One of the greatest young feminists of our time, Hermione Granger, is a terrific role model for our little girls. She’s hailed for being tough, smart, kind, decent, not appearance obsessed, and she keeps good company as Harry Potter's BFF.
Oh also, she can kick some serious ass when an ass-kicking is called for.
Good role models can be difficult to find, and sometimes the best role models happen to be fictional characters. Here are some ways your kid can be more like Hermione Granger:
And I do mean a lot of them. There's quite a lot to learn from the written word and studies show reading makes us smarter and nicer. (Who knew?)
So, send your daughter off to the library where she can sharpen her wits (and her kindness).
Don’t be afraid to look smart. Or dumb. In fact, don't worry about how you appear at all. Ask questions. Raise your hand.
Be confident in your abilities and go after what you want - whether it's getting the best grade, winning the spelling bee, or saving the day.
Just be yourself, it really will make you happier.
Depending on your daughter’s age, boys may be interesting or gross. Even so, tell your daughter it’s okay to be friends with boys. It's important to have a wide range of friends, from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Societal pressures can teach girls not to appear too strong, the message is being too strong would make them appear less damsel-in-distress-y, less feminine.
But Hermione shows us being a tough chick can not only be so totally cool, but also useful. You may even need to throw a punch when it’s called for – think: Draco Malfoy.
Hermione Granger is not afraid to show her affection for her friends and teachers, or her distress when the world isn’t turning out the way she wants.
The old adage "big girls don’t cry” makes me want to cringe, and I’m happy to say showing our emotions is more tolerable today than it used to be.
I’m not saying burst into tears at the sight of bug, but expressing your feelings should never be considered shameful. Hermione shows us it’s okay to show your emotions, and communicate how you feel.
Hermione has a take-charge attitude throughout this series. She often leads her best friends from one situation to the next, getting them out of one scrape or another. She doesn’t wait for permission to save the day, she just does it.
This is such a valuable lesson for our daughters to learn. Often, we know what to do in a situation, yet we wait for someone to tell us when it’s okay to step up and handle business. Women and girls, especially, can be wary of stepping on toes. Hermione doesn’t give a flying broomstick about stepping on toes, she’s gonna take care of things and you can get on board, or get out of the flippin’ way.
And yet, she also knows when to follow. She knows when to step aside and let others handle for her what she can’t handle for herself. She’s the ultimate team player and understands when she must rely on others, and utilize her support network, to get to that end goal, whatever it may be.
Above all, Hermione fights for her principles. So many of us go through this world afraid to simply say what we mean, or fight for what we believe in. We're so scared of upsetting or offending others that we gloss over our own values. We remain silent, never voicing our opinions, afraid of offering an opposing view.
Hermione knows that doing nothing accomplishes nothing. She knows that some things are worth fighting for. She knows that sometimes you need to fight – and fight hard – to win the day.
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