When my little brother was nine or so, he took up knitting. He knitted everywhere, in the car, at the dinner table, and quite likely, at school too. My parents and I hovered anxiously, pleased and proud at his creativity yet knowing it was only a matter of time…..Sure enough, at a big family reunion, an aunt proclaimed: “Knitting is for girls!” and the entire table laughed. I remember hotly defending him, though I forget what I said. But the damage was done. That was the beginning of the end of his yen for knitting and purling… 

This past Christmas, my sister-in-law Jennifer gave Zoe a CD of “Free to Be…You and Me” by Marlo Thomas and Friends. I’d never heard it (having grown up across the world), but when I heard Marlo (with Alan Alda) sing of her friend William who wanted a doll, I thought of my brother. He’s now 29, quite the man-about-town, and apparently undamaged by his bout with knitting or with the various other activites I, his older sister, inflicted on him (guinea pig for make-up, dress-up, etc.)

There are other gems on the CD - Marlo with Harry Belafonte, reminding us that “parents are people, people with children;” Carol Channing telling us in a conspiratorial whisper that the woman scrubbing away in television ads is smiling because “she’s an actress!”

Since “Free to Be” was released in 1972, so much has changed. And so much hasn’t. Witness princess mania. So if you haven’t already, get the CD for your daughters. Better still, get it for your sons.

Anybody have memories of growing up with Marlo to share? And who is the Marlo of today? (Kay suggested it may be Laurie Berkner on Noggin)

Note: What does Marlo herself think of this state of affairs, 35 years after “Free to be”? Well, as it happens, she’s coming to town May 8 as part of the Star Tribune’s Women’s lecture series and Kay has scored us both tickets. Watch this space.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Main, Music, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.