My sons are small and skinny. They are nothing like the heavily muscled superheroes they admire.
That’s just one reason we love How to Train Your Dragon: because while we’re used to hearing about girls’ toys being relentlessly slimmed-down, sexed-up, and princess-ified, we tend to talk less about the vision of ‘masculinity’ presented for our boys’ consumption.
Hiccup & Toothless in flight. Photo courtesy Brett Jordan via Flickr Creative Commons.
Hiccup is skinny and small and brilliant. He breaks the rules and breaks new ground. He is an inventor and a creator. He is a peacemaker.
And the meta-message of Hiccup that my boys take away is something like:It’s okay to be different. In fact, it’s more than okay. It’s great. And it’s best of all to be who you are.And I love that.(At my Religion News Service blog, you can read more about why we love Hiccup.)