Mark Hamill’s sweet advice to young girl too afraid to wear her Star Wars shirt to school
Mark Hamill took to Twitter this Wednesday to assure a young fan that girls are most definitely allowed to be Star Wars fans.
If Star Wars fans thought it wasn’t possible to love Mark Hamill more than we already did, he has officially proved us wrong. The actor took to Twitter Wednesday night to ease the concerns of a seven-year-old Star Wars fan and to speak out against gendering our films and interests.
The girl’s mother, N.J. Simmonds, tweeted that her daughter was reluctant to wear a Star Wars shirt to school. She feared her classmates would tease her for enjoying a franchise considered primarily for boys.
My 7 year old daughter's crying in bed right now because she wants to wear her Star Wars t-shirt to school but is scared her classmates will laugh because she likes 'boy stuff'. I'm so sad/angry for her. Please RT and comment so I can show her how awesome girl #StarWars fans are.
— Natali Simmonds / N J Simmonds (@NJSimmondsbooks) March 6, 2018
Imagine her surprise when she received support from female Star Wars fans and from the lead actor of the original films. Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, was quick to offer his input.
Just tell her to feel free to use this gesture if her classmates give her any grief. "Boy stuff"? PLEASE! The Force is, & always will be strong with females here on Earth & in galaxies far, far away.
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 8, 2018
♥️- mh pic.twitter.com/lAI4AGr0sc
You can bet that girl will be wearing her Star Wars attire with pride from now on!
While we knew Hamill was an advocate of women’s rights from his comments about the Women’s March, this is probably the cutest example of it yet.
This girl’s concerns does spark another important conversation though. While science fiction and fantasy fandoms have made huge strides in terms of opening their platforms to a wider and more diverse audience, there’s still much work to be done.
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We need to keep having these discussions until children of all genders can be comfortable saying, “May the Force be with you.”