0:00:00.981,0:00:05.010
I spend most of my time

0:00:05.010,0:00:07.437
thinking about little girls,

0:00:07.437,0:00:13.356
which is kind of a weird thing for[br]a grown man in our society to say.

0:00:13.356,0:00:16.217
But I do. I spend most of my time[br]thinking about little girls,

0:00:16.217,0:00:19.243
and I think it's primarily[br]because I have one.

0:00:19.243,0:00:20.744
This one's mine,

0:00:20.744,0:00:22.477
and I think you would really like her.

0:00:22.477,0:00:24.734
She is smart and funny

0:00:24.734,0:00:27.513
and kind to people and a good friend,

0:00:27.513,0:00:32.577
but when I talk about my daughter,[br]the word I find myself saying most

0:00:32.577,0:00:34.350
is "athlete."

0:00:34.350,0:00:36.343
My kid's athletic.

0:00:36.343,0:00:39.006
She is strong and fast

0:00:39.006,0:00:42.196
and has great balance[br]and good body control.

0:00:42.196,0:00:45.699
She is a three-time[br]back-to-back-to-back state champion

0:00:45.699,0:00:47.302
in Shaolin Kempo.

0:00:47.302,0:00:51.032
At nine years old, she is already[br]halfway to a black belt.

0:00:51.032,0:00:52.769
My daughter is athletic.

0:00:52.769,0:00:56.947
Now, when a man who is 6'2"[br]and 265 pounds stands in front of you

0:00:56.947,0:00:58.688
and says his daughter is athletic,

0:00:58.688,0:01:01.014
you might think that is[br]a reflection of him.

0:01:01.014,0:01:02.091
It is not.

0:01:02.091,0:01:03.638
(Laughter)

0:01:03.638,0:01:06.988
My wife in high school[br]was a two-time all-state soccer player

0:01:06.988,0:01:09.440
and a two-time all-state[br]volleyball player,

0:01:09.440,0:01:11.576
and I played Dungeons and Dragons,

0:01:11.576,0:01:13.483
and that is why,

0:01:13.483,0:01:15.523
although my daughter is an athlete,

0:01:15.523,0:01:17.183
she's also a huge nerd, which I love.

0:01:17.183,0:01:21.329
She walks around our house[br]in a cloak of flames

0:01:21.329,0:01:23.671
that she made herself.

0:01:23.671,0:01:25.621
She sits on the Iron Throne --

0:01:25.621,0:01:27.420
(Laughter) --

0:01:27.420,0:01:29.477
even though she has never[br]seen Game of Thrones,

0:01:29.477,0:01:32.593
primarily because we are not[br]the worst parents who ever lived.

0:01:32.593,0:01:35.913
But she knows there's someone[br]called the Mother of Dragons,

0:01:35.913,0:01:38.412
and she calls herself that[br]and she loves it.

0:01:38.412,0:01:40.283
She's a huge comic book fan.

0:01:40.283,0:01:42.245
Right now, her favorite[br]character is Groot.

0:01:42.245,0:01:43.408
She loves Groot.

0:01:43.408,0:01:45.926
She adores the Incredible Hulk.

0:01:45.926,0:01:48.394
But my daughter really at heart,

0:01:48.394,0:01:51.582
her thing is Star Wars.

0:01:51.582,0:01:53.852
My kid is a Jedi.

0:01:53.852,0:01:56.125
Although somedays she's also a Sith,

0:01:56.125,0:01:59.786
which is a choice that I can respect.

0:01:59.786,0:02:00.741
(Laughter)

0:02:00.741,0:02:02.673
But here is the question[br]that I have to ask.

0:02:02.673,0:02:04.982
Why is it that when[br]my daughter dresses up,

0:02:04.982,0:02:07.399
whether it's Groot[br]or the Incredible Hulk,

0:02:07.399,0:02:11.001
whether it's Obi-Wan Kenobi[br]or Darth Maul,

0:02:11.001,0:02:15.899
why is every character[br]she dresses up as a boy?

0:02:15.899,0:02:18.932
And where are all the female superheroes?

0:02:18.932,0:02:20.602
And that is not actually the question,

0:02:20.602,0:02:22.214
because there's plenty[br]of female superheroes.

0:02:22.214,0:02:26.917
My question really is, where is[br]all the female superhero stuff?

0:02:26.917,0:02:29.628
Where are the costumes?[br]Where are the toys?

0:02:29.628,0:02:33.544
Because every day when my daughter plays[br]when she dresses up,

0:02:33.544,0:02:35.911
she's learning stuff

0:02:35.911,0:02:38.443
through a process that,[br]in my own line of work

0:02:38.443,0:02:39.888
as a Professor of Media Studies,

0:02:39.888,0:02:42.206
we refer to as public pedagogy.

0:02:42.206,0:02:47.371
That is, it is how societies[br]are taught ideologies.

0:02:47.371,0:02:50.149
It's how you learned what it meant[br]to be a man or a woman,

0:02:50.149,0:02:52.846
what it meant to behave[br]yourself in public,

0:02:52.846,0:02:55.526
what it meant to be a patriot[br]and have good manners.

0:02:55.526,0:02:59.290
It's all the constituent social relations[br]that make us up as a people.

0:02:59.290,0:03:01.462
It's, in short, how we learn

0:03:01.462,0:03:03.479
what we know about other people

0:03:03.479,0:03:05.263
and about the world.

0:03:05.263,0:03:09.765
But we live in a 100-percent[br]media-saturated society.

0:03:09.765,0:03:13.186
What that means is that every single[br]aspect of your human existence

0:03:13.186,0:03:15.439
outside of your basic bodily functions

0:03:15.439,0:03:17.938
is in some way touched by media.

0:03:17.938,0:03:20.208
From the car that you drive[br]to the food that you eat

0:03:20.208,0:03:21.818
to the clothes that you wear

0:03:21.818,0:03:23.610
to the way you construct[br]your relationships

0:03:23.610,0:03:27.236
to the very language you use[br]to formulate thought,

0:03:27.236,0:03:30.368
all of that is in some way mediated.

0:03:30.368,0:03:34.017
So the answer in our society[br]to how do we learn what we know

0:03:34.017,0:03:35.662
about other people and about the world

0:03:35.662,0:03:38.523
is largely through media.

0:03:38.523,0:03:41.283
Well, there's a wrinkle in that,

0:03:41.283,0:03:42.882
in that our society,

0:03:42.882,0:03:48.243
media don't simply exist as information[br]distribution technologies and devices.

0:03:48.243,0:03:51.145
They also exist as corporate entities,

0:03:51.145,0:03:57.104
and when the distribution of information[br]is tied to financial gain,

0:03:57.104,0:03:59.326
there's a problem.

0:03:59.326,0:04:00.787
How big of a problem?

0:04:00.787,0:04:02.037
Well think about this:

0:04:02.037,0:04:03.895
in 1983, 90 percent of American media

0:04:03.895,0:04:08.681
were owned by 50 companies.

0:04:08.681,0:04:11.134
In any market, 50 companies[br]doing something is a lot of companies.

0:04:11.134,0:04:14.797
It's a lot of different worldviews.

0:04:14.797,0:04:19.578
In 2015, that number has shrunk to six,

0:04:19.578,0:04:20.995
six companies.

0:04:20.995,0:04:24.712
They are NBCUniversal Comcast,[br]AOL Time Warner,

0:04:24.712,0:04:30.711
the Walt Disney Company, News Corp,[br]Viacom, and the CBS Corporation.

0:04:30.711,0:04:34.594
These six companies produce nine[br]out of every 10 movies you watch,

0:04:34.594,0:04:38.063
nine out of every 10 television shows,[br]nine out of every 10 songs,

0:04:38.063,0:04:39.950
nine out of every 10 books.

0:04:39.950,0:04:41.745
So my question to you is,

0:04:41.745,0:04:45.510
if six companies control[br]90 percent of American media,

0:04:45.510,0:04:47.467
how much influence do you think they have

0:04:47.467,0:04:51.331
over what you're allowed to see every day?

0:04:51.331,0:04:54.752
Because in media studies, we spend[br]a lot of time saying

0:04:54.752,0:04:56.791
that media can't tell us what to think,

0:04:56.791,0:04:59.086
and they can't. They're terrible at that.

0:04:59.086,0:05:00.326
But that's not their job.

0:05:00.326,0:05:02.271
Media don't tell us what to think.

0:05:02.271,0:05:05.298
Media tell us what to think about.

0:05:05.298,0:05:07.154
They control the conversation,

0:05:07.154,0:05:08.470
and in controlling the conversation,

0:05:08.470,0:05:11.342
they don't have to get you[br]to think what they want you to think.

0:05:11.342,0:05:14.274
They'll just get you think about[br]the things they want you to think about,

0:05:14.274,0:05:19.141
and more importantly, not thinking about[br]the things they don't you to think about.

0:05:19.141,0:05:21.397
They control the conversation.

0:05:21.397,0:05:22.907
How does this work in practice?

0:05:22.907,0:05:24.985
Well let's just take[br]one of those companies.

0:05:24.985,0:05:26.145
We'll do an easy one.

0:05:26.145,0:05:28.305
Let's talk about the Walt[br]Disney Company for a second.

0:05:28.305,0:05:30.947
The reason why I always pick[br]the Walt Disney Company is this.

0:05:30.947,0:05:35.205
Is there a single person in this room[br]who has never seen a Disney movie?

0:05:35.205,0:05:37.786
Look around. Exactly.

0:05:37.786,0:05:41.503
I picked Disney because they have[br]what we call 100 percent penetration

0:05:41.503,0:05:42.555
in our society.

0:05:42.555,0:05:44.955
Every single person has been[br]exposed to Disney,

0:05:44.955,0:05:47.061
so it's an easy one for me to use.

0:05:47.061,0:05:52.421
Since 1937, Disney has made most[br]of its money selling princesses to girls.

0:05:52.421,0:05:54.509
It's made a huge chunk of its money.

0:05:54.509,0:05:57.170
Unless, of course, the princess[br]your daughter is interested in,

0:05:57.170,0:05:59.096
as my daughter is, is this one.

0:05:59.096,0:06:02.070
See, in 2012,

0:06:02.070,0:06:06.888
Disney purchased LucasFilm[br]for the sum of four billion dollars,

0:06:06.888,0:06:10.670
and immediately they flooded[br]the Disney stores with Han Solo

0:06:10.670,0:06:14.271
and Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Darth Vader[br]and Luke Skywalker and Yoda

0:06:14.271,0:06:16.079
and not Princess Leia.

0:06:16.079,0:06:19.631
Why? Because this princess[br]messes up the public pedagogy

0:06:19.631,0:06:21.374
for these princesses.

0:06:21.374,0:06:24.957
So Disney did not put Princess Leia[br]merchandise in the store,

0:06:24.957,0:06:27.917
and when people went to Disney and said, [br]"Hey where's all the Princess Leia stuff?"

0:06:27.917,0:06:29.923
Disney said, "We have no intention

0:06:29.923,0:06:32.274
of putting Princess Leia[br]merchandise in the store."

0:06:32.274,0:06:34.136
And fans were angry[br]and they took to Twitter

0:06:34.136,0:06:36.745
with the hashtag #WeWantLeia.

0:06:36.745,0:06:39.757
And Disney said, "Wait,[br]that's not what we meant.

0:06:39.757,0:06:41.449
What we meant was,

0:06:41.449,0:06:45.183
we don't have any Princess Leia[br]merchandise yet, but we will."

0:06:45.183,0:06:48.636
And that was in 2012, and it is 2015,

0:06:48.636,0:06:50.724
and if you go to the Disney Store,[br]as I recently have,

0:06:50.724,0:06:52.577
and look for Princess Leia merchandise,

0:06:52.577,0:06:55.476
do you know how many Princess Leia[br]items there are in the Disney Store?

0:06:55.476,0:06:59.714
Zero, because Disney has no intention[br]of putting Princess Leia in the store.

0:06:59.714,0:07:00.951
And we shouldn't be surprised

0:07:00.951,0:07:03.599
because we found out that was their policy

0:07:03.599,0:07:07.330
when they bought Marvel in 2009

0:07:07.330,0:07:10.225
for the sum of 4.5 billion dollars.

0:07:10.225,0:07:13.629
Because when you make a lot of money[br]selling princesses to girls,

0:07:13.629,0:07:15.997
you also kind of want[br]to make money from boys.

0:07:15.997,0:07:18.446
And so what better to sell boys[br]than superheroes?

0:07:18.446,0:07:21.488
So now Disney had access[br]to Captain America and to Thor,

0:07:21.488,0:07:25.727
the Incredible Hulk,

0:07:25.727,0:07:26.174
and they had access even

0:07:26.174,0:07:28.592
to a group of superheroes[br]no one had ever even heard of.

0:07:28.592,0:07:31.338
That's how good Marvel was[br]at selling superheroes.

0:07:31.338,0:07:34.462
Last year, they released a film[br]called Guardians of the Galaxy.

0:07:34.462,0:07:37.543
It's a film that absolutely[br]should not work.

0:07:37.543,0:07:40.957
Nobody knew who they were[br]except for comic book nerds like me.

0:07:40.957,0:07:44.121
One of the characters is a talking tree.

0:07:44.121,0:07:46.745
One of the characters[br]is an anthropomorphic raccoon.

0:07:46.745,0:07:48.091
It should not work.

0:07:48.091,0:07:51.282
And they made a killing[br]off of Guardians of the Galaxy.

0:07:51.282,0:07:53.782
This character her in the middle,[br]her name is Gamora.

0:07:53.782,0:07:55.720
She's played by Zoe Saldana,

0:07:55.720,0:07:57.892
and she is strong and smart and fast

0:07:57.892,0:07:59.438
and fights like a ninja,

0:07:59.438,0:08:01.625
and she is played[br]by a beautiful black woman,

0:08:01.625,0:08:03.812
and my daughter fell in love with her.

0:08:03.812,0:08:08.040
So like any good nerd dad,[br]I went to buy my daughter Gamora stuff,

0:08:08.040,0:08:09.271
and when I got to the store,

0:08:09.271,0:08:11.165
I learned a very interesting thing.

0:08:11.165,0:08:13.990
If I wanted to buy her[br]a Gamora backpack,

0:08:13.990,0:08:16.455
well, Gamora's not on it.

0:08:16.455,0:08:20.961
They probably should have marketed this[br]as "some" of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

0:08:20.961,0:08:22.523
(Laughter)

0:08:22.523,0:08:25.270
And if I wanted to buy her a lunchbox,[br]she wasn't on it,

0:08:25.270,0:08:27.227
and if I wanted to buy her a t-shirt,

0:08:27.227,0:08:28.688
she wasn't on it.

0:08:28.688,0:08:30.416
And as a matter of fact,

0:08:30.416,0:08:32.913
if I went to the store, as I did,

0:08:32.913,0:08:34.411
and looked at the display,

0:08:34.411,0:08:37.141
you would find a small picture[br]of Gamora right here,

0:08:37.141,0:08:41.017
but if you look at any[br]of the actual merchandise on that shelf,

0:08:41.017,0:08:43.620
Gamora is not on any of it.

0:08:43.620,0:08:47.204
Now, I could have taken to Twitter[br]with the hashtag #WheresGamora,

0:08:47.204,0:08:50.394
like millions of fans did[br]across the world,

0:08:50.394,0:08:54.438
but the truth was I wasn't even[br]really that surprised,

0:08:54.438,0:08:58.318
because I was there when Disney[br]had released the Avengers.

0:08:58.318,0:09:00.901
And just this year, we got[br]a new Avengers movie,

0:09:00.901,0:09:02.825
the Age of Ultron,[br]and we were very excited,

0:09:02.825,0:09:05.406
because there was not one[br]but two female superheroes,

0:09:05.406,0:09:07.725
Scarlet Witch and Black Widow.

0:09:07.725,0:09:09.024
And we were very excited.

0:09:09.024,0:09:11.161
But here's the real thing about this.

0:09:11.161,0:09:13.136
Even though Scarlett Johansson,

0:09:13.136,0:09:16.422
who is one of the most popular[br]actresses in America, plays Black Widow,

0:09:16.422,0:09:17.904
and Black Widow is the star

0:09:17.904,0:09:19.431
of not one, not two,

0:09:19.431,0:09:22.786
but five different Marvel movies,

0:09:22.786,0:09:27.636
there is not a single piece[br]of Black Widow merchandise available.

0:09:27.636,0:09:29.083
Not one.

0:09:29.083,0:09:31.964
And if you go to the Disney store[br]and look for a Black Widow costume,

0:09:31.964,0:09:35.134
what you will find is you will find[br]Captain America and the Incredible Hulk.

0:09:35.134,0:09:37.222
You will find Iron Man and Thor.

0:09:37.222,0:09:41.744
You will even find War Machine, who[br]isn't even really in the movie that long.

0:09:41.744,0:09:44.243
Who you will not find is Black Widow.

0:09:44.243,0:09:47.679
And I could have gone to Twitter[br]with the hashtag, as many people did,

0:09:47.679,0:09:49.469
#WheresNatasha.

0:09:49.469,0:09:51.643
But I'm tired of doing that.

0:09:51.643,0:09:53.583
I'm tired of having to do that.

0:09:53.583,0:09:56.263
All over the country right now,[br]there are kids playing with the

0:09:56.263,0:09:59.001
Cycle Blast Quinjet play set,

0:09:59.001,0:10:02.781
where Captain America rides a motorcycle[br]out of a moving jet

0:10:02.781,0:10:04.367
and it's really awesome.

0:10:04.367,0:10:05.693
You know how awesome it is?

0:10:05.693,0:10:07.999
So awesome that when it happened[br]in the movie,

0:10:07.999,0:10:10.278
it was Black Widow that did it.

0:10:10.278,0:10:14.242
Not only has she been erased,

0:10:14.242,0:10:19.488
but she has been replaced[br]with a male figure.

0:10:19.488,0:10:22.776
And so what is this teaching us?

0:10:22.776,0:10:24.689
I mean, over the next five years,

0:10:24.689,0:10:27.874
Disney and Warner Bros.[br]and a bunch of movie studios

0:10:27.874,0:10:31.753
are going to release over 30[br]feature-length films

0:10:31.753,0:10:33.366
with comic book characters,

0:10:33.366,0:10:35.878
and of those 30 feature-length films,

0:10:35.878,0:10:38.072
exactly two of them

0:10:38.072,0:10:41.867
will have female solo leads. Two.

0:10:41.867,0:10:44.908
Now, there will be females[br]in the rest of these movies,

0:10:44.908,0:10:49.104
but they will be sidekicks,[br]they will be love interests,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they will be members of teams.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They will not be the main character.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And if what we learn what we know

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about other people and about the world[br]we learn through media,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
than these companies are teaching[br]my daughter that even if she is strong

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and smart and fast[br]and fights like a ninja,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
all four of which are true of her,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it doesn't matter.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She will either be ignored like Gamora

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or erased and replaced with a boy

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like Black Widow.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And it's not fair.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's not fair to her and it's not fair[br]to your sons and daughters either.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But here's the thing:

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm raising a little girl,[br]and she has a little tomboy in her,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
which by the way is[br]a terrible thing to call a girl.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
What that basically is saying is,[br]those traits that define you,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they're not really yours,[br]they're just on loan to you

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for a little while from boys.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But do you know how much grief[br]she's going to take in her life

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for having a little tomboy in her?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Zero. None.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
People will think it's cute.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They'll call her feisty,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because in our society,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
adding so-called male traits to girls

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is seen as an upgrade,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
seen as a bonus.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm not raising a little boy, like Mike.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Mike is a little boy in Florida.[br]He's 11 years old,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the thing that he loves[br]most in the world

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a show called My Little Pony:[br]Friendship is Magic,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like millions of other children[br]across America.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, the show is marketed to girls[br]ages five to nine,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but there are millions of boys

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and grown men

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who enjoy My Little Pony:[br]Friendship is Magic.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They have a club.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They call themselves Bronys,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
pony bros, guys who like ponies.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I happen to be one of them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And what are Mike and myself

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and millions of other boys and men[br]learning in this feminine,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
sissified world of My Little Pony?

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well, they're learning to study hard[br]and to work hard and to party hard

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and to look good and to feel good

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and to do good,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and heaven preserve us from teaching[br]these wussified concepts to boys.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So the other kids in his neighborhood[br]pick on Mike and they beat him up

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and they make fun of him,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and at 11 years old, Mike goes home,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
finds a belt, wraps it around his neck,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and hangs himself[br]from the top bunk of his bed,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because we have developed[br]a society in which you rather be dead

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as a boy than thought of[br]as liking stuff for girls.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And that is not Mike's fault.[br]That is our fault.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have failed him.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have failed our children.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And we have to do better for them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have to stop making it[br]so that the only female superheroes

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
appear on shirts that are pink[br]and cut for girls.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have to stop.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And when I was putting this together,[br]people said to me,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Well, that's never going to happen."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I said, "Oh really?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because just this year, Target announced

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they were going to stop[br]gendering their toy aisles.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They were going to mix it up.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Now, before we break our shoulders[br]patting Target on the back,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
just this week they released a shirt[br]in which one of the most

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
iconic scenes in Star Wars: A New Hope

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where Princess Leia stands up[br]to the Dark Lord of the Sith,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
was released on a t-shirt[br]in which she's mysteriously

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
replaced by Luke.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So let's don't pat ourselves[br]on the back too much.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Just this week also,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Disney announced it was no longer[br]going to gender its Halloween costumes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
which I say, "Thank you Disney,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
except the only costumes you make[br]are of male superheroes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so does it matter who you have[br]wearing them?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Just this week, Mattel, who makes Barbie,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
announced they're going to release[br]a line of DC superhero girls.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And the funny thing is,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they met with girls

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and asked them what they wanted[br]to see in dolls,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and you can see, they have calves

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and elbows that bend[br]so they can do superhero stuff.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And please buy them.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And don't just buy them[br]for your daughters,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
buy them for your sons.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because it's important that boys[br]play with and as female superheroes

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
just as my daughter plays with[br]and as male superheroes.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
As a matter of fact, what I would love

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is a world in which every person[br]who goes to the store

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
goes with a little[br]flow chart in their head

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of whether or not they should buy[br]this toy for a boy or a girl,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and it's a real simple flow chart,[br]because it only has one question on it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It says,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Is this toy operated with you genitals?"

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If the answer is yes,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
then that is not a toy for children.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Laughter)

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And if the answer is no,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
then it's for boys and girls.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's really simple.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because today is about the future[br]of the future, and in my future,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
boys and girls are equally respected,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
equally valued, and most importantly,[br]equally represented.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Thank you.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
(Applause)