Girls (Not the HBO show)

Okay. I am not embroiled in the controversy around HBO’s new show, Girls. I haven’t watched it, to be frank. I saw that it was yet ANOTHER show about rich, white women in NYC and just decided against it. Commentary about the show is all over the internet, and we’ve discussed it here, too.

This post is actually not about the show at all. Psych.

Instead, I’d like highlight some OTHER girls, and their fierce work in the world. It’s my own little counter to the HBO sanctioned worldview that whitewashes life and is anchored in economic privilege.  Here are some of my favorite things that girls are up to in the world, please add yours in the comments.

1. FRIDA, the Young Feminist Fund. These women are really about the biz. They are raising money to fund projects around the world by and for girls. Their mission is to “provide accessible, strategic and responsive funding for young feminist-led initiatives. We aim to strengthen the capacity of young feminist organizations to leverage resources for their work.” I had the great pleasure of moderating a panel at the UN with Amina Doherty, FRIDA’s 27 year-old coordinator. She talked about their insipring participatory approach to grant-making, where grantees collective decide how to use and distribute funds. Now here are some young women and girls that should have their own show.

2. Project Girl, a “girl-led, arts-based initiative created to enable girls to become better informed critical consumers of mass media advertising and entertainment — in other words, to become more media literate.” These middle school girls are making art (paintings, collages, video, sculpture, photography, zines!) that represents them, and they way the live in and experience the world. Check out their art.

And 3. Close to (my) home, The Sadie Nash Leadership Project in NYC. These girls are redefining the meaning of leadership itself, by developing as leaders in social, political, and economic decision-making. They have a leadership institute that works with high school girls to cultivate their skills and help them change the world. They have tons more programs, find out.

Ok, y’all, it’s your turn! What are you favorite girl-centered/led projects?

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