Raising a Hermione.

Ever since I found out that we were having a baby girl, I've been paying attention to the female role models in the media that may have an impact on Hadley. I have to say I'm very disappointed. Walking through the Hastings by our house, I saw a ton of dvd covers for shows featuring skinny, overtly sexy teenage girls starring in shows that spend very little time promoting postive messages at their young crowd. (I'm not saying I want those shows to be sweet and preachy, but it couldn't hurt to feature a real looking girl who weighs more than 100 pounds, isn't decked out in designer clothes, and has important thoughts and opinions that aren't all about makeup and/or sex.) After seeing this, I looked for the shows that featured a strong female character, one that is supposed to be a "tough cookie" and here are some of the covers I found:

Seriously? Heels? C'mon. She HAD to look like a sex kitten?

How about this one with our "strong, independent" female character pressed against the guy, while wearing something I would be embarrased to wear to bed.

...and don't even get me STARTED on these creatures:

Ugh! Where are all my strong ladies at? Comedy has been very kind to women, with people like Mary Tyler Moore, Lucille Ball, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, etc. showing that you can be confident and funny and not have to cave to advertiser's idea of the perfect woman, but where are these woman outside of comedy? I know one place: Harry Potter.
Thank the heavens above for J.K. Rowling. She wrote her female characters with as much strength, intelligence and wit as any of the males. Hermione Granger is one of my top female characters. Loves her family? Check. Wants to do well in school? Check. Can keep up with boys? Check. She's willing to fight evil to the end, but is still human enough to have crushes and have her moments of insecurity and doesn't act hysterical and irrational when faced with heartbreak (ahem, Bella Swan, I'm looking at you.)

Why is it that female characters written nearly 200 years ago, like Elizabeth Bennet, have more backbone and better priorities than most characters of 2011.

Don't let the flowing dresses fool you, these girls knew how to handle their shiz.

So why can't more characters be like Hermione or Elizabeth, and more importantly, how can I raise Hadley to know her self worth isn't based on how she looks in a tight dress or how many boys like her. How can I ensure she's happy being sweet, smart girl without the added pressures of magazine and movie covers?
I guess the answer is that I can never rely on pop culture. I have to show her that the best, strongest females are all around her. Her amazing aunts, her beautiful, smart cousins, her fabulous grandmas. These incredible women are the ones who will show her what it is to be a smart, strong woman. Them, and JK Rowling.
"I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny - a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls." – J.K. Rowling