Today might be International Women’s Day, but the existence of this holiday doesn’t mean that we’re even close to achieving gender parity (regardless of how many of its arches McDonald’s flips upside down). If you need any further proof, just read the recent series of tweets from a concerned mom about her young daughter’s hesitation to wear a T-shirt she loves for fear of being mocked for liking “boy stuff.”
N.J. Simmonds tweeted that her 7-year-old daughter was in tears because she didn’t feel she could wear her Star Wars shirt to school without looking “boyish.”
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.
— Natali Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) March 6, 2018
People on Twitter immediately began to send messages of support and solidarity to Simmonds’ daughter, assuring her that Star Wars is for everybody, not just boys.
Just told my 5yo girl this and she said: "No, that's not right because Star Wars is good and girls and boys can wear anything they want to." She then followed with "Can I be Rey tomorrow and not wear my uniform?" "No."
— Jen 💖NO LONGER VAGUE!!💖 (@jensmith950) March 6, 2018
My dad was a stormtrooper in the 1st film made, me and my sister are massive fans, my son and daughter are equal fans. My cousin Karen dresses up as a jawa on weekends and has legally changed her name to a Jedi name. In our houses it's an everybody thing
— Simon (@Johnnywas25) March 7, 2018
Star Wars girl AND mom! In high school (mid 90s) I nervously wore a Boys ringer t-shirt with C-3P0 & R2-D2 to High School. It turns out that I ended up relating to a lot of other kids who liked Star Wars who didn’t realize I liked Star Wars. Sometimes it’s a conversation starter!
— Wendy Lady 🐀 @[email protected] on Mastodon 🌈 ☕️🦄 (@NerdRage42) March 7, 2018
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 (she/her) (@PlanetaryKeri) March 7, 2018
Even Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, responded with some sweet advice for his young fan, encouraging her to ignore the haters and not buy into the idea of “boy stuff.”
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.
♥️- mh pic.twitter.com/lAI4AGr0sc— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 8, 2018
Simmonds told her followers that her daughter had changed her mind, and was excited to wear her Star Wars shirt to school.
Thanks everyone. She's now talking about wearing it with pride alongside her unicorn trousers because she can see there are plenty of other Star Wars girls out there 💗
— Natali Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) March 6, 2018
She also posted a heartfelt message about how the experience reminded her of the importance of International Women’s Day.
Today is a day to celebrate that. To show our children just how powerful a woman can be, and how fantastic men who support that truly are.
I heard from NASA scientists, screen writers, fandom queens and Luke Skywalker himself. They wanted my little girl to be brave and strong.
— Natali Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) March 8, 2018
A different world than the one we did. Yet I genuinely believe that the parents of today are doing their best to raise powerful girls and kind boys. That the #meetoo movement, and films and books coming out now are setting the next generation up to not tolerate injustice. So…
— Natali Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) March 8, 2018
Raising powerful girls who aren’t afraid to be who they are and love what they love is one of the most important goals of modern feminism and gender equality — and we shouldn’t lose sight of that.
Otherwise, we could miss out on some pretty incredible female Jedi.