Why??? Nerf for girls.

My parents, sister and I went to the movies last Sunday for my mother's birthday. Through all the advertisement and commercials before the movie, we saw this:

Seriously? My sister and I shook our heads. Why would girls want their own version of the Nerf gun? I thought Nerf guns were cool when I was younger. If there were more kids in my neighborhood, then I'm sure we would play with those cool sticky foam darts.

*I'm not going to talk about the conversation of allowing kids to have "guns".*

(source)

I just want to express my feelings when I saw those girls in the commercial. Did you watch the video yet?

"I am strong." 

"I am fierce." 

"I am determined." 

"I am confident."

They sound off as they run in a field, shooting their pink and girly bows and revolvers. Oh, please. I wouldn't buy these toys when I was younger. I'd rather have the original Nerf shooters. Some kid would be sure to attack me because they'd see my glittery feminine weapon. 

Do we really need our own girl versions of Nerf guns to feel "confident" and "fierce"? The answer is NO.

I'll admit, the crossbows are pretty neat. But why are they so girly? I'd rather have camo.

Buzzfeed also gives some good pointers about this new toy for girls. 

Congratulations, Hasbro. Thanks for trying to keep us equal. [/end sarcasm]

This is my own opinion. I was not paid to write this. I'm a sociologist, so topics like these will come up on certain occasions.

Internet Finds: Forty Days of Dating

So here's something I found that will keep my busy for the rest of the month. It's colorful. It's sappy. It's amazing. And my sociological mind is loving this.

Welcome to fortydaysofdating.com. It's the daily writings experiment of two friends on the hunt for meaning in their relationship.

 She is a hopeless romantic. He is afraid of commitment. They decided to test their friend limits to see how and why they act the way they do, and to see if opposites do attract.

They do this by documenting their daily meetings and respond with their thoughts and reactions. 

I am absolutely in love with this concept. For one thing, I love the design and colors. That definitely caught my eye.

I've read up to day 8 (so far), and I can see that they are trying for a raw and true experiment, and not just another reality show/blog. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult things to document. They have to keep this real and true, or it'll just be another blog. I haven't read the whole thing, but I plan to read it all (by tomorrow. Seriously.) They are on day thirty one, so I haven't missed the end. To me, this is WAY better than any reality tv show!

I already read a couple of interesting topics in their writing.
On day two, there was already talk about the difference between companionship and true happiness in a relationship. Why is there a fear of being alone? Does money really matter?
On day six, her friends were questioning if they were really "dating", even though they haven't been "intimate" yet. Do we all expect this in relationships? What would the difference be if they weren't "doing it"?

I am excited about this project, because we all wonder these things about our own relationships. We tend to sabotage ourselves, but writing things out helps to understand ourselves. This is why I started blogging 10 years ago, to release the extreme emotions and process my reactions. It's a lot cheaper than therapy!

The experiment is already over, but I hope what they find out will challenge others and to see what to look for in their own relationships.

I linked this blog entry to: