Star Wars: Girls Love This Stuff Too

Let me set the scene for you: a five-year-old girl wearing a mermaid costume that sprinkles glitter all over the carpet and pink eye shadow up to her eyebrows and brand new dangly ice cream cone earrings. This fancy girl is standing in the middle of our living room, snarling at her big brother, both kids with light sabers in their hands acting out a fierce duel deep in their imaginations while I watch, hoping no one loses a tooth or breaks the glass shelves.

I’ve heard it said the original Star Wars movies were, at best, a man’s world. Not very appealing to the average girl. I certainly don’t remember any of my girlfriends growing up who were particularly drawn to those movies. I don’t even think I watched an entire Star Wars movie all the way through until high school.

But with the revival of Star Wars, and all of the smart marketing that comes with it, the PR execs are now realizing that girls love this stuff too. Girls love outer space and adventure and daringness and a good, honest reason to stand up and fight, whether it’s with light sabers, intelligence, brain, or brawn. My fairy mermaid princess girl is proof of it, even if she cries when an errant light saber swing messes up her nail polish.

I hope she continues to love these grand, sweeping adventure epics. I hope she continues to find herself in the story, whether it’s in the strong princess who undermines an evil emperor with quiet determination, or in the brave pilot who chooses honor and duty over greed and self-preservation, or even in the Wookie warrior who is fearsome and loyal yet looks SUPER soft and cuddly.

Most of all, I hope my girl doesn’t let anyone keep her out of irrelevant gates and pigeonholes because of, or in spite of, her gender.

I hope she slices through the barriers with her white-hot neon pink light saber.

Awesome Hello Kitty Darth Vader helmet made by JD Hancock.

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Jessica Buttram parents, writes, laughs, and eats too much chocolate. She has no practical advice and zero life hacks to offer for this whole parenting gig, but she makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich, and that’s something, right? When she’s not bribing her kids with Doritos to make them sit still and snuggle for just a few minutes longer, she can probably be found vacuuming Dorito crumbs out of the couch. Her family is her whole world, except for the part that belongs to coffee. You can find her @jbuttwhatwhat and meetthebuttrams.com.