Those My Family Stickers... ugh

So we were standing outside the newsagent at our local shopping centre this afternoon, looking once again at the board that shows all the possible figures for the - so trendy - My Family Stickers [http://www.mystickfigurefamily.com ] like you see on the backs of cars all over the place. I've been coveting a set of these stickers for some time. Bronwen tore me away from the board in the end, claiming they made her feel slightly ill.

Naturally, we were unable to find any that matched the members of our family. Nary a one, though we thought maybe one of the Older Girls might match Bronwen and one of the Women with long hair might match me apart from the hair, and one of the Small Girls might match Rowan. We couldn't find one for my grown-up daughter, who lives with us. I like Bronwen's point, that they all smile too much and she doesn't, but even so ...They are constructs, and if we were to try to fit ourselves to the identities they portray, it might feel uncomfortable, even when we were trying to deviate from the heteronormative world that surrounds us.

Then I was sitting on the loo looking up at the "Who is in Your Family" poster printed by the Rainbow Families Council [http://www.rainbowfamiliescouncil.org ] I noticed that the families portrayed on this poster are similar to the My Family stickers, in being stick figures, although they are colourful.

And I thought ... wouldn't it be cool if we could collectively generate our own alternatives to the My Family stickers? We're still in discussion about how we would choose to portray ourselves, and here are some of the ideas we've come up with:

Melina: short hair, short woman wearing sunhat, with watering can or spade

Bronwen: woman with medium length hair and glasses, riding bike with baby on back

Rowan: small boy, slightly bow legs, with adult size broom in hand

Liana: tall young woman long hair and glasses kneading bread

And the rainbow overarching the four of us plus 2 cats - though the idea of a white chalky rainbow makes even me feel slightly queasy; I do prefer colours!

I'd love to hear from others about their ideas for stick figures. If I get inspired, I may start drawing them on paper, or using Word. I may even use a paintbrush and paint them on our car. I don't have access to a vinyl cutter anymore, or I'd offer to start cutting some stickers. Maybe someone else on here has that resource, you never know.

Write soon!!