Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Letter to Katie: From a Big Anomaly to a Little Anomaly

Dear Katie,

Yesterday, I was on the website Twitter and came across something from my friend Sue. It was all about you and how you were being made fun of simply because you had a Star Wars water bottle. Then I read about how they said that only boys liked Star Wars and girls don't.

I know that what they said hurt your feelings. I know that it's not nice when other people are mean to you and say that you're not suppose to like something because it makes you different. But between you and me, they just don't know how cool you are yet.

When I was a little girl, my daddy took me to see Star Wars: A New Hope at the movie theater. I had so much fun! Darth Vader scared me, R2D2 and Han Solo made me laugh, and I thought Princess Leia was so smart and pretty. But I did not get to watch Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi for another ten years. I never knew why I didn't watch them, especially as my little sister would sit through all three and love them. But when I heard about your story, I think I figured out why.

When I was your age, I used to get made fun of too. I was so different and kids at my school teased me because of it. It made me very sad and I did not want to be more different than I already was, so I did not watch Star Wars anymore. Sure, I watched Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, but that was only because my friends went and I wanted to go with them. It was not okay to like the things that “geeks” and “nerds” like, and so I made sure that I would not be made fun of for that. Boys were allowed like things like Star Wars, but girls? I did not want to find out.

Years later, after the teasing had stopped completely and I was about to finish college, I realized something: I missed out on a lot of things because I was afraid of what other kids might say, and it was okay to be different. After that, I began watching TV shows like Doctor Who and Star Trek, reading graphic novels, began to play video games again... And I finally watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Katie, I was very, very happy that I finally got to watch them. I only regret that I let those mean kids get to me and I let that stop me from watching things like Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, etc.

There are a bunch of girls just like you. My friends Angela, Jen, Sue, Anne, Michelle, and many, many others love Star Wars. There's a word in the dictionary that means, “something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected; an oddity; peculiarity; inconsistency; incongruity; a rarity.” This word is "anomaly." Girls who like Star Wars are anomalies. And you know what? It's kind of cool to be an anomaly. In fact, it's so cool, we even have some friends that are boys who call themselves anomalies too!

You have support from so many people all over the world who think you are amazing because you are different. Because you are a little anomaly. So if someone tells you that Star Wars is only for boys, let this letter remind you that there are a lot of people who think you are great because you're a girl who likes Star Wars. And one day, both boys and girls will want to be your friend because they like it just as much as you do.

May the force be with you, Katie. Remember that princesses can be Jedi Knights too.

Sincerely,

KC

A big Anomaly

Staff Writer for Anomaly
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2 comments:

Sue said...

Way to go, KC! Simply awesome. :)

Jen said...

Amen sister. :) Great letter. Thank you for writing it.