Whats Cute Got To Do With It?

To all the little girls watchingnever doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world. - HRC

During one of my sons sports clinics, I pulled out my writing notebook while his little brother was distracted by a fidget spinner. Two mothers, with their young daughters playing underfoot chatted nearby.

Mom 1 took out her phone.

Mom 2 leaned in. Is that a picture of your babysitter? Wow. Shes cute. You dont want to hire cute girls. They wont be available to babysit on a Saturday night.

I stopped mid-doodle and glared. Oh no she didnt.

But she did. This woman, my peer, implied with conviction in front of her young daughter that the cute girls time, however she defined the adjective, was more valuable. A cute girl has more friends and a full social calendar. It is she who is considered successful and worthy. The less cute ones are not as good.

My little guy flicked at his spinner. You okay, Mom?

I lied. Yes, sweetie. Im fine.

Growing up, I saw myself as the less cute and therefore less worthy girl in the photograph. Like many females, I was the recipient of direct and indirect messages equating physical appearance with societal and individual value.

The matriarchs in my family dipped their toes in feminist ideology. My mother was first in her family to pursue a college degree and worked throughout my childhood. My grandmother managed the household finances. But what overshadowed their progress, and what I remember more were the comments from adults about boys liking girls with long hair, quips highlighting my big bones and feet and being called belligerent whenever I voiced a passionate opinion.

A worthy woman was thin, pretty and pleasing; her role was to find a husband, care for him and raise his family. Anything beyond such convention made for trouble.

I was a trouble maker.

A womens value being tied to and limited by her appearance as defined by tradition or opinion made zero sense from the outset. Still, it took me decades to apply the theory to myself. Even now, during the this is who I am phase of life, I will default to a negative personal narrative especially at first glance in a mirror or of a photograph.

The self-deprecation reflex feels unsettling because I know its wrong. It also reminds that the unhealthy messages and experiences we absorb as children leave a perpetual stain on ones spirit. No matter how hard we scrub, they never fully disappear.

Today, countless organizations, authors, artists, public figures, communities and families are taking deliberate steps to reframe the conversation and encourage a generation of girls to equate worth and beauty with strength, curiosity, passion and personality.

The young ladies with whom I interact in my community are proof the shift is taking hold. Theres the middle schooler who competes as an Olympic weightlifter, the high school junior who uses food as fuel to build strength and endurance and the 18 year-old who responded, Its not about how I look, its about how I feel after I told her she looked great.

Their sense of self is rooted in power, emotion and idea. Such wisdom at an early age will only nourish their confidence and embolden them to demand future employers, colleagues, friends and lovers to judge females based on human, not physical qualities.

Kudos to the mothers and fathers who are raising these women. And shame on those who didnt get or care to read the Smart Girl Like a Girl Strong is the New Pretty memo.

While I cant control what garbage spews from a random mom on a sideline, I can learn from inspirational young ladies and curtail personal comments rooted in insecurity. And I can use language around boys and girls that emphasize character over cute.

We adults have many things to be mindful of these days. Being careful not to perpetuate the cute girl cycle is no less significant.