Pardon this quick blog entry - 12 hours at work and my brain is fried. But this is important.
I read a lot of blogs written by women, and today I noticed a lot of chatter about The Girl Effect. This week, there is a Girl Effect Blogging Campaign to raise awareness about this project in time for International Children's Day on November 20. So I wanted to join in.
I wish I had more time to write about this. But what I can say off the top of my head is this - having a girl really affects how you view the world. In many, many ways, the world seems like a scarier place. In addition, having a child, boy or girl, affects how you view children's issues. If you look at the issues facing girls in poverty-stricken countries - married by 14, children by 15 (not to mention the high mortality rate during childbirth), major threat of HIV and AIDS, never breaking the cycle of poverty, therefore putting their own daughters in the same situation - you can't help but imagine your own child facing those issues. And that brings out the protective mama bear like nobody's business.
Age 12 is no time for the world to view you as a woman. I think I still played with dolls when I was 12. I didn't get married until I was 31 and I didn't have my child until I was 33. WHEN I WAS READY.
Let's do what we can so these girls can make their own decisions WHEN THEY ARE READY too. Because life can be a whole hell of a lot different when it's not predetermined for you.
(There are so many more eloquent things to say about this, but I really wanted to share this video as soon as possible. To read entries by writers much better than me, please visit here and scroll down.)
1 comment:
harry potter author j.k. rowling likes to write about powerful women. consider hermione granger. at a time most girls are portrayed as idiots or nymphs, hermione is smart, tough, logical, and independent--a perfect role model. while there are other strong females throughout the books, i think rowling's strongest females all happen to be mothers. here are two examples of kick ass mothers:
lily potter: when voldermort comes to kill baby harry, harry's mom refused to stop shielding her son, and even though voldemort had no desire to kill her, she made the sacrifice. lily's love for her son made her willing to die for him, and that love had a profound effect on magic: her love acted as a final shield, protecting harry from the most powerful dark magic of all--the killing curse.
molly weasley: ron weasley's mom is probably my favorite mother of all. during the battle of hogwarts, bellatrix lestrange (an extremely powerful witch, second only to voldemort) attacks mrs. weasly's daughter. an enraged mrs. weasley (who just lost her son fred during the same battle) rips off her cloak and challenges bellatrix directly, shouting, "not my daughter, you bitch!" up until this moment, mrs. weasly has only been known for household-chore spells and her motherly devotion. mrs. weasley proclaims that another weasley will never be harmed and casts a powerful curse directly to bellatrix's chest, killing her.
powerful women are cool. powerful mothers are cooler.
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