Get It, Girls

"The girl and the woman, in their new, individual unfolding, will only in passing be imitators of male behavior and misbehavior and repeaters of male professions. After the uncertainty of such transitions, it will become obvious that women were going through the abundance and variation of those (often ridiculous) disguises just so that they could purify their own essential nature and wash out the deforming influences of the other sex. Women, in whom life lingers and dwells more immediately, more fruitfully, and more confidently, must surely have become riper and more human in their depths than light, easygoing man, who is not pulled down beneath the surface of life by the weight of any bodily fruit and who, arrogant and hasty, undervalues what he thinks he loves. This humanity of woman, carried in her womb through all her suffering and humiliation, will come to light when she has stripped off the conventions of mere femaleness in the transformations of her outward status, and those men who do not yet feel it approaching will be astonished by it. Someday (and even now, especially in the countries of northern Europe, trustworthy signs are already speaking and shining), someday there will be girls and women whose name will no longer mean the mere opposite of the male, but something in itself, something that makes one think not of any complement and limit, but only life and reality: the female human being." Rilke

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"I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing."

— Ursula Nordstrom (via womenorgnow)

If I Should Have A Daughter, by Sarah Kay.

A great perspective on how we’d like to help prepare our daughters for what we think and know awaits them. Shared with me by my bestie, who shares the cape, it’s weight, power, and joy.

missrep: Swedish Toy Catalogue Delightfully Reverses Genders in Toy Ads “The decision to swap all the genders in its Swedish toy catalogue marks a pretty significant shift for Top Toy, which was called out by a Swedish advertising watchdog for foisting outdated gender roles on boys and girls back in 2008. That same year, Sweden made a national push to promote gender equality in schools, spending some 110 million Swedish crowns ($16.3 million) in an effort that included the introduction of laws requiring teachers to actively help reverse gender stereotypes.” - Jezebel 

missrep:

Swedish Toy Catalogue Delightfully Reverses Genders in Toy Ads

“The decision to swap all the genders in its Swedish toy catalogue marks a pretty significant shift for Top Toy, which was called out by a Swedish advertising watchdog for foisting outdated gender roles on boys and girls back in 2008. That same year, Sweden made a national push to promote gender equality in schools, spending some 110 million Swedish crowns ($16.3 million) in an effort that included the introduction of laws requiring teachers to actively help reverse gender stereotypes.” - Jezebel 

What I Want to Tell My Daughter

is that there is something about being a woman that she may never understand. There is pain and humiliation and frustration and confusion and sensitivity and deep emotion in being a woman, and that she may not ever fully understand the what and why of it. I want to tell her that it will be difficult to sort through the conflicted feelings and the prejudices and the assumptions and the well-hidden slights against her. I wish that I could also tell her that it will all be alright, that she will understand it all so perfectly well one day, and that soon others will understand and she will feel less alone. I don’t yet think I can tell her that, though.

I will tell her to make deep bonds with her girlfriends. I will tell her to cling to other women for support and understanding. I will tell her to trust herself and her instincts and to never stop exploring what it means to be a woman, however far away answers seem to be. I will tell her that I understand, that all women understand on some level. I will tell her to write about it, to think about it, and to feel it. I will tell her to be proud of being a woman and to project that proud image of what she genuinely is, as a woman and a person, to the world in hopes that our gender will be less misunderstood. I will tell her to read books by Nicole Krauss, Betty Friedan, Sloane Crosley, the funny women of my generation, the strong women of my mother’s generation, and the even smarter women of her own generation.

I will tell her that this thing, this complicated nest of feeling and thought, created not by her but by those around her, is part of her whether she wants it or not. I will tell her that it is not fair, but that it is part of her and that I understand the pain in that. And we will both hope for the best, and we will do our best, together, with every other woman in the world.

Tavi Gevinson: Teenage Bloggess Superstar

Video interview with 15-year-old blogger and creator of Rookie magazine. She’s a little rock star.

The Girl Project

I got this book for my sister for Christmas. Kate Engelbrecht sent out thousands of cameras and questionnaires to teenage girls all over the U.S.  The book is a collection of the photographs and questionnaire responses.  

Teen readers will be rewarded with a wonderful set of sincere, deep messages and the reassurance that they are not alone.  

Sophie helps Mom set up the nativity on the ledge.

Sophie helps Mom set up the nativity on the ledge.

I Love a Good Gyn

The awesome kind who is professional and ostensibly smart, but open and non-judgmental enough that you don’t mind telling her how many sexual partners you’ve had while she works between your legs. Just found mine in NYC. Huzzah!

One of my favorite enlightened guy friends commented to me and a group of girls once that most girls knew their hairdressers better than their gynecologists. He was absolutely right and there is a lesson in that fact. 

How to Talk to Little Girls

This article is great. Read about the messages we send to young girls.

I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are.

Lisa Bloom ”nudges” against the norm by asking the little girl she meets which book is her favorite, instead of complimenting her physically. A really lovely nudge.