Mom Captures Photos Of Her Brave Daughters To Show Girls That 'Strong Is The New Pretty'

Why force a girl to play with dolls and toy ovens when she might be reasonably interested in toy soldiers? Kate Parker thinks the same as she documents her daughters being free to be… themselves! Ella, 9, and Alice, 6, are two happy girls doing what they like. No requirements to stay clean pretty, no warnings not to be too boyish. As their mother states, they know that whatever they are, they are perfect. No gender roles are going to hold them down!

“My girls are strong, loud, crazy, silly,” Parker told BuzzFeed Life. “As a mother and a photographer, I celebrate them.” Being a former college football player, she inspired the love of the sport in her daughters, too. But that’s not all: they swim (even in triathlons) climb trees, play with dogs and go wild in general. And they look so, so happy while doing it. Parker states that she doesn’t tell the girls to be pretty or perfect in the pictures. Rather, they should be strong. I think it’s working: Ella looks downright fierce! More info: kateparkerphotography.com | Instagram (h/t: )

“They don’t need to have their hair done, clothes matching, or even be clean to be loved or accepted”

“My girls know that who they are is just perfect.”

“Their silly, adventurous, frustrated, happy, LOUD, athletic, fierce, funny selves”

“We love them as they are, loud, dirty, competitive…just like my parents loved me for being um, the exact same way”

“I wanted this series of images to show their boldness, their strength and the beauty in them, as they are”

“Strong is the new pretty”