11th October marks Day of the Girl, a day which aims to highlight the challenges faced by girls around the world.
For the past two years, Girlhood Gang have marked Day of the Girl with interactive Twitter campaigns all about girls and girlhood.
2018: The girls we were
We love the initiatives that ask us to give our younger selves words of wisdom, but to celebrate Day of the Girl we wanted to do something a little different. Instead, we asked out Twitter followers: what advice would the girls we were… give to the women we are today? The response was phenomenal!
“Read books instead of social media and don’t wear make up that hides your freckles ⭐️”
“I think the girl I was would tell the woman I am to continue following my heart, continue living the life I want instead of the life outside influences tell me to have, and to keep being brave – and angry when necessary! She would say “Don’t let me down!”
“She would definitely raise an eyebrow if I ever said no to cream & marshmallows on top of hot chocolate!”
“My girlhood self wasn’t cool or confident, she wasn’t particularly happy and she certainly wouldn’t have come up with anything profound. But she would be amazed at the distance travelled and therefore probably tell me to keep up the good work! ??”
“My younger self would definitely tell me to be less boring and harassed and not to forget all the music I love.”
“I’m thinking she’d say “Laugh more, go back to reading a book a week and bring back tie-dye leggings and scrunchies”
2019: Inspiring girls from films
In honour of Girlhood Gang’s involvement in the Her Century project [add hyperlink to HC page], for 2019 we decided to ask our Twitter followers about girls from films who inspired them. Like last year, we received a terrific response!
“I’ll go for Hushuppy from the 2012 movie Beasts Of The Southern Wild. It tells the story of a young girl in a bayou community who must find the courage to face her ailing father and the melting ice caps. It’s a beautiful film with an amazing performance from Quvenzhané Wallis”
“Hidden figures!! Amazing movie and as a girl I always wanted to work for @NASA”
“It’s gotta be Esperanza (aka @SammiHaneySassy) from Raising Dion. Not strictly a film, but her nuanced and powerful discussions and representations of disability and ableism are ??? #DayoftheGirl”
“I loved Now and Then when I was wee, I loved all the girls but Gaby Hoffman’s character was aces.”
“Susanna Kaysen as portrayed by Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted inspires me ?The film was adapted from Kaysen’s critical journal-memoir about her experiences of mental health treatment. I love how intelligent and angry she is ?#DayOfTheGirl #MentalHealthAwareness”
Read more about Day of the Girl here.