If you've read my previous post, you know I was a kid who dreamed of being a cowgirl. (Thwarted dreams - how they shape us. Ha!) I can picture myself with six guns and hat, riding hellbent-for-leather over the western prairies - delivering the mail, pony express style - pigtails flying in the breeze. (For whatever reason I always picture myself with long pigtails flopping from under my hat. Hey, it's my dream.)
And of course, if you stumble across a lost cowboy wandering about looking for a horse. Wouldn't it be handy if you had an extra?
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the epitome of happy trails to you. I loved watching the Saturday serials at the movies. Nobody rode a horse like Roy, he was the best.
And what are the career aspirations of today's little girls? I shudder to think.
ReplyDeleteCarol: Me too. Although I imagine there are plenty of little girls out there wanting to be cowgirls, still. Or pilots. Or archaeologists. Or artists...At least, I hope so. :)
ReplyDeleteDancers, actors, singers -- lots of performance art from around my way and friends who are youth.
ReplyDeleteArtists is another aspiration of a nearly-five-year-old next store.
Writers, perhaps.
One young friend is now in nursing school, another graduating from Columbia Teachers College (with all A's)
No cowgirls among them.
Good question to ponder through.
Kathy: It's just scary who and what many young girls today look to with admiration - who they admire.
ReplyDeleteI think girls, especially, need better role models than vampires and Hannah Montana-type teen bimbos.
Inspite of that, I think there will always be girls who dream big. :)
Oh, yes, definitely good role models are needed.
ReplyDeleteI see young women in performing arts in their school plays and musicals, and I hope for the best for them, knowing it's a cruel, competitive world out there.
It's bad enough to read in the NYT yesterday that 10% of high school students here do not get into any of the high schools they aim to attend. A heartbreaking article to read, looking at their faces, knowing their hopes, and all students should get into a high school that's good.
Need better and more good public schools, too, and colleges at costs they can afford.