189: Childhood Unlimited with Virginia Mendez

<div data-block-id="block-0c04bb5c-86de-43cf-8f21-c3d7497f9189"></div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-0c04bb5c-86de-43cf-8f21-c3d7497f9189">Do you <em>try</em> to give your children messages about gender that are aligned with your values? Do you tell your daughter that she can do anything she wants to do, and look for shows that have equal representation of male- and female-presenting characters?</div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-16375abf-5cbc-485a-a70d-9f8e10be00e6"></div> <div data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6"> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-94dc146f-f13f-4e8f-a206-4846e27aa4f6">If so, you're off to a good start.</div> <div data-block-id="block-7bc0d03f-3489-4120-bbb7-d9812c85ad8f"> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-7bc0d03f-3489-4120-bbb7-d9812c85ad8f">And...there's so much more to do.</div> <div data-block-id="block-7bc0d03f-3489-4120-bbb7-d9812c85ad8f"> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-0756face-2e98-46d5-beab-46e2b6ac9c5b">One of the core ideas in my book, <a class="ql-link" href="http://yourparentingmojo.com/book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parenting Beyond Power</a>, is that we parents pass cultural messages on to our children. We do that through the books we read, the actions we praise, and the conversations we have (or don't have).</div> <div data-block-id="block-e5151a9d-1b4c-484c-b738-d88bb33aae96"> &nbsp; I don't censor the books I'm reading to Carys - we just talk about them. Right now we're reading Wild Born, Book 1 of the Spirit Animals collection. (I did check to make sure that the concept of 'spirit animals' isn't disrespectful to Indigenous people...it turns out it's a concept that White people made up, and it's only disrespectful if we try to link it to Indigenous practices.) </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-85132334-7e57-471d-acea-603d1331e300"> &nbsp; </div> <div class="ql-block" data-block-id="block-68d49e7e-da93-454c-a43d-564