Helen received a Power Rangers T-shirt from her grandmother for her birthday, and proudly wore it to school the morning she went that week. She came home distressed.
“Ethan said that Power Rangers are just for boys.”
I didn’t realize it started so early.
“What do you think, Helen?” (I’m proud to say that when Helen related the same story to her father, he said exactly the same thing)
“I like the Power Rangers, and I’m a girl.”
“Then you tell Ethan that Power Rangers can be for girls, too. Are all of the Power Rangers boys?”
“No. The pink one and the yellow one are girls.”
“Do you think that there would be girl Power Rangers if it was only for boys?”
“No!”
“So what are you going to tell Ethan?”
“The Pink Ranger and the Yellow Ranger are girls, so I can like Power Rangers if I want to.”
And she did. At snack, nearly a week later, the next time she went back to school. I was impressed.
Helen, meet Empowerment. It’s a beautiful thing.