I want you to meet my friend Sara.
She is without a doubt one of the strongest people I
know - notice I said people, not just women! She pushes herself further and
encourages those around her to do the same, far beyond what may on the surface
be possible. Every time I partner with her for a workout I’m both excited and
scared at what we will accomplish, even through my own whining!
Despite the fact that she’s on the petite side (I love these 19
reasons from
Buzzfeed about why being
short is better – in particular in CrossFit where many elite athletes are short-ish) she can far out lift and out pace me. She’s emotionally and physically strong and
it makes her such a great role model for those around her, especially her
4-year old daughter Madison.
When it comes to Halloween (and remember Girls EDGE is a
judgment-free zone), I can’t help but be concerned about what the trend in female costumes can mean to even a little girl's self confidence.
This comic floating around the Internet puts it
perfectly.
Yesterday I saw a photo of a “sexy pig”
costume – which I won’t even post here for fear of how weird/gross it was!
I’ve been loving A Mighty Girl’s (a great site featuring
books, toys and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls) Facebook
page (and blog) where parents are sharing photos of creative, positive costumes for their
daughters based on role models in history or female leaders from books…. With hardly a “sexy” cheerleader among them!
Back to Sara… this morning her husband shared this photo
of Madison in her costume with Sara.
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I don’t know the story behind why Madison chose to be
Captain America. And it’s not even that important to me. I know somewhere in her
she’s seeing her Mama as a strong, confident women and clearly she wants to be
too.
We don’t know the future impact our healthy choices will have
on our kids. I love it when my sons are at the gym and see me lifting heavy
weights. They don't know it's not a "traditional" thing for girls to do that. And I'm happy about that! I hope it helps them to support their future wives to be strong, well-rounded women.
But as we posted here (yep that's Sara!) ... THIS is strength and THESE women are role models. I can't wait for the day when the stores will carry Captain CrossFit Girl costumes...
--Kara
