It's sad to see that after all this work, young girls are still subject to the pressure of outdated expectations from their peer group -even when they just assume those pressures. N.J.Simmonds Tweeted this the other day:
My 7 year old daughter's crying in bed right now because she wants to wear her Star Wars t-shirt to school but is scared her classmates will laugh because she likes 'boy stuff'. I'm so sad/angry for her. Please RT and comment so I can show her how awesome girl #StarWars fans are.
Holly aka Leia (@absolutspacegrl) works for NASA. She responded.
Hi NJ! Because of Princess Leia I work at NASA now. Star Wars is awesome! I go around the country speaking about NASA and Star Wars and science and STEM. Star Wars gave me these opportunities!!! It's not for boys, it's for everyone!! May the Force be with Her!
— Holly aka Leia (@absolutspacegrl) March 7, 2018
Keri Bean (@PlantaryKeri) contributed this picture of herself at work.
Howdy. I'm NASA Rey. I cosplay as Rey while driving Mars rovers and flying NASA's TIE fighter. pic.twitter.com/Rw0yAceIfx
— Keri Bean (@PlanetaryKeri) March 7, 2018
Ashley Eckstein (@HerUniverse) sent a picture, too.
My name is Ashley, I am the voice of Ahsoka Tano, I’m a girl and I LOVE Star Wars! Please tell your daughter she is not alone and that @starwars is for everyone, girls too! Here’s a photo of me wearing my #starwars shirt! pic.twitter.com/cr4qPkEBhL
— Ashley Eckstein (@HerUniverse) March 7, 2018
And Mark Hamill got a word in, too.
Just tell her to feel free to use this gesture if her classmates give her any grief. "Boy stuff"? PLEASE! The Force is, & always will be strong with females here on Earth & in galaxies far, far away.
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 8, 2018
- mh pic.twitter.com/lAI4AGr0sc
Simmonds gave us the end of the story.
Her school is wonderful, as are her classmates, but most 7-year-olds worry about fitting in - no matter how much their parents remind them to be confident and be themselves. Her fear of ridicule was completely unfounded though because she had a great day at school in her favourite T-shirt and none of her friends made any comment about her outfit.
You can read the highlights at Twitter Moments or the entire thread here. -via Mark Hamill