When I was 17 I bought one of my favorite t-shirts. It was way too big because back in the day bands seemed to think girls didn't wear band t-shirts so the only size you could buy was a men's large. It was enormous but I loved it. I bought the Dinosaur Jr. "Green Mind" shirt because that week it was my favorite album, one of the very first I'd bought on CD to go with my new CD player. Everyone else hated it. People on the street hated it, old ladies at the gas station hated it, my mom especially hated it. If you haven't seen the cover, it's a tough looking 9 year old with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, looking off into the distance. (http://www.dinosaurjr.com/)
Even now as the mom of a 9 year old I love that picture. No, I don't want my 9 year old smoking but the little girl has that iconic James Dean cool which is what makes the picture so shocking and beautiful. She is so strong and independent and not scared to be a girl doing her own thing and going her own way. In a day when girls have more opportunities than ever I find it surprising not to see that self-confidence in girls more often. At about age 9 it seems to start to give way to social pressures from other girls, from outside influences that haven't caught up with the times and nagging self-doubt. I see it happening in my own Katydid, and it worries me. Sadly the only time you regularly see girls and even women with this kind of confidence they are strutting their bodies and sexuality rather than their brains or talents. That's why today's song is about why I live for that look on my daughter's face. I want her to be strong and confident and do her own thing her own way, even if everyone else hates it, the people on the street can hate it, the old ladies can hate it, even her own mom can hate it for a while.
*j
Songs of the day are brought to you...
by the letter "D": "I live for that look" - Dinosaur Jr.
and the number "23": "23" - Blonde Redhead
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