Despite the best efforts of my childhood dog, who would only eat my He-Man toys while ignoring all my other toys, I loved He-Man. So when She-Ra began, I watched that too. I may have even liked it better. Although, I cannot be sure since I was six years old when it started.
Either way, my point is that I never had a concept that show was supposedly "for girls". I just knew that I liked it. I never had religion telling me that I couldn't watch it because I was boy. I never had shame imposed on me for not fitting into narrow minded expectations of gender roles. My parents didn't freak out thinking that watching it might make gay.
I watched what I liked. Thundercats, GI Joe, Transformers, Silverhawks, M.A.S.K., Duck Tales, Shirt-Tales, Snorks, He-Man, She-Ra. I didn't watch what I didn't like. Jonny Quest, Jem. Gender was irrelevant.
When people ask, what we "get" out of atheism, as if everything must have a tangible reward to be worthwhile, this is a small example. We get the freedom to like whatever the hell we feel like, without being hindered by religion and its stupid, stupid ideas on gender roles.
Credit: @drzach
