Girls Power Play
Right when we are born we are gendered. The little
pink and blue blankets hold so much more baggage than just a warming device.
They hold roles, normative behaviors, and body ideals. “Historically, studies
that explore “childhood” broadly, or the experience of growing up generally,
have often been based to represent the experiences of boys” (Lipkin 4). They
study boys and apply the same information to girls even though our gender roles
and experiences are different from the time of birth. It is important to
understand girls because our experiences are different. Girls have expectations
placed on them and also preconceived notions are given to them too. It is
important to not study girls only from the anglocentrism lens (Griffin 29).
Everyone is different because race and class intersect and it is important to
recognize those differences from white privileged girls. Each group of girls
has preconceived notions attached to them creating a tightrope which girls have
to tread on carefully. “Girls are told they can be leaders and it's okay to be
smart, but they then may be critiqued for being too ambitious or too pushy, a
process that doesn't necessarily change when they grow into women” (Lipkin 12).
Girl's learning strength and leadership is important because it educates them
on the societal pressures placed on girls; this education is intended to
implement change in our societal construction of girlhood.
In our readings from “The Body Project” there were
discussions about women working with adolescent girls that I thought was
interesting, especially considering we are working with YWLP. The quote is on
page 18 and it says “Most of this entire protective umbrella meant that girls
had many projects-other than their own bodies-to keep them busy and engaged”. I
don’t necessarily agree with the whole “protective umbrella” thing but I like
how it talks about keeping girls engaged in projects rather than focusing on
their bodies. By giving them activities where they can still see what their
bodies can do but also focusing on leadership and teamwork; helps them to see
what they can achieve and not just focusing on the body as an all-consuming
project.
Also from another chapter we’ve read in Body Projects;
the author states that before the twentieth century, girls simply did not
organize their thinking about themselves around their bodies-especially shape,
size, and muscle tone-because they believe that the body is the ultimate
expression of self (97). The author also states that the body is a consuming
project for contemporary girls because it provides an important means of
self-definition, a way to visibly announce who you are to the world (97). I
believe what we are trying to do with this project is help girls to see that
the body is not an all-consuming project and to focus less on what their body
looks like and more on what their bodies can do and help them achieve.
This project is relevant to our Girls and the Body
course, as well as the Girls Studies movement; because it is a project geared
directly toward having girls create and develop their strength and ability that
can move themselves forward. All teenagers can learn about leadership and define
for themselves what it means. It is
important that these girls understand they are young leaders in their
day-to-day lives, and that leadership is not reserved for adults or for those
in formal leadership positions. Leaders are those who think for themselves,
communicate their thoughts and feelings to others, and help others understand
and act on their own beliefs; they influence others in an ethical and socially
responsible way. Through our activities the girls will have the opportunity to
recognize and then utilize the leadership skills which they already possess,
and in doing so they will be able to further develop other leadership qualities
as their years and experience progress.
Action:
In order to fulfill our service-learning
requirement, our group has several different components that we will be implementing.
We will be working with the girls at UCF Days, through four different group
activities, we will engage the YWLP participants in a setting in which they can
experience leadership through the functionality of the body. Following the
activities, we will facilitate a guided discussion connecting body experience
with applied leadership.
Discussion Questions:
1) What
did it feel like to use your body in different ways in different activities?
2) How
did you display leadership during the activities?
3) What
did you have to do differently during the challenges when you weren’t allowed
to speak, move, or see?
4) Were
there times when you used your body to lead? When you used your body to follow?
What did you find was effective, and what was ineffective? Did you feel
uncomfortable at any times?
These questions will be used in a group setting
after completing the activities for UCF Days.
We hope that the girls can share their experiences from the activities
with us, and gain some insight of what they have the ability to do. As in “At
home in my body” Torres speaks of how “she learned to reach her goals, her mind
had to be convinced that her body could do the impossible”, I hope that these
girls can come to the same conclusions while having fun doing our activities
for the day.
Works Cited:
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate
History of American Girls. New York: Random House, 1997. Print.
Griffin, Christine. "Good Girls, Bad Girls:
Anglocentrism and Diversity in the Constitution of Contemporary Girlhood."
All About The Girl . Ed. Anita Harris. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Lipkin , Elline. Girls' Studies. Berkeley: Seal
Studies, 2009. Print. pg 29
Torres, Allison.
“At Home in My Body.” Body
Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. Ed.
Ophira Edut. Emeryville, CA: Seal Press,
2003. 219-224. Print.
