It's time for us to take our collective blinders off and really pay attention. Because the minute we give our kids an iPhone or iPod or any other gadget that puts technology quite literally in the palms of their hands, we become responsible for whatever happens next.

While girl power, the movement that began in the early 90s, has aimed to empower many young girls to be ambitious, assertive, and self-reliant, that girl power as interpreted on TV and in film is slowly but surely seeping into our streets as something more sinister.

Not acknowledging anger and powerlessness or trivializing it only makes things worse. I'd suggest we'd have a lot less girls to "fix" if we acknowledged this.

How to reconcile these two contradictory goals? To teach our girls that females are awesome and also teach them that their gender is not the whole of who they are?

Title: A Few Wonderful Things About Being A Girl Author: One very wise 8-year-old Why We Love It: Her DAD posted her "unexpected response" to t...

While Mayes's piece is a thought-provoking tribute to her son about gender equality, I think girl power messaging can be enlightening without taking anyone down -- that includes young boys.

A note to moms: If you're thinking about taking your daughters to see Taylor Swift as their first concert, and maybe your first show since the Indigo Girls in 1996, please don't. If you're thinking you'll see a sweet Southern singer/songwriter on stage with her guitar, a few pretty dresses, and simplistic but heartfelt lyrics, you won't.