I can slay my own dragon/ I can dream my own dreams/ My knight in shining armor is me

The Cheetah Girls brought diversity to the U.S. small screen, but what exactly did they break through?

Before these girls took the screen, the popular sitcoms with female protagonists were white, middle class girls with stable family lives. Examples of this were “Lizzie McGuire” and “Kim Possible,” two total girl power shows without any diversity in characters.

What The Cheetah Girls did was make diversity the norm, something totally acceptable and obvious to the viewer. Of course there would be girls of all backgrounds, body types, and economic standings in New York City, how could you imagine it any differently?

Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who are — to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace. Feminism is for everybody.

Bell Hooks

Bell Hooks, the author of “Feminism Is For Everybody,” is an intersectional feminist author that has written many books on feminism and its history and future.

Hooks claims that in order for the world to have true equal treatment of men and women, no matter their race, we need to have more representation of women of all races and backgrounds; we need to normalize diversity. We need to celebrate it, just how The Cheetah Girls did in their films.

Cheetah Girls: Heroines to all

These women became heroes to little girls all over the country. They taught children of color and with multicultural backgrounds that it was OK to feel pain and that their problems are normal. Throughout their three films, the girls faced family financial problems, racial issues, sexism and many other struggles that happen to women and people of all standings.

And it’s not all about the romance plot. These films stressed the importance of friendships and the strength a support network of women provides, giving some great life advice, if only subconsciously to their young viewers, for how to conduct the rest of their lives.

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