Bill Lynch: Granddaughters not waiting for a prince

Dottie and I spent a delightful Christmas season with family, which meant at times our home was alive with the lively chatter of our eight grandchildren. Five are girls ranging in age from 2 and a half to almost 16.

Neither shy nor retiring, their exuberant energy kept us entertained for hours.

Their visits are also a time when we get to catch up on the latest and most popular Disney movies, which they find with our Netflix connection and then run them repeatedly, even when they are occupied with other activities.

Kids’ choices have changed from the days of “Snow White” and “Bambi.”

Most notable to me this year were the movies like “Tangled,” “Moana,” “Frozen” and “Brave,” featuring young women as heroic figures.

These lead female characters were clearly in charge and not waiting around like Snow White for their prince to come. Their songs are about meeting challenges bravely and going where little girls used to not be allowed to go.

“See the line where the sky meets the sea

It calls me

And no one knows, how far it goes

If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me

One day I’ll know

How far I’ll go”

– Moana

And all of my granddaughters, including the youngest, know the lyrics. I found this out on Christmas day when one of the most popular family presents was a new karaoke microphone.

“I will hear their every story

Take hold of my own dream

Be as strong as the seas are stormy

And proud as an eagle’s scream”

– Brave

As they sang on with full-throated enthusiasm, the message to me sounded loud and clear, “Watch out world, women are taking over.”

The whole world saw it with the huge and unprecedented women’s march last February, and most recently in the number of women who have now stepped forward to name and shame those men who used their power and position to demean, harass and assault them.

We’re seeing it in state and local politics where so many more women are now seeking public office. And we are going to see it very soon in national politics.

The old white guys currently in charge in Washington are trying desperately to deny and suppress this movement, but they are losing ground. The day of reckoning has already come for some, and for the remainder it is just a matter of time – a very short time. Just ask my granddaughters.

“My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast

I’m never going back

The past is in the past”

– Frozen

Note: On Jan. 20, Sonoma Valley residents will gather at noon on the Plaza to commemorate the anniversary of the Sonoma Women’s March, which drew an estimated 3,000 people to the downtown a year ago.