[ First Person: Daddy Issues ]
The author’s 4-year-old daughter,
Stella, in full-on superhero mode.
Unhappy
Meals
BY RYAN WHITE
PHOTOS BY RYAN WHITE.
“Is that Happy Meal for a
boy or a girl?”crackled the speaker.
I hate that question, and I’m not alone. In April, Slate ran
a piece by Antonia Ayres-Brown, who, in 2008, when she
was 11, wrote a letter to McDonald’s CEO wondering if it
would be legal for McDonald’s “to ask whether someone
wanted a man’s job or a woman’s job.” She also hated that
question and decided to do something about the problem.
At 11, she was better than me. She also had less to do. I was
in a hurry, or I wouldn’t have been at McDonald’s.
I also realize the person asking that question is wearing
A perfectly rational
response to a
Spiderman compact.
a headset and is in the middle of a long day of dealing
with people like me. That person doesn’t deserve, and isn’t
paid nearly enough, to deal with Dad acting aggrieved on
behalf of a 4-year-old who doesn’t care.
I swallowed my guilt — which tastes better than the
food; the resulting acid reflux tends to be roughly the
same — and said, “a girl.”
My 4-year-old daughter opened the box, delighted
to find a purple and pink, Spider-Man-themed beauty
compact. Its super power: a retractable comb. I hated it
doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason for it to exist in
the Marvel (or any other) universe.
Spider-Woman wouldn’t need it. She’s a crime fighter,
not a Kardashian. She’s far too busy saving sizable urban
populations to worry about her bangs.
But let’s say she does hit the town with friends. She’s
immediately. Not because of its colors. Not because a
major movie studio and a nearly $30 billion company were
August 2014 | metro-parent.com
going to use branded product in public. That’s just asking
engaged in team gender stereotyping. I hated it because it
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going to assume her secret identity, and she’s definitely not
for someone to make the connection.