I snapped this picture of my little one playing in all her authentic glory but with one exception:  I had her throw on shorts.  The kid is EXACTLY like me and starts stripping before the front door has even closed.  Neither of us like to be hot or uncomfortable.  In my case the offender is my bra; in hers, it’s pants.  So many conversations have been prefaced with, “Go put on some pants.”  “Why?”  “Because people are coming over.”  And while she is rummaging for something to cover her bottom with besides Hello Kitty I’m busy searching for the last place I flung my dreaded bra.  I apologize for mentioning the unmentionable but it’s just the truth.  While she was twirling around today with her tiara and cape I told her about Wonder Woman and how she fought the bad guys twirling into a tiara and cape and always won.  My little one was so interested I decided to look up some old clips for her.  As we played super heroes I found myself lamenting the lack of female ones.  I liked “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl” when I was a kid.  Other than those three nothing readily comes to mind.  I loved the Bionic Woman but I think of her more along the lines of “Charlie’s Angels”.  My favorite American movie actress Geena Davis, who also made my favorite movie of all time, “The Long Kiss Goodnight”, founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004 to change media and to empower women and girls.  According to her website, www.seejane.org, her institute is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate, and influence the need to dramatically improve gender balance, reduce gender stereotypes, and create diverse female characters in entertainment targeting children 11 and under.  It also says her institute has amassed the largest body of research on gender prevalence in entertainment, spanning more than two decades.  As a little girl my Daddy reared me no differently than a boy.  He taught me to change a flat tire, how to work on a home, and said I could be anything I chose.  It would have been nice to see more strong women on TV and in movies.  I am glad my daughter is getting that chance.  As Geena Davis’ slogan says, “If she can see it, she can be it.”