girls + toys

toys are for girls or boys playing

• How did we get here? by Princess Free Zone (2011-06-21)
• Lego is for girls by Brad Wieners at Bloomsberg Businessweek (2011-12-14)
• Lego and Dinsey are lazy by Princess Free Zone (2011-12-15)

Resilience!

Unbreakable is a very power art project that portrays rape survivors' strength after sexual abuse, aimed to break the silense surrounding rape and to shed light on the issue, and to remind to those whose innocence was stolen that they are never alone.There are "photo days" in US and Grace absolutely accepts submissions!

Media & Body Image

Although this is a Dove corporate responsibility add, it still makes a relevant point about where do our mental images of the perfect body come from...

As an additional reading, Real Women Have... Bodies by Hugo Schwyzer

Girls vs women in the workplace..

Caroline Drucker of SoundCloud offers a simple but empowering solution for getting more women in tech in her Ignite NYC 13 talk, How to Get More Women in Tech in Under a Minute. She suggest that by not using the word ‘girls’ to refer to ‘women’ that “there will be a lot more women (in tech) when we get rid of the "girls”.

Inspirational Characters: Tiffany Aching

Picture by Krewcia

...If it came to that, the book never gave you the evidence of anything. It talked about ‘a handsome prince’ . . . was he really, or was it just because he was a prince that people called him handsome? As for ‘a girl who was as beautiful as the day was long’ . . . well, which day? In midwinter it hardly ever got light! The stories didn’t want you to think, they just wanted you to believe what you were told...

. . .

Anyway, she preferred the witches to the smug handsome princes and especially to the stupid smirking princesses, who didn’t have the sense of a beetle. They had lovely golden hair, too, and Tiffany didn’t. Her hair was brown, plain brown. Her mother called it chestnut, or sometimes auburn, but Tiffany knew it was brown, brown, brown, just like her eyes. Brown as earth. And did the book have any adventures for people who had brown eyes and brown hair? No, no, no . . . it was the blond people with blue eyes and the redheads with green eyes who got the stories. If you had brown hair you were probably just a servant or a woodcutter or something. Or a dairymaid. Well, that was not going to happen, even if she was good at cheese. She couldn’t be the prince, and she’d never be a princess, and she didn’t want to be a woodcutter, so she’d be the witch and know things, just like Granny Aching—

The Wee Free Men by Sir Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld series of fantasy novels. She is the protagonist in 4 of his books in which she grows from nine-year old to a girl of sixteen in the last published book. Her stories often parallel mythic heroes' quests, but also deal with Tiffany's difficulties as a young girl maturing into a responsible woman. During the course of the series Tiffany grows to be a witch, however her powers are rather cognitive than magical. She possesses First Sight, the ability to see 'what is really there' (as opposed to Second sight, which shows people what they think ought to be there) and Second Thoughts, which are defined as 'the thoughts you think about the way you think'. As a witch and a young woman, she often faces stereotypes, prejudice and social pressure but always keeps determined to stand her ground and fight injustice.

Tea Party Stories

In September the Bulgarian MA had their first tea party. Here are our impressions:

Tea Party Bulgaria on Prezi

New data on the rise of women...

Hanna Rosin reviews startling new data that shows women actually surpassing men in several important measures, such as college graduation rates. Do these trends, both US-centric and global, signal the "end of men"? Probably not -- but they point toward an important societal shift worth deep discussion.

Call for stories for I ♥ Being a Girl E-book

I ♥ Being a Girl stories

I ♥ Being a Girl a project by and for girls, aiming to inspire and empower young women by offering them a place where they can freely share and exchange experience, personal views and ideas.

As part of the second stage of the I ♥ Being a Girl project, YSAFE aims to enrich its inventory by collecting short stories and creating an e-book dedicated to girls, their hopes and dreams, the challenges they faced and the victories they have conquered.

By sharing your story you can rise above the stereotype and paint the true colours of a girl’s life, your life: exiting, challenging, unique.

What is the topic of the e-book?

The topic of the e-book is Overcoming Challenges. Every person faces obstacles and hardships in their life. Those challenges are unfortunately sometimes related to gender and equality. Both girls and boys have to fight with prejudice, stereotypes and sometimes discrimination when it comes to their sexuality, job aspirations, freedom of expression or sometimes just feeling comfortable in a relationship. Challenging as they are, they can help you grow stronger, gain confidence and hopefully help you fight injustice and bring about positive change for good. That is why as part of the I ♥ Being a Girl we ask you to share your experience, express thoughts and feelings and talk about what helped you overcome difficulties and reach your goals. We are all equal in our diversity and the more we talk about our differences the more common grounds we find and embrace true freedom and equality.

How should I write the story?

There is no set frame or structure for the short stories as we hope all written pieces to be as genuine and honest as possible. You can choose any tense, narrative, chain of events or view point you like. You can use you real name or an alias. Pictures or graphics accompanying the story are welcome but not compulsory.

First, decide which event in your life was most challenging, memorable, inspiring or just helped you grow most. Make a list of the main events and the most important points you want to make and think about the structure of your story. Do not stress about language or style as no one expects you to be a professional writer. Remember that the true value of your story is in your true and unique self.

The stories should be:
• Written or at least translated in English
• Not more than 2000 words
• Written in doc./ pdf. or any other commonly used format.

Please note, any offencive, discriminatory or inappropriate language will not be tolerated. While writing your story, think how it can affect others and their feelings.

What will happen to my story?

Your story will be included in our e-book and as part of the I ♥ Being a Girl project will be distributed vie our blog, on our main events and via the e-mail. Its distribution will be free for everyone and no profits will be made out of it. Hopefully, it will inspire and give strength to another young girl around the globe.


For assistance or any free advice do not hesitate to contact us at iheartbeingagirl@gmail.com

Best regards,
YSAFE - Youth Sexual Awarness for Europe

The time of the month

Menstruation, a taboo or blessing? A story told by women, their parners and communities from all over the world. 

More stories on society, gender, growing up, love, culture, steriotypes and many more on Metropolis website

Love Your Vagina Song

Love Your Vagina song brought to you by Mooncup. In this case it's not about what you think of the Mooncup, we just find the song inspirational and hilarious!