Is Star Wars for girls? Touching, brilliant answers to a little girl’s concerns
When young adult fiction author NJ Simmonds found her daughter sobbing about wearing a Star Wars t-shirt to school, she enlisted the help of the franchise’s fans to set things straight.
Boy’s stuff?
The writer and mum explained that her little girl associated Star Wars with boys. While she really wanted to wear her Star Wars t-shirt to school, she feared repercussions about how gender appropriate it might be.
Simmonds told parenting website Romper that the gendered clothing sections at her local retailers sent a clear message to her child and contributed to her confusion.
“My daughter’s only reference to Star Wars was the fact that she likes to watch it with her dad and a few boys at school play Star Wars games in the playground.”
“When she decided to wear her t-shirt to school she was nervous about what her girl friends would say as she’d never seen her friends wear Star Wars clothes (as they are always in the boy section of shops).”
Determined to push back against these stereotypes, Simmonds took to Twitter to rally the Jedi troops and gather support for her little girl.
The female Force
“My 7 year old daughter’s crying in bed right now,” Simmonds tweeted, “because she wants to wear her Star Wars t-shirt to school but is scared her classmates will laugh because she likes ‘boy stuff’. I’m so sad/angry for her. Please RT and comment so I can show her how awesome girl Star Wars fans are.”
Suffice to say that’s just what this devoted fanbase DID. A whopping 51,716 retweets and 114,583 likes later, the resulting thread is a bolstering example of Twitter being used for GOOD!
Amazingly, Luke Skywalker himself quickly weighed in to assure this seven-year-old that Star Wars really was for everyone.
“Just tell her to feel free to use this gesture if her classmates give her any grief. “Boy stuff”? PLEASE! The Force is, and always will be strong with females here on Earth and in galaxies far, far away,” actor Mark Hamill tweeted to Simmonds, in solidarity.
Just tell her to feel free to use this gesture if her classmates give her any grief. "Boy stuff"? PLEASE! The Force is, & always will be strong with females here on Earth & in galaxies far, far away.
♥️- mh pic.twitter.com/lAI4AGr0sc— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 8, 2018
The Force is for everyone!
The most touching and brilliant responses weren’t from famous types, however. Plenty of mums and dads shared photos of their own little Star Wars fans on Twitter, proving that the Force is not about gender and is absolutely within us all.
This little girl from Essex provided inspiration, thanks to her dad’s Twitter share:
Your daughter is awesome. Mine is too. Sending love and support from Essex, England x pic.twitter.com/pIBmJfy4Fj
— Simon from Harlow (@simonfromharlow) March 8, 2018
Another Twitter user shared a snap of her friend Ms Musso, who is a teacher, in full Star Wars garb with her toddler:
This is my friend @Ms_Musso. She's a teacher, a great mom and a #StarWars fan. Be proud of what you love! pic.twitter.com/bCkDWzxisS
— MmeduBarry (@danita_barry) March 10, 2018
A tiny, badass pink Darth Vader provided some kick ass contrast. “Huge Star Wars and Darth Vader fan,” her mum tweeted, “and her favourite colour is pink!”
https://twitter.com/northstoryCA/status/971767548319383554
Mum Molly Ferguson shared a snap of her gorgeous beaming Star Wars fan daughters:
My daughters. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Am4v0IDAwR
— Molly Ferguson (@RotisserieVixen) March 9, 2018
And adorable mum and Twitter user LittleRadish shared this cute photo of herself and her little girl.
“Here is me and my girl twinning because at 42 years old I still wear @starwars clothes everyday,” she wrote.
Here is me and my girl twinning because at 42 years old I still wear @starwars clothes everyday pic.twitter.com/2z3ZhRHmoh
— littleradish (@thelittleradish) March 7, 2018
It all ended well
Even some incredible and science-y types piped up, pointing out that a love of Star Wars can lead to a real life space career at NASA.
Howdy. I'm NASA Rey. I cosplay as Rey while driving Mars rovers and flying NASA's TIE fighter. pic.twitter.com/Rw0yAceIfx
— Keri Bean (@PlanetaryKeri) March 7, 2018
All this apparently bolstered Simmonds’ daughter’s resolve and she DID pluck up the courage to wear the t-shirt to school.
“Her fear of ridicule was completely unfounded,” Simmonds told Romper, “because she had a great day at school in her favourite t-shirt and none of her friends made any comment about her outfit.”