can parade this gender bender on the internet.

    Marcos Pereira
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There we go with the BS of gender bender, smh....it is all in your heads only, like society is scare of powerful women! Give me a f.... break, there has been a lot of powerful women through out history and we were fine. Now all of a sudden, we are mean and oppressors of females. And do not get me started with "all" the other genders, hint: There were always only two genders, shhhhhh.

    Dani_has_arrived <3
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nope, in tribal history there were more than two genders and pronouns, even animals in the animal kingdom have a trans spectrum. Also when woman were powerful men did everything they could to break them and shut them up. Please check your facts before you say stuff on the internet for the world to see 😁

    Load More Replies...
    Olivera Stevanovic
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    First we were exposed to lgbt propaganda, then this BS gender crushing !!!!!!!! Can someone explane to me - WHY ? Why just we can not stay normal if we want ? Soon we would must go to parades and s**t ? Or there would be no humans on the Earth ? Maybe She - the Great Mother needs some rest of us ... I suppose

    CbusResident
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    The anthropologist Donald Brown compiled a list of human universals. (https://bit.ly/2jtwm6k)These are traits of every culture that had ever been known about when he wrote that book (published 1991). One of the human universals he noted is that males engage in 'coalitional violence' (war) significantly more than women. This is true of medieval societies, tribal hunter gatherers, western communities before during and after the industrial revolution, Asian cities, Middle Eastern villages, and on and on the list of cultures goes. So it isn't just one culture's idea that women, throughout history, have been far less likely to engage in violent combat and warfare than men were in that same society. It's a fact that was true of every culture up to 1991. Yes, there have been female warriors but they were the exception in history. The Amazons were a myth of ancient Romans who never actually existed.

    Cake
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    a) Again? Your 'facts' are wrong. 1. The amazons were a part of Greek mythology, not Roman. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons) 2. How many exceptions are there? This only a list of ancient history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_ancient_warfare 3. Margaret Mead was an anthropologist in 1925. She left New York to study the culture of the people of Samoa,(she also studied many other cultures.) She described a tribe in New Guinea where woman were politically dominant, and another where women and men took equal rolls child-rearing. She came to conclude that gender differences were a product not of biology but of culture. She wrote "Personality differences between the sexes are cultural creations to which each generation, male and female, is trained to conform." https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23831750-400-the-original-social-justice-warrior-who-smashed-stereotypes/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead

    Load More Replies...
    BobbyMcD
    Community Member
    6 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    This is great. There is NOTHING good about princesses!

    Susancnw
    Community Member
    6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Princess Isabella of France...She-Wolf? Princess Chiomara- Rome,. To name two. There are a LOT of badass princesses in every culture.

    Load More Replies...
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