Of Mum

This Is How You Smash Your First Birthday Cake Against Patriarchy

Womanhood July, 07, 2025

When it’s Christmas time, Rachel Goodlad is up with the best ideas of pictures for Christmas cards. When Charlotte Quinn’s (her daughter) first birthday arrived, she had the best idea for her photoshoot. She knew that she wanted to grow a strong girl out of Quinn and that is why it was about smashing the cake and not cutting it.

The Texas mom delivered more than she aimed to do and the result is incredible. She said, “I want both of [my children] to be proud of who they are, no matter who or what that is. The problem is that I think society tells one of them to do that more than the other.”

Defining her daughter’s personality, she said, “Her personality is strong and boisterous. She is the only girl at her daycare and doesn’t let anyone push her around. That made me think how many other girls started [out strong] and became something else because society or their family, or whoever, told them they should be a certain way?”

This thought inspired her to convert the idea into a photoshoot.

It wasn’t just about smashing the cake; it was mainly about smashing the patriarchy. As the pictures went viral, people couldn’t stop praising it and it was all for the right reasons.

One of them commented, “Now THIS is a cake smash I can get behind.”

Another one was just admiring it and wrote, “OMG this is the best.”

Like every other issue, this one had some critics as well. Some felt that there is no requirement to use the kids in the political field.

However, the majority of them felt that it was the right way to empower girls and women.

She said, “Smashing the patriarchy means, to me as a parent, that both of my children work toward who they want to be and what they want to do. It is not given to them or taken away by default. It means for us that we focus more on raising purposeful, awesome human beings who are confident in themselves and kind to others, instead of worrying about who society says they should be and how they should act.”Like the mother, Quinn was bright enough to take the in charge and knew exactly what she was supposed to do without many directions.

Kids definitely know how to take the best parts of their parents and be a better version of them.

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