There’s an ad for Tide Booster detergent that portrays a prim-and-preppy mother, dressed all in pink, sitting in a frilly and ultra-feminine living room, while her daughter, dressed in camo and cargo shorts, plays with trucks at her feet. The mother says that they “tried the ‘pink thing’,” but that her daughter insisted on more traditionally masculine clothes. When the daughter’s clothes are saved from crayon stains by Tide Booster, the mother’s reaction is “…it’s kinda too bad.” And when she asks her daughter, “playing another parking garage, honey?” her praise (“It’s beautiful”) is so halfhearted that it’s almost tragic.

The daughter’s dress and behavior don’t fit or conform to our culture’s stereotypes of who a girl should be. While the mother isn’t forcing her daughter to conform to traditionally feminine ideals (which the mother illustrates to an almost humorous degree, with her preppy pink cardigan and oh-so-delicate pose), but she is clearly annoyed, as if her daughter’s choice of clothing is a cross to bear.

And sure, this is just a commercial, but it’s painful to think that this ad campaign was chosen because they felt consumers could relate to it. So, rather than sending a positive message about letting your child be whomever he or she wants to be, the commercial is letting parents across the country roll their eyes and nod in harrowed agreement, as they look at their son playing with his dolls or their daughter rolling her trucks across the floor, desperately wanting them to fit in.

As harmless as the commercial may seem, it presents the problem of continuing prejudice against those who don’t follow traditional gender roles. It would be much better to set the example of a parent who fully embraces and accepts his or her child’s gender non-conformity.

—Taylor McCabe, 19, Contributor

Australia recently began offering a third gender category in addition to male and female on their country’s passports. In addition to “M” for male or “F” for female, people can choose “X.” This change was made to help fight discrimination usually faced by people who are transgender or intersex since they may not identify as male or female.

Although Australia is the only country who offers a third gender category, many countries, like England and the United States offer citizens the option to mark whichever gender they identify as. While it is great that the U.K. and U.S. have adopted policies that allow citizens to choose the gender that they identify as, I feel like these policies don’t compare to what Australia has done. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to explain to immigration or customs officials that although your passport states you are male or female, you do not identify as either, and instead feel that you are something entirely different. These kinds of situations degrade the individual involved and open them up to more discrimination and abuse.

Australia’s third gender category on passports grants intersex and transgender individuals a more comfortable way to identify themselves without having to worry about being forced to select a gender when neither male nor female feels right for them. Gender “X” will also hopefully help spread acceptance of transgender and intersex individuals. If other nations adopted this third gender, people might begin to see it as part of the norm. Hopefully, this will promote an understanding that not everyone identifies as either male or female, and maybe, just maybe, it will help promote a future where we openly recognize that we cannot all be classified into just two genders.

—Sam Dercon, 17, Staff Writer

The gender roles in the Mario Bros. video game franchise have always been pretty traditional. On one hand, you have the bumbling heroes, and on the other the seemingly competent princesses who always get themselves into trouble and then rely on the men to rescue them.

Not anymore. Canadian art student Beth Turnsek of Rolling Rabbit Productions accepted the challenge of swapping the genders of all the Mario Bros. characters and did the job admirably.

Turnsek has turned Princess Peach into Prince Peach, who appears to be someone straight out of a Disney movie, while Lady Mario—a female version of Mario—looks like a tough-as-nails mother, one who can save the world, then turn around to scold you, because if she’s told you once, she’s told you a million times to tuck in your shirt. And shy, socially awkward Lady Luigi is absolutely adorable.

What I would like to see, having now seen the design concept for the characters, is a full-fledged story (if not an entire video game) featuring these characters. Would Prince Peach need to rescue Lady Mario from the menacing Lady Wario? Or would the charming Prince Peach be the one kidnapped? Now that would be interesting.

And whether the world gets a whole new spin on Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Sisters?) from these characters or not, at least I have a sweet Halloween costume this year.

—Taylor McCabe, 19, Contributor

If you’ve seen The Social Network, then you’re familiar with the scene where Mark Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) posts a list that ranks his fellow classmates. Zuckerberg hurts a lot of women in the process, but in the end he isn’t punished and as you all know goes on to found Facebook.

Unlike Zuckerberg, a 17-year-old high school student from a Chicago suburb was charged back in May with disorderly conduct for posting and distributing a similar list. This student’s list ranked 50 high school girls based on their desirability, supposed promiscuity and bodies. He gave them nicknames like “Blond Bombshell” and “The Hangover.” Some of the girls’ parents expressed their hope that more serious charges would be filed, but legal experts predict that the charges will not stick.

I agree that posting such a list is extremely disrespectful and hurtful to all parties involved. But I do not think posting the list is criminal. It’s pretty clear that malicious comments and rumors are part of high school. They are not pleasant, but they are always there. If we want to reduce this kind of behavior, teens should understand that sexually objectifying both males and females will often be offensive and hurtful, especially when such comments are made public. But to get this message across, teens should be taught to understand how others will feel, not punished like criminals.

Should this unnamed teen be cleared of all charges, he may still be sued by the parents of the girls named in the list. Whether this teen is sued or not, I hope we find a better way to teach teens a lesson than by bringing them to court.

Comment below and tell us how you would feel if you were one of the girls and what you think should happen to the guy who created the list.

—Sam Dercon, 17, Staff Writer

Cleavage-busting corset? Check. Skimpy bottoms? Check.

When most people think of battle gear, they think of sturdy breastplates and heavy chainmail that cover the body from head to toe for extra protection. What they do not think of are the cleavage-busting corsets, skin-tight armor and skimpy bottoms that make up the outfits of most female video game fighting characters.

Nowadays, it seems as if the only requirement for video game heroines is an impossibly voluptuous figure, complete with a tiny waist, mile-long legs and watermelon breasts larger than the woman’s head. In fact, most of the female characters in popular series, such as Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur and Grand Theft Auto, “don’t amount to much more than a pair of breasts with some hair on top,” writes 1up.com blogger Scott Sharkey.

Video game creators promote this sexualized ideal of women through revealing costumes, which end up doing more to hinder than help female characters in battle. Check out this video of real women fighting—or at least trying to fight—while wearing outfits inspired by popular games. The results are rather revealing, to say the least.

Unlike female characters, male characters are usually covered with heavy metal armor showing very little skin, which makes sense, since they are engaging in life-or-death combat. What doesn’t make sense is the double standard that exists in costumes designed for men and women. The skimpy female outfits only perpetuate the idea that women should be seen as bouncing sex objects—and nothing more. Wouldn’t it be great to see strong female heroines wearing real protective armor without having to be sexy vixens—as if that’s what makes them “real” women?

—Cynthia Lam, 17, Staff Writer

via Sociological Images