"We Shouldn’t Only Reward Women For Marriage And Babies”: These Friends Went Viral After Creating A Gift Registry To Celebrate Earning A PhD
Danielle Greene is 33 years old and just graduated from Stanford University with a PhD in education after five and a half years of study. Her program is called Race, Inequality, and Language in Education. We love it! Congrats Danielle!
Danielle also recently went viral on Twitter for sharing that her best friend and college roommate created a gift registry on her behalf to celebrate this momentous occasion. Why? Because "we shouldn't only reward women for marriage and babies."
My freshman roommate and bestie made a gift registry to congratulate me for graduating with my PhD, because “we shouldn’t only reward women for marriage and babies” and distributed it to everyone who RSVPd to my defense. Y’all… I… 🥹
— danny, phd. (@blackhomeva) June 2, 2023
YES. I must say, upon reading Danielle's tweet, my mind immediately went to the Sex and the City episode "A Woman's Right to Shoes," where Carrie points out that aside from getting married and having children, there really isn't any other time when adult women are celebrated. And you know what? It's so true!
And that's what makes the gift registry gesture so special.
Danielle's tweet has been viewed over 4 million times, and tons of people commented to congratulate her on such a huge accomplishment and praise the gift registry for how wholesome and important it is.
Marriages end, but Ph.D.s are forever. Feel like this should become an official tradition.
— Huma (@upstairsRoom) June 2, 2023
YESSSSS ❤️🔥😭 congrats!! I’m biased, but that PhD registry is about to be waaaaay more fun
— Karishma (@karishma4va) June 3, 2023
As someone who agonizes and prides herself on her gift giving abilities, I love this. People who love you are ready to celebrate you and you just made it easier to do just that. 😍
— Jen (imaginary blue check goes here) (@509RhymeAnimal) June 3, 2023
Thank you for sharing this! I have a friend who’s set to graduate with her master’s degree at the end of the year, and this could be an awesome idea for her!
— Kayla Yates (@FueledByMatcha) June 3, 2023
Many people also asked Danielle to share the registry so they could send her a gift, but her address was attached to it, so she declined. But she "appreciates the sentiment all the same!"
BuzzFeed reached out to Danielle, who explained that she and her friend, Elizabeth, have known each other since their first day of college in 2008. "She’s always been an incredibly sweet person, so while I was surprised when she teamed up with another friend and my fiancé and asked me to make a list of things I wanted, I wasn’t completely taken off guard, because that’s just the type of amazing person she is!"
Danielle told BuzzFeed that she tweeted about the registry "without much forethought" and didn't expect so many people to read it, but she was "really taken aback" when it went viral. "I loved seeing people asking others to do the same for them, because we should be celebrated."
Lilly Singh
She also supports Elizabeth's sentiment behind the registry. "I definitely agree that we should be awarded beyond marriage and babies! There’s something really intentional about a gift registry, allowing people to tell others what they specifically need/desire is really meaningful. If I never were to get married or have children, does that mean I never get to ask for a really nice glass Tupperware set?! Ridiculous lol."
She continued, "To be fair, I’m not sure of a time where men and nonbinary people receive gift registries beyond marriage and babies. However, there is something that is key to Liz’s comment — women are expected to have their lives revolve around babies and children, above all else. Her statement is more of a rejection of that sentiment rather than a declaration that men get gift registries for things other than marriage and babies."
When asked what she thinks needs to change in order for women to be celebrated as more than wives and mothers, Danielle responded that there needs to be a "lowered expectation that women need to strive for domestic accomplishments, in isolation or at all. Let people be people first, not who or what they are in relation to other people. By celebrating each other, we can push past that notion."
HBO
Danielle told BuzzFeed that she's received plenty of gifts from her registry (as she should!!!) and is truly grateful. "I’m a book nerd and a fragrance girlie, so I’m most excited about my gift cards to Thrift Books and a Jo Malone perfume that was too expensive for me to splurge on while I was in graduate school."
MX
