I’m so serious too
When I was about 3-5 years old I was OBSESSED with the land before time, which lead to me LOVING dinosaurs! I’d read books, comics, rewatch every land before time of course!
My brother, who was about 10 at the time of this story, I was about 4, and he was obviously the favorite due to his gender but that is another post for another day.
He had this big Ol dinosaur toy chest that was made to hold one BIG set with every Dino you could think of, with trees and decoration, it was great!
He would only let me pick one dinosaur to play with when he would play with the set. (I always picked the plesiosaurus) I wanted more of course but his set his rules, but as the annoying little sibling, I always asked.
“Ok when I don’t want it anymore you can have it” sounds great to me, and it wasn’t an empty promise either as he has done that in the past!
Then one day I get home and don’t see the chest, it wasn’t not something you could miss either, it was so big when you put it up it would look like decor so it wasn’t an eyesore. I gotta say the company was smart for that.
I asked my father where it was, and like it was obvious…he looked and me, chuckled and said “honey I gave it to my cousins kid, dinosaurs are for boys not for girls! Haha!”
This deadass kick started a rebellion, because I felt like I didn’t fight for the Dino’s hard enough.
I no longer cared if something was “boyish” or “not feminine” I used to hide that I wanted it due to embarrassment but after that I would beg, plead, and FIGHT with my father to get it.
This went on for YEARS till he literally gave up and let me get my pick of clothes, shoes, and toys that used to take up 1-3 hours of protest in stores.
This sadly lead to bullying in school, both girls and boys, even teachers at times would wonder why I would have that “boy colored back pack” or a “boy shirt” but I told them I didn’t care, it’s what I liked. I liked some girl clothes too but being praised for wearing them kinda pissed me off.
This then lead to me reading more feminine books as that was the one things people either couldn’t tell or leave me alone on.
Then deadass this lead me to feminist lit and ideals via the books as I grew into middle school. That research and education has followed me to this day.
So thank you Ducky, you made me who I am today.
\-Someone who will always believe dinosaurs and equal rights are for EVERYONE!