The Future of Women

For this journal I spent time looking at entries about girl children around the world, and the types of oppression that they face growing up as girls/women/female bodied. I am interested in these topics as a step-mother, a teacher, a mentor, and a woman.

''Because I like football'' ;) Supporting the dreams of adolescent girls. Armenia (https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/elvirameliksetyan/posts/61859)

Discusses the importance of helping girls follow their dreams, even if their dreams are to be in male dominated professions. As the step-mother of a 6 year old Turkish-American girl, I have found myself an advocate, and activist, for the lives of girl children, even more than I had been prior to being adopted into her family. The importance that ensuring that she feels that she can do, and be, anything she wants far surpasses what I ever learned or expected of myself as a woman when I was a girl. To teach her that she is as fast, as smart, as entitled to liking Star Wars, as important as her male counterparts, is an ongoing struggle to change the way that we, as a society, talk to and about our girl children.

Girl Child Education (https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/groups/gender-based-violence-gro...)

Is about the lack of education available to African girl-children. As an American it is hard to believe that there are places where children are kept out of school, much less places where 60% of girl-children are kept out of school. I would like to focus more this quarter on getting involved with organizations in other countries that provide education for women and girls, and that are fighting childhood marriage.

Growing Up Girl in Jamaica: Bewitching Breasts (https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/ayesha-constable/posts/61939)

This particular essay was of interest to me because it holds many similarities to the experiences of girl growing up in America. As a country we try to pride ourselves on our exceptional treatment of women and children, but we are also a country founded on puritanical beliefs that is accustomed to not talking to our children about their bodies or sex, and likewise prone to victim-blaming. We have an intense rape cultural that blames women’s bodies for being too attractive.

I am an advocate for teaching children about all of their bodies. To teaching the word “vagina” with the same ease and inflection as “elbow”. This has caused contention with my step-daughters mother, due to cultural differences. I believe that it is of the utmost importance for protecting children to ensure that they have the proper terminology for their bodies, and are not ashamed to discuss what is happening inside, outside, and to their bodies by outside parties if that ever happens to them.