*sigh* That is so disheartening. Speaking of upsetting things kids say, I’ve become pen pals with my cousin’s 9 year old daughter and in her last letter she wrote about the movies she likes to watch and said something about loving Pixar movies and being excited by adventures like that, but “I guess girls don’t do those things, so I’ll have to be a mom like Mom and Gramma.”
I could smack Pixar. And I could smack that kid’s entire family for not at least trying to let her know that she has options (which can include motherhood, but only IF SHE WANTS).

I saw a Disney movie recently where a boy was forced to participate in his dad’s baseball team, but by chance discovered that he loved to cook, and there were girls on the baseball team and they got told “You’re really one of the guys” and “You throw like a girl” and it all concluded with lots of angst but he chose the cooking competition over the championship game and the girls go “Why can’t I be ‘part of the team?'” and “I KNOW I’m bad at it, but why can’t you just say I throw BADLY? THIS girl throws GREAT” and such. It was interesting, and I didn’t expect it from Disney at all. They kind of addressed things I was angry about. It was strange.

Somedays I wish that Walt Disney could be reincarnated as a girl to experience the Disney princess phenomenon for himself/herself/theirself.