Many women can relate to growing up surrounded by ‘girly-girl’ and ‘tomboy’ stereotypes. Princess dress or softball gear? Shiny jewelry or scraped knees? Dolls or a catcher’s glove? But one mother from Alabama, Heather Miller, is trying to shift the narrative on these conventions through her photography business. Her message? Simply put, girls can do it all and you don’t have to choose between one thing or the other!
Choosing Diversity
Heather Mitchell understands how it feels to be asked to obey social norms, but she also knows the reward of being true to yourself. As a growing girl, she would wear lipstick to each of her sports games just because she wanted too. For the young girls of today, she told People, “They can be girly and athletic. Artsy and smart. Whatever they dream they can achieve.”
Though Mitchell has always known girls didn’t have to choose between their interests, she was struck by how much others abided by these stereotypes. In speaking to another mother during her 8 year-olds softball practice, the other mother remarked that her daughter “was not athletic — that she was a girly girl.” Mitchell was surprised by these comments, and after a sleepless night of wrestling with these words she came to the conclusion, ‘Why does she have to choose?’” (1)
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#becauseyoucandoitall #girlscan #girlsplayfootballtoo #hmpcoutureimagery
A Photo Is Worth…
Inspired by her previous conversation, Miller recruited her daughter Pasilee for a photoshoot in her studio. But for Miller, these photos were going to have a twist. Carefully, she posed Paislee in a princess gown with softballs, sports cleats, and a tiara. She showed who she was in both an athletic and feminine way. Paislee smiled in some photos and gave fierce glances in others – embracing all her looks. (2)
Posting these photos to both her personal and professional social media accounts, HMP Couture Imagery, Miller was soon overwhelmed by the response. Within a week one photo of her daughter had almost 200,000 shares – a staggering contrast to the usual 100 shares she got from most of her photos. Additionally, she was bombarded with requests for similar sessions with other young girls – booking almost three months out, and clients traveling in from out of state. The support for the photo series was overwhelming, to say the least, being hailed by many as empowering and representative for young girls. (2, 3)
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The Future Continues To Look Female!
The year 2020 marks a century of women being able to vote in America, which radically changed women’s rights and, triggered many other historical events that empowered the female sex. (3, 4) For Heather Miller and her booming photography business, 2020 should also be an exceptional year. Heather has continued capturing photos of young girls in their ‘athletic-princess attire’, but has also begun sharing the wealth with moms. Recently, Jen Welter was featured in an HMP Couture Imagery photoshoot with her two young daughters sporting football gear and long pink princess gowns. Jen Welter was the first woman to ever coach in the NFL and hosts summer football camps to inspire young girls, so this photoshoot is especially meaningful. That being said, I would love to see more women across all ages embracing their many sides in Miller’s photos – cause it truly is never too late to have it all! Celebrate a degree, a new job, motherhood, sisterhood, or just you with a photoshoot to last a lifetime! (5)
