26 January 2006

My partner and I watched the DVD of "Free to be You and Me" last night. I got it for her for Christmas because she mentioned it to me a few times, but I never ever saw it or knew what it was all about. For those of you who don't know, it's that Marlo Thomas and friends (Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, and Rosy Grier, et al) collection of songs, illustrations, etc. that celebrates diversity and challenges sterotypes, especially regarding gender. (It's ok for boys to cry and have dolls and it's ok for girls to live their own lives w/o a man and can pursue their dreams, even if it's to be a fireman or construction worker.) I made fun of it, but it was really very touching and something I want to show our kids one day. See, my parents were children of the 50s so that mushy liberal/hippie stuff wasn't really on their radar, while my partner's folks were totally 60s people. It's not that my folks were in denial about that stuff. My mom in particular preached "Girl Power" and that girls really can do anything. I guess I'm thinking about all this stuff a little bit more because we're in the planning stages of having a child of our own. Heavy stuff, dude!