Princess or Athlete? This Mom’s Viral Photos Prove Girls Can Be Anything They Want

Does playing cricket or soccer make a girl less feminine or tomboy?

If you are one of those new age moms who believe that your daughter can be anything that she wants to be, then you will understand why the internet is in love with Heather Mitchell, mom to an 8-year-old girl!

When Mitchell was at softball practice with her daughter Paislee, another parent suggested that her daughter was “not athletic” as she is a girly-girl.

Mitchell was saddened by the fact that even in 21st century, some people feel that girls can be either athletic, or feminine. 

In order to give a strong message that girls don’t need to choose between being pretty or athletic, she used her talents as a photographer.

While talking to USA TODAY, Mitchell shared:

“It kept playing over and over in my mind.

Why does she have to choose? She can be anything she wants.

She can be a girly-girl, she can be smart, she can play ball and the next day she can choose to do something different.”

Mitchell further shared with Motherly:

“So the next day we went to the studio and created her shot. I seriously only spent about three minutes shooting because I knew exactly what I wanted”

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The photo of her daughter Paislee set off a flurry of requests from parents to photograph their daughters posed as princess athletes. She posted the photo series on her professional photography Facebook page.

She captioned it beautifully: “Because you can do it all.”

And, she was shocked to see how the internet hailed and fell in love with her idea.

A week later, the post has more than 183,000 shares. And, the reason behind the images attracting so much attention is very simple.

Mitchell’s heart-touching photographs spread a powerful message: Girls don’t need to squeeze themselves into boxes.

The series proves that girls don’t have to pick a side. They are whole people, capable of liking and achieving more than one thing. Capable of having diverse interests and skills.

You can love tiaras and rock basketball at the same time.

You don’t become less “girly” if you know how to knock down your opponent in the boxing ring.

You can just be you.

Mitchess shared with Motherly,

“Our daughters do not have to choose.

My parent taught me that I could be anything I wanted growing up.

I didn’t realize till I was much older that everyone is not that blessed.

I hope that every little girl that sees this series can see that there is no box.

Whatever their dreams are they can achieve.”

We need more moms like Mitchell who help kids to dream big without being constrained by gender roles.

And, like Mitchell, if you are also one of the new-age moms, who believe in empowering your kids to follow their passion irrespective of their gender, then we would love to hear from you!