What Little Girls Are Made Of

Posted on by Janette DeFelice
  1. Rainbows, as in happiness.
  2. Rainbows, as in the refraction of different wavelengths of light (they dig science).
  3. Rainbows, as in playing house with their friend Samantha who has two moms.
  4. Cartwheels, pinwheels, an appreciation for mom’s sensible heels.
  5. Mermaids who don’t give up their voices and tails, but use them to speak loud and swim tall.
  6. Kitty cats.… Make that battle-worn pink pussy hats knit by their mothers that hang in the closet next to tired protest signs reading: “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” “Families Belong Together,” and “Believe Women.”
  7. Hair bows carefully hand-crafted out of matériel that can also function as defensive weapons, just in case.
  8. Unicorns who discovered how to will themselves into existence to vote in the general election.
  9. Glitter, used mainly for decorating protest signs, but with a generous portion stowed away for tossing into the air the day the patriarchy comes crashing to the ground.

Published by Janette DeFelice

Janette DeFelice, MD, MA is a writer currently focusing on how the changing environment affects our health. Her essay collection Resistance Essays from the Heartland and her new novel Delia Rising: A Ballet in Three Acts are both available now. She has also published at Be The Change Mom, ChicagoNow, and Medium.com. She holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Chicago Medical School and a Master’s degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago, where her major essay was Hegel and Ibsen: The Evolution of Consciousness in Ibsen’s Prose Play Cycle. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Indiana University. A former professional dancer, former adjunct Humanities professor, and former lecturer in Medical Clinical Skills, as well as a mom of 9-year-old twins, she currently finds herself at a career/life crossroads at which she is trying to figure out how to use all aspects of herself (her art, her medical and scientific knowledge, her philosophical explorations, her interest in popular culture as a teaching tool, and her unique perspective) for the good of humanity.

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