The book club is based on the book Her Next Chapter. From the website for the book:
Her Next Chapter shows mothers how to form mother-daughter book clubs that provide a vehicle for teaching media literacy to girls so that they learn to think critically about their lives as females.Our book is about more than issues—it is about solutions! It outlines precisely how mothers can work both together and individually to build girls’ confidence and lessen the negative impact of media on self-image. Mothers and other important adults in the lives of girls will learn to identify and understand eight of the biggest challenges facing girls and women in the US and around the world, and how to use carefully chosen female-centric books, movies, videos and activities as side doors into crucial conversations about growing up female.
So, we talked about Hannah in the book and how she is told math isn't for girls and there's no need for her to continue studying it--even though she is a math prodigy. It was an awesome night and I am so happy to be part of the club.
But--here is the first payoff:
2 weeks later, we were visiting family a few hours away. My 2 year old son was drinking out of a pink Minnie Mouse cup. His 7 yr old cousins asked me, "Why is he drinking out of a girl cup?" I said, "Well, it's just a cup, it's for anyone who is thristy." And my husband, ever the feminist said, "It's not a girl's cup-- it's for anyone who likes Minnie Mouse." To which the hostess replied, "Well, it's pink and girly--it's a girl's cup." And we let it fizzle.
But on the way home, I turned to my 8 year old daughter and asked her, "Based on what we talk about at book club... I mean.. what do you think of what Aunt X said about the Minnie Mouse cup?"
She got a twinkle in her eye, puffed up, and said, "Well, I think Aunt X was making a gender stereotype!"
SCORE.
