I Love Being A Girl

International Women's Day Campaign: the boys perspective

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:53:00 +0000

On the International Women's Day we tried to involve both girls and boys in our campaign. We asked boys: "If you were a girl for one day, you would......?"

Here are some of the answers we got

Aleksandar : I would encourage boys to talk to girls more about girls/women rights!

Saken: I would use girls' charm and potentiall to bring change.

Martin: ...I would talk to as many girls I can, because I'd really want to know what are their conversation topics!

Sami: I would talk to guys and see how they treat me.

Mohammed: I would pamper myself, go shopping or to visit beauty saloons.

International Women's Day Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:38:00 +0000

If there was a SUPERWOMAN, her superpower would be:

Ivet:(left): "having strong intuition and making he right choices."

Katerina:(right): "the power of compassion and the abiIlity to bring people together."

Stupid Girls (?!)

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:53:00 +0000

You pretend you're high
Pretend you're bored
Pretend you're anything
Just to be adored
And what you need
Is what you get

Disease's growing, it's epidemic
I'm scared that there ain't a cure
The world believes it and I'm going crazy
I cannot take any more
I'm so glad that I'll never fit in
That will never be me
Outcasts and girls with ambition
That's what I wanna see

(Obviously, those are not manifestos against certain appearances as such. We're just sayin' that you don't have to maintain them. And that it might be a curious and healthy excercise to ask yourself where do those ideas/constrictions come from...)

Sonya Renee "What Women Deserve"

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Sonya Renee is the director of Peer Education at Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS), a non-profit organization that promotes HIV prevention and empowerment programming in Washington, DC. At work, she recruits, trains and supervises current and former sex workers to act as sex educators in their communities. In addition to her professional job, she is a National Poetry SLAM-winning performance poet who is committed to using the power of spoken word to bring empowering and progressive ideas to the public.
This poem is dedicated to Choice USA.

(Read more about her here!)

Sista Queen "Try Being A Lady"

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:10:00 +0000

"Try being a lady?
Use me as your trophy so you can parade me...
Use my vagina to only birth babies...
Be your damsel in distress so a brother can save me...
[...]
If my tongue was a trigger, you'd have been shot...
Get real - I'm gonna stay inappropriate until I fucking rot...
I don't talk about love,
I don't talk about sex,
I don't talk about things that'll put your dick on erect"

Sista Queen

"I wasn't expecting much when a 19 year old newcomer from Atlanta with the cliched name of Sista Queen was announced. Well, this performer blew me away, and I hope that anybody who wants to see Def Poetry at its best will find a way to catch her three minutes. She's an intense, loud, fast talker with an endless supply of breath. Her piece is about the self-cheapening of womanhood, and as her performance built to a crescendo she shot back and forth between mocking poses of cute fawning femininity and furious denunciations of the same poses, switching so quickly you were still catching up with the last change as she shot off into the next one. This is the kind of performance I want to see when I turn on this show. I don't know how Sista Queen got so good at such a young age, but I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing more from her." (Levi Asher on July 25, 2005)

Staceyann Chin "If Only Out Of Vanity..."

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:13:00 +0000

"I want to be the dyke who likes to fuck men
I want to be the politician who never lies
I want to be the girl who never cries
I want to go down in history
in a chapter marked miscellaneous
because the writers could find
no other way to categorize me
In this world where classification is key
I want to erase the straight lines
So I can be me"

Staceyann Chin "If only out of vanity..."

Inspirational movies: Becoming Jane (2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:38:00 +0000

Becoming Jane (2007) will entertain you and will give you the always needed push reminding how important independence and feminism is for well educated young ladies with ambitions. Also, it will remind you that a happy ending might not be what you imagined it to be.

And you may want to read a Jane Austen book after all.

Breaking stereotypes - not "for adults only" anymore..

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:54:00 +0000

A 13 year old can put many adults to shame with her eloquent, taboo free speech about breaking stereotypes, stopping discrimination and sexual liberation. Thumbs up to her for being an empowered young woman!

Be sure to check out her other videos as well, such as this one on Weight Issues Caused by the Media!

Inspirations.. the I♥BG E-book

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:42:00 +0000

It's finally here!

Inspirations is a collection of amazing stories from girls and young women about overcoming challenges, achieving their goals and challenging stereotypes. A big thank you to all who have shared their personal stories to help inspire others and to those who have been involved in the making of the e-book.

We hope you enjoy it!

a BIG thank you to all that made this project great..

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

The I❤BG project has officially ended, for now at least (but the blog will go on). With this occasion we would like to extend a BIG thank you to all who have been involved and contributed to the project. We couldn't have done it without you!

Here are a few of the many ways you helped our small project be a BIG success:

Since the launch of the I♥BG blog, we've had more than 7100 unique visitors from 109 different countries around the world.

You helped organize 11 I♥BG Tea-parties in 10 countries, where more than 120 young people participated in discussions on gender.

You helped us create an amazing E-book filled with empowering stories which will help inspire others to overcome the challenges they face.

You helped us spread the word and empower girls and young women all over the world:

“It’s not about gender, it’s about you! You decide! Stigmatization, discrimination, they’re all there, they’ll always be, but it’s up to you to prove the world wrong, and more importantly, to prove yourself right.”

Participant in Romania

“There are numerous things which girls can feel proud of. But, important thing to understand and to realize is your inner strength. Rejoice every moment of life, developing such a spirit that would always make you think optimistic.”

Participant in Nepal

“There are many things that can be told about what it is like to be a girl. We are complicated, persistent and we always get what we want. But the secret is – sometimes finding out what we want is the hardest thing of all. But when a girl says "I love being a girl" - she means it, which is one of the few things she is sure of.”

Participant in Macedonia

You made us proud to present our project at more than 10 international events and meetings and helped us gain the support from many other youth networks and organisations.

So thank you for all your support and be sure to check the blog again soon. We promise we have a lot more in store for you.

girls + changes, or Holly dyed her hair...

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:15:00 +0000

"The myth of female frailty tells us that when a young woman starts exploring her dark side, she’s begun down a very dangerous road that could have life-damaging consequences. Obviously, if she starts shooting heroin, that’s true. But Holly — like so many other teen girls whose fascination with darkness is made manifest — isn’t doing anything life-threatening. She’s started reading Kerouac and Inga Muscio instead of Vogue and Seventeen, she’s getting showered and dressed and out of the house in less than half the time it took her a year before. This is healthy as can be — and yet it’s genuinely terrifying to many of the folks around her. Fed by a culture that falls all over itself with (often faux) expressions of concern about teen girls, many of her friends — and some of the adults in her life — are scared that Holly’s gonna “do something stupid now” and “ruin her life.”"

An excerpt from Hugo Schwyzer's inspirin blogpost Holly dyed her hair: more on myths of female frailty, our fear of women's anger, and what happens when the truth comes out

And as further reading I can certainly suggest Eve Ensler's book I Am an Emotional Creature

(as we all have seen the I ♥ Being a Girl video)

girls + toys

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:48:00 +0000

toys are for ~~girls or boys~~ playing

How did we get here? by Princess Free Zone (2011-06-21)
Lego is for girls by Brad Wieners at Bloomsberg Businessweek (2011-12-14)
Lego and Dinsey are lazy by Princess Free Zone (2011-12-15)

Resilience!

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Unbreakable is a very power art project that portrays rape survivors' strength after sexual abuse, aimed to break the silense surrounding rape and to shed light on the issue, and to remind to those whose innocence was stolen that they are never alone.There are "photo days" in US and Grace absolutely accepts submissions!

Media & Body Image

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Although this is a Dove corporate responsibility add, it still makes a relevant point about where do our mental images of the perfect body come from...

As an additional reading, Real Women Have... Bodies by Hugo Schwyzer

Girls vs women in the workplace..

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Caroline Drucker of SoundCloud offers a simple but empowering solution for getting more women in tech in her Ignite NYC 13 talk, How to Get More Women in Tech in Under a Minute. She suggest that by not using the word ‘girls’ to refer to ‘women’ that “there will be a lot more women (in tech) when we get rid of the "girls”.

Inspirational Characters: Tiffany Aching

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Picture by Krewcia

...If it came to that, the book never gave you the evidence of anything. It talked about ‘a handsome prince’ . . . was he really, or was it just because he was a prince that people called him handsome? As for ‘a girl who was as beautiful as the day was long’ . . . well, which day? In midwinter it hardly ever got light! The stories didn’t want you to think, they just wanted you to believe what you were told...

. . .

Anyway, she preferred the witches to the smug handsome princes and especially to the stupid smirking princesses, who didn’t have the sense of a beetle. They had lovely golden hair, too, and Tiffany didn’t. Her hair was brown, plain brown. Her mother called it chestnut, or sometimes auburn, but Tiffany knew it was brown, brown, brown, just like her eyes. Brown as earth. And did the book have any adventures for people who had brown eyes and brown hair? No, no, no . . . it was the blond people with blue eyes and the redheads with green eyes who got the stories. If you had brown hair you were probably just a servant or a woodcutter or something. Or a dairymaid. Well, that was not going to happen, even if she was good at cheese. She couldn’t be the prince, and she’d never be a princess, and she didn’t want to be a woodcutter, so she’d be the witch and know things, just like Granny Aching—

The Wee Free Men by Sir Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld series of fantasy novels. She is the protagonist in 4 of his books in which she grows from nine-year old to a girl of sixteen in the last published book. Her stories often parallel mythic heroes' quests, but also deal with Tiffany's difficulties as a young girl maturing into a responsible woman. During the course of the series Tiffany grows to be a witch, however her powers are rather cognitive than magical. She possesses First Sight, the ability to see 'what is really there' (as opposed to Second sight, which shows people what they think ought to be there) and Second Thoughts, which are defined as 'the thoughts you think about the way you think'. As a witch and a young woman, she often faces stereotypes, prejudice and social pressure but always keeps determined to stand her ground and fight injustice.

Tea Party Stories

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:28:00 +0000

In September the Bulgarian MA had their first tea party. Here are our impressions:

Tea Party Bulgaria on Prezi

New data on the rise of women...

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Hanna Rosin reviews startling new data that shows women actually surpassing men in several important measures, such as college graduation rates. Do these trends, both US-centric and global, signal the "end of men"? Probably not -- but they point toward an important societal shift worth deep discussion.

Call for stories for I ♥ Being a Girl E-book

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:10:00 +0000

I ♥ Being a Girl stories

I ♥ Being a Girl a project by and for girls, aiming to inspire and empower young women by offering them a place where they can freely share and exchange experience, personal views and ideas.

As part of the second stage of the I ♥ Being a Girl project, YSAFE aims to enrich its inventory by collecting short stories and creating an e-book dedicated to girls, their hopes and dreams, the challenges they faced and the victories they have conquered.

By sharing your story you can rise above the stereotype and paint the true colours of a girl’s life, your life: exiting, challenging, unique.

What is the topic of the e-book?

The topic of the e-book is Overcoming Challenges. Every person faces obstacles and hardships in their life. Those challenges are unfortunately sometimes related to gender and equality. Both girls and boys have to fight with prejudice, stereotypes and sometimes discrimination when it comes to their sexuality, job aspirations, freedom of expression or sometimes just feeling comfortable in a relationship. Challenging as they are, they can help you grow stronger, gain confidence and hopefully help you fight injustice and bring about positive change for good. That is why as part of the I ♥ Being a Girl we ask you to share your experience, express thoughts and feelings and talk about what helped you overcome difficulties and reach your goals. We are all equal in our diversity and the more we talk about our differences the more common grounds we find and embrace true freedom and equality.

How should I write the story?

There is no set frame or structure for the short stories as we hope all written pieces to be as genuine and honest as possible. You can choose any tense, narrative, chain of events or view point you like. You can use you real name or an alias. Pictures or graphics accompanying the story are welcome but not compulsory.

First, decide which event in your life was most challenging, memorable, inspiring or just helped you grow most. Make a list of the main events and the most important points you want to make and think about the structure of your story. Do not stress about language or style as no one expects you to be a professional writer. Remember that the true value of your story is in your true and unique self.

The stories should be:
• Written or at least translated in English
• Not more than 2000 words
• Written in doc./ pdf. or any other commonly used format.

Please note, any offencive, discriminatory or inappropriate language will not be tolerated. While writing your story, think how it can affect others and their feelings.

What will happen to my story?

Your story will be included in our e-book and as part of the I ♥ Being a Girl project will be distributed vie our blog, on our main events and via the e-mail. Its distribution will be free for everyone and no profits will be made out of it. Hopefully, it will inspire and give strength to another young girl around the globe.

For assistance or any free advice do not hesitate to contact us at iheartbeingagirl@gmail.com

Best regards,
YSAFE - Youth Sexual Awarness for Europe

The time of the month

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:02:00 +0000

Menstruation, a taboo or blessing? A story told by women, their parners and communities from all over the world.

More stories on society, gender, growing up, love, culture, steriotypes and many more on Metropolis website

Love Your Vagina Song

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:58:00 +0000

Love Your Vagina song brought to you by Mooncup. In this case it's not about what you think of the Mooncup, we just find the song inspirational and hilarious!

Inspirational movies: Evening (2007)

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:50:00 +0000

Evening (2007) is a more than your usual chick flick... Set paralelly in 1950s US and nowadays it explores the mother-daughter relationships, female friendship, making important life choices and living with them afterwards, pursuing your dreams and trying to do what you feel like even if the spirit of your time or rational reasoning do not seem to support you.

Perfect for an august evening!

Aquadettes, my heroines (Luize)

noreply@blogger.com (Iza) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:10:00 +0000

Aquadettes from California is a place. on Vimeo.

"That's pretty much how I wanna feel in fifty years. And when facing all things harsh that hit you inexpectedly...

Resilient, active... and maybe a little high. And remembering to do things I love to do"

Luize

I ♥ Being a Girl Tea party !!!

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Dear friends,

Because we had such a blast at our own I♥BG tea party at the Regional Council, we would like to invite you to organize your own. So here it is, our official invitation:

We, YSAFE, would like to invite you to participate in the “I ♥ being a girl” and to encourage you to organize your own IHBG Tea parties where you could spark positive discussion around a gender transformative approach, girl empowerment, as well as a broad range of SRHR related discussion topics to help lead the discussions, including discussion on sex and pregnancy.

Before the Tea party, please see the „I ♥ Being a Girl movie", our Youtube fanpage, and explore the blog. We are sure it will give you some good ideas or raise a good discussion.

If you want to organise your own event, please contact me, Renata, at this email address renata.daunoraviciute@gmail.com . I will send you everything you need to know about organising your own tea-party and I can answer any questions you may have.

We would be grateful if you could let us know who will be contact person for your I ♥ Being a Girl Tea party, and when are you planning to make it. Special surprises are waiting for those who decides to support the project and get involved.

Hope to hear from you very soon!

Renata

Talking about.. sex (Chloe)

noreply@blogger.com (I ♥ Being a Girl) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:23:00 +0000

Miranda is a British sitcom co-written and starring comedienne Miranda Hart. Met with much critical acclaim, the show looks at the life of middle class Miranda and her profuse social awkwardness- an example being her propensity to burst into random song mid-interview.

This episode sees Miranda dealing with her inability to talk openly about sex and relationships, taking a stance that is ‘too British’ and conservative. Her behavior is hilarious; she explains how she was given little sex education at school, which has inhibited her ability to talk about it in later life. She satirizes perfectly the feeling that some girls can have when talking about such issues. We, as girls, should feel comfortable in sharing our experiences so as to end any stigma surrounding sex and to give a feeling of empowerment and confidence.

Also of note, is Hart’s success in the comedy world, an otherwise male dominated profession. She shows how women can be hugely successful in any line of work.