Sites That Empower Girls

As you know, Princess Parade is all about girl empowerment and believes very strongly in raising our daughters to be strong, confident and capable. With that in mind, I have been perusing the web for websites that have similar beliefs and have come across two that I would like to share with you.

The first one is called 7Wonderlicious. This site states in its about page:

"We believe every child is placed on this earth to accomplish something remarkable, something that only he or she can do.

Our tribe was created with one single purpose , to help reduce all threats to girlhood that crush our girls ' true nature and potential.

We focus on overturning the gender stereotypes that make girls obsess with body image, keep girls from taking leadership roles, that limit girls' interests in sciences and maths and cause them to feel self-aware when playing sports.

The first years of a girl's life are a crucial time when their identity and model of world are being shaped. Our goal is to provide in our 7Wonderlicious girls a group of fantastic role models; confident girls that are healthy, confident, resourceful, persistent and a lot of fun."

They share a lot of links and helpful news articles about girl empowerment and raising powerful, confident daughters. They also have some fun apps for kids.

The other site I found is called SheHeroes. The SheHeroes vision and mission statement states that

"Our Vision
■A world where young people can see themselves in whichever occupation they choose.
■A society where gender doesn’t limit one’s choice and voices of both women and men are heard with equal regard.

Our Mission
■To tell inspiring stories of female role models via free web based video interviews geared towards 3rd through 5th graders.
■To awaken youth to their potential, increasing the numbers of youth from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who will consider entering the workforce in a variety of careers. Careers which they might not have known or thought about previously.
■To encourage positive choices and reduce risky youth behaviors through video programming which facilitates discussion between the youth and a caring adult."

They share video interviews with women role models to help inspire young girls with the knowledge of the greatness that they can achieve.

I recommend that you go and visit these sites! I'll make sure to let you know of any other sites I find that empower girls.


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Dads, How Are You Raising Your Princesses?

"Lift your daughter up to the sky when she is young, and when she is grown, she will soar to the heavens on wings of her own creation." ~Rebecca Fyfe

Here's one for the dads. Your daughter needs you to think of her as your little princess. Not so that you can protect her, but so that you can encourage her. Not so that you can spoil her with gifts, but so that you can spoil her with love and affection and with time spent with you.

More and more girls are growing up with a lack of self-esteem and barely any belief in themselves or in their abilities. But this trend can be changed. Dads, you need to be active and present in your daughters' lives. You need to support them not just financially but emotionally. You need to believe in them. You need to show them through your actions that you respect all women so that you reinforce in their minds the fact that they are worthy of being respected. You need to spend time with your daughters so that they believe that they are worth spending time with. You need to listen to your daughters and let them speak so that they realize that their ideas and thoughts are important.

It's not enough just to work to support them but never spend time with them. It's not enough just to criticize them when they do something wrong or to harp on them about their chores. They need to know that they matter. They need to know that you see them for who they are inside and that you like that person.

Think about this; studies have shown that girls will subconciously seek out men in their lives who either treat them the way their dads treated them or who treat them the way they saw their dads treat their mothers. They learn what they see, just like everyone else in this world. Let them see you treating them and every other woman on this planet with respect and decency and care, and that is what they will expect from the men in all areas of their lives.

Isn't that what you want for your daughter?

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Why Little Girls Are Always Daddy’s Little Princesses

There is something about the innocence of youth that charms even the most hard-hearted soul.

A father has a difficult time when the innocence of youth is coupled with his protective instincts towards his daughter. Men are designed by nature (most of them, anyway) to want to protect females. And dads are programmed to feel protective towards their families. Daughters have the double whammy of being both female and family to their daddies, and when these two traits are combined with the charm of their youthful innocence and absolute dependence on their parents when they are young, daddies have no chance of escaping before they are wrapped securely around their little girls’ fingers.

It is easy to see how this happens as I watch my four year old daughter skillfully bat her eyelashes at her daddy after asking for something and softly intone, “Pleeeeeeeaase, Daddy?” when she is trying to wheedle him into buying her something new or taking her out to the park. I don’t know where she learned to bat her eyelashes, but she has done it since before she was walking.

Not all girls are naturally skilled in batting their eyelashes and pleading while exuding charm and sweetness. Some girls are defiant and challenge their dads at every turn. But even in this, a father’s built-in inability to resist his daughter kicks in; he exudes pride in how strong and independent his daughter is becoming. And because of this pride, he gives in to her requests as surely as if she had batted her eyelashes at him and used her cuteness to get what she wanted.

Most girls, though not all, go through stages. A girl begins by batting her eyelashes and saying truly adorable things, and her innocence and child-like charm begins the process of wrapping her daddy around her little finger. Then, as she matures, she develops into a headstrong, independent young girl, and daddy is already securely wrapped around her little finger, so this is when he begins the stage of being proud of her strong will and independence.

Not everyone fits the mould, but you’ll find that most daughters really can be called “Daddy’s Little Princess.” And daddies, for their part, don’t seem to mind any of it. When they first hold that sweet newborn baby girl in their arms, they’ve already begun the wrapping process.

Princess Isabella

My 4 year old Isabella is fascinated with everything having to do with princesses. A little bit before Christmas, we were on our way to see Santa Claus and I asked her what she was going to ask Santa for. She told me, "A pretty dress, so I can be a princess! I want a dress that twirls."

And Santa gave her what she wanted.


(Yes, her hair was still a mess as she had only recently woken up, but it was important to her to put the dress on and show it off as quickly as possible.)


(That's her 3 year old brother Connor in the photo with her. He often is forced to stand in as "Prince Charming" when his sisters Gabby and Bella play "pretend princesses." The background is a mess too, because they had all been opening their Christmas presents and everything was just strewn about the room.)

Conversations With A Three Year Old Princess

My 4 year old daughter, when she was 3, had this conversation with me.

Daughter: *sigh* I'm not a princess today.
Me: Why aren't you a princess today?
Daughter: I'm wearing PANTS!
Me: Princesses can wear jeans, you know.
Daughter: No, Mommy. Princesses ALWAYS wear dresses!

So there you go. The number one rule for being a princess is to always wear a dress (although, I suspect a skirt that twirls prettily when you turn would do).