New Pink Power

Miss Representation - A film exposing how the media erodes female self-worth!

A documentary revealing the damage mainstream media does to women! In a film directed by Jennifer Siebel Newson, she exposes how American media erodes female self-worth. How TV, Film, and Web content teach us that our worth is based on our desirability. How women leaders are trivialized, and how Hollywood green-lights few female protagonists especially if the role does not involve landing a man.

Watch Miss representation's official trailer below. And then look for a screening near you.

How craiglist enabled sex slavery!

Much has been said about how Craiglist being forced to shut down their adult services section was a violation of the first amendment.  When you look at it from the outside, you may agree with that statement, until you dig a little and realize that Craiglist was a major venue for the trading of young girls for sex. Did you know that about 100,000 girls are traded for sex annually in the United States? and the majority of them are trafficked by pimps online. And unfortunately Craiglist had become the wal mart of the child sex trade in America.

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights was founded to advocate for justice, dignity and policy reform for vulnerable women and girls in the United States and in Africa. They believe that women and girls possess the right to live free of gendered inequity and violence, and that investment in their leadership creates healthy, safe, and strong communities.  Learn more about the Rebecca project at http://www.rebeccaproject.org/index.php.

So while some people may focus on the fact that this may look like a violation of the first amendment. I personally feel that if it somehow limits the ability of some pimp to trade young girls for sex, it should be lauded.  As a society we have an obligation to - at the very least - protect vulnerable girls from sex abuse even if we don't do more to help them become useful members of society.

 

Getting Girls into School

We all want more children around the world to go to school.  But did you know that most of the benefits that accompany increased education are attributable to girls, who use their schooling more productively than boys?  Women in the developing world who have had some education share their earnings; men keep a third to a half for themselves.  Yet, 60% of the kids OUT of schools are girls.  And in some areas in the world, only 1 out of 5 get any education at all. When girls go to school, they marry later and have fewer healthy children.  With 5 years of education, her child has a 40 % better chance of living to age 5.  Some studies even indicate that a girl with education is 3 timess less likely to contract HIV/AIDS. Donor nations are increasingly reaching the consensus that global education, especially for girls, is the key to development.  But the main problem is not only funding, but changing the culture in parts of the developing world.  Parents will need to understand that in the long run, their families will be better off if girls get educated. Watch the video on the Girl Effect at http://www.girleffect.org/#/video/

Here is to the Nerd Girls!!

WOW!  I haven't been so excited to read an article on a magazine in a very long time... The article is called "Revenge of the Nerdette" and it's on the June16 th,2008 issue of Newsweek magazine.  See the whole article at  http://www.newsweek.com/id/140457.

Here we have a whole new generation of girls being proud to call themselves "Nerds" but also claiming their femininity. Until very recently, girls were not allowed to be smart and pretty at the same time.  You were either "smart" or "geeky" and then of course that also meant you were ugly!  or you were a sexy kitten but your brain left a lot to be desired.  Women of my generation (born in the 60s) have had to deal with that stereotype.  So, if you were smart and pretty, people just did not know how to handle it.  Well.... here is to the new generations of girls engineers, and nerd girls, who are enjoying their "smartness" while also why not say it? enjoying their "sexiness".  My hat is off to you girls!!! you will write your own paradigms, and you will change culture!! you will let the world know that this time "literally" you will be able to do "whatever you want" and be "whatever you want to be".

I read the article to my 6-year old girl and my 8-year old son and you would not believe their faces.  First, because they could not understand what was the big deal. After all, they are being raised in a world where they get to see girls in many roles my generation did not get to see.  But then, when my daughter looked at the picture of the girls pictured on the magazine, she said "those girls don't look like nerds" which gave me a great opportunity to go into the "you can be smart and pretty at the same time" conversation. And then, my 8-year old son said he thought some girls did not like to be smart, and preferred to be seen as just "pretty" and that really got me!! of course that gave me a great opportunity to go into the "you are surrounded by smart and pretty girls so don't act so shocked!! conversation

So, my hat goes to the girls of this generation that keep striving to "own" their space in the world!!  and to be who they are.... smart!!  strong!! and why not?  also beautiful and "feminine"!!

Raising Girls and the impact of Society

I have long wondered about the effect of culture on the way our girls from an early age start defining their dreams. From the impact of the toys created for them (babies, vacuum cleaners, and kitchenware), to the way movies portray little girls (whiny, weak, fearful), or teenagers (dumb, superficial, sex symbols), or story lines in books and movies where the girl can only be happy when a gorgeous prince comes to rescue her, solves all her problems, and then live happily ever after.

We also find ourselves - sometimes without even realizing it- perpetuating stereotypes of the role of men vs women. It is true that more and more parents and educators are making an effort at being "gender-neutral" and are ensuring girls are aware of their strengths, and are able to reach for the stars, but what is a girl to feel when her parents tell her she can be all she wants, but the role models she has access to are Disney princesses or heavily sexualized girls on TV and the movies? no wonder girls start having self-esteem issues as early as 8 years old. What if they are not as pretty or slim as the girls in the movies? then they feel there is nothing left for them.

I think as a society we are failing our young girls. We need to make a better effort at providing them with a variety of female role models: women in business, in science and engineering, authors, inventors, entrepreneurs, etc. We need to ensure we counterbalance the marketing message they get every day with more creative play, inspirational reading, and careful use of sentences like "girls need to be lady-like", "you can't do because that is for boys" or "science and math are hard - or boring".

I am sure we can come up with multiple examples of how as a society and as a culture we fail our girls. Care to share one?