Speaking of banned books in the newsroom we've had the words "tis the season" banned from our stories.

Rumor has it those three words are trite and overused...............

I suppose.

What does it mean anyway? "Tis the season" for what?

For me it's the nerve-wracking perpetuation of gender stereotypes.

Take a gander at the J.C. Penney's catalog under children's bedroom sets. My stomach turns.

For girls its pink with princesses and little sparkly crowns.

For boys it's tanks and helicopters that glow in the dark!

How far have we really come in changing the way young girls perceive themselves and want to present themselves to the world.

No wonder there aren't more women stepping up to fill positions that reflect leadership and power.

If things had really changed, little girls would want to be queens, not princesses who follow the latest trends and wait for a knight in shining armor to define them.

I look around and shake my head at the image so many women continue to portray. There's nothing wrong with pretty, I love looking at beautiful people of any gender, but physical image seems to reside over all the groundwork that's been laid ever since the fight for voting rights and birth control.

So many women's issues are still in the hands of everyone else but us.