I Need a Hero

Marvel Comics, you are officially on my shit list.

In whoring their Avenger series with, yet another, piece of merchandise, Marvel put out two t-shirts; a shirt for boys that shows the Avengers and reads, "Be A Hero", which is a good message to tell boys.  They should want to be valiant and do the right thing.  They should aspire to be brave, ambitious, and nobel.  I have no problem with this shirt.  If I had a boy, I would probably buy it for him.  My bitch is with the shirt for little girls that shows the same Avengers group, but reads, "I Need a Hero".

When I see shit like this I have to do a double-take and wonder what fucking century I'm living in.  In this day and age when women are expected to pull in just as much income as men, what are companies thinking by putting this kind of crap out?  I looked at the story with both of these shirts in awe for awhile, mostly because I couldn't believe Marvel would do something so stupid, but also I had to wonder about the graphic designer that put this together.

Would the graphic designer who came up with this shirt really have their daughter wear it?  When their daughter came to them and asked them if she could be a doctor when she grows up, would their response be, "Honey, you should marry a doctor, not be a doctor.  After all, you are a girl."  Highly doubtful any regular, non-religious extremist, person would say this, so why would this same person design a shirt that basically tells girls that the best thing to do is sit around waiting for a hero.

As the momma of two girls, I am raising them to take responsibly for their lives and solve their own problems.  A few months ago I recorded Disney's "Cinderella", and I've watched it with my 3-year-old.  I giggle through most of it, because it is so 1950s; the sweet girl waiting to be rescued from an abusive parent, yet still remaining obedient to the abusive parent until she can be rescued, while the king searches for a gal with good breedin' hips for his son.  The best part of watching the movie with my toddler was when she turned to me in the end and asked me if Cinderella kills her vicious stepmother and stepsisters for being mean to her.  I had once read somewhere that Cinderella forgives the hags, but I told my girl that Cinderella had them banished from the kingdom.

Point is, girls aren't made to sit by idly and wait for anything these days, so I don't get why Marvel or any company thinks that these Cinderella/1950s messages are okay.  Most of the women I know work making just as much, and sometimes more, money as their husbands.  They have the same level of education, and are expected to contribute equally.  On top of all the financial commitments, they are still expected to raise kids, help keep the house running, and make sure the family socializes.  The reality is that women, particularly in today's economy, don't have the luxury of staying at home with their breedin' hips ready waiting for a hero.

Even if my girls luck out and marry great guys who pull down enough bank to give my girls an option to be stay-at-home moms, I still want them to be able to solve their own problems.  Life is long and filled with complications and strange situations, and the last thing we need is a world full of girls waiting for their heroes.