I wish it were that easy. The messages being sent to young girls aren't limited to television ads and programming, cable or network. They are at the playground, library story time sessions, in the classroom, at Sunday school and in our markets.

For an example, this Halloween take a walk through any costume aisle and compare the choices marketed to young girls to the ones marketed to young boys. While my daughters are mostly limited to fairies, princesses, flappers and French maids my son can be a fireman, police officer, doctor or any number of “super” heroes.

On play dates to local parks, you'll more often hear girls admonished for getting dirty.

While literature has made some major strides, most books continue to focus on male characters as the lead. Girls, even in side-roles (think Hermonie in the Harry Potter books), are described in non-flattering ways — annoying, unkept, rigid. Girls who do question and test limits put on them (think Ramona and Junie B. Jones) find themselves labeled as trouble-makers or acting “too big for their britches.”

Even at Christian Sunday school girls find themselves limited by the lack of strong role models in the Bible.

If we, as a society, continually refuse to provide girls high targets for their aspirations then we will continue to see girls rising only to these low, pre-set levels.

I wish it were that easy. The messages being sent to young girls aren’t limited to television ads and programming, cable or network. They are at the playground, library story time sessions, in the classroom, at Sunday school and in our markets.

For an example, this Halloween take a walk through any costume aisle and compare the choices marketed to young girls to the ones marketed to young boys. While my daughters are mostly limited to fairies, princesses, flappers and French maids my son can be a fireman, police officer, doctor or any number of “super” heroes.

On play dates to local parks, you’ll more often hear girls admonished for getting dirty.

While literature has made some major strides, most books continue to focus on male characters as the lead. Girls, even in side-roles (think Hermonie in the Harry Potter books), are described in non-flattering ways — annoying, unkept, rigid. Girls who do question and test limits put on them (think Ramona and Junie B. Jones) find themselves labeled as trouble-makers or acting “too big for their britches.”

Even at Christian Sunday school girls find themselves limited by the lack of strong role models in the Bible.

If we, as a society, continually refuse to provide girls high targets for their aspirations then we will continue to see girls rising only to these low, pre-set levels.