I had a wonderful experience at the Girlhood Remixed Camp--kudos to Jen for thinking of such an awesome, interactive place for girls to go and learn over their summer break!
The girls really blew me away! While at the camp, I helped the girls scan photos into the computers, so they could incorporate them into their movies; ran backup on Weebly assistance (btw Meg did an awesome job at presenting that!) and along with another grad student, Lisa, helped to have the girls brainstorm some ideas of what kind of camp tshirt designs they'd like to have.
The girls seemed to all be really fast learners (or maybe they had already encountered it at school) with computers and the websites. The weebly websites that the girls worked on with great enthusiasm was interesting for me to watch--one girl decided to make her banner a hot pink cow print, while another devoted her website all to animal trivia.
I read one website, and I was close to crying. One girl decided to make a 'fan page' to her family, more specifically to her older brother--who I am guessing is in his early teens? Possibly 15 or 16? The girl wrote all this information about how her brother is her protector--that when they go to parties, he never leaves her alone (parties at 13? but I digress..) and that he stands up for her. She recounted in her website that he brought over his girlfriend one time, and his girlfriend took one look at the girl and told her she was fat. (Not sure of the context, and how this would come up...but I am assuming it came unprovoked and out of nowhere--that there wasn't an insult war going on.... and fyi this girl is TOTALLY in healthy weight range!) The brother than told the girlfriend if she can't respect his sister, then she can't be dating the brother.....
Another girl, incredibly smart but extremely apologetic about not knowing how to set up weebly, was telling me that she gets a 'hard time' from her high school aged brother, who is a junior, for being enrolled in an Algebra 2 class (the same class he'll be in next semester) as a 14 year old girl. She said she isn't really excited about going to high school because he'll give her a hard time for being in the same classes he's in....but as advanced placement. She seemed to think that this was a problem--to be excelling in mathematics, and I repeatedly told her what an awesome job she is doing!
I did find some Pink Think at camp though--but it seemed to be in disguise. I overheard some of the girls talking about lip rings that they'd like to buy... because the lip rings state "single" and "kiss me." They also started talking about what outfits they'd wear on potential dates.... which was kind of shocking. However, most of the girls weren't dressed in pink, but rather neutral colors. I found it interesting though, that in a sea of neutral colors, most of the girls wanted their websites to be pink pink PINK!
While the girls were all incredibly smart and polite, I was shocked at all the phones, texting and facebook accounts that these girls had! Maybe it's because when I was their age, flip phone cell phones were just coming out (and there was no texting or a facebook, or myspace... all there was was Xanga, and only the 'older kids' ie 17 and 18 did that) and I was given a phone only to be able to call my parents and tell them I made it home safely from school--I'm suprised what a recreational hobby this is for preteens now!
I had a great time with the kids--I learned alot from them!
Sounds like a fascinating journey Christine. I am curious about the pink think. A lot of females I talk to wear pink as a message of empowerment. "I am a female and I will wear pink or blue or green or yellow whenever I want without anyone stereotyping me." These are college students who are aware of being categorized. This question is also coming from just reading the article about Disney weddings and also the book by Orenstein-"Cinderella ate my Daughter." I am wondering if it is important to lose the image of pink in order to change attitudes.This also comes from my question: if we don't change the word 'men' in the Constitution will we ever be equal? Just a thought.
ReplyDelete"While the girls were all incredibly smart and polite, I was shocked at all the phones, texting and facebook accounts that these girls had!I'm suprised what a recreational hobby this is for preteens now!"
ReplyDeleteI was also taken aback by this phenomena. It was pretty overwhelming. On the one hand it's nice they don't take technology for granted but it seems as though culturally they just go completely overboard. But I know in their eyes it is not going overboard. It's something that's been ingrained in them. They all had Facebook accounts and several were obsessed with checking them.I too marveled at the fact that I never had those types of things when I was growing up with these ladies were so comfortable in their environment technologically speaking. The camp was so much fun.
"Another girl, incredibly smart but extremely apologetic about not knowing how to set up weebly, was telling me that she gets a 'hard time' from her high school aged brother, who is a junior, for being enrolled in an Algebra 2 class (the same class he'll be in next semester) as a 14 year old girl. She said she isn't really excited about going to high school because he'll give her a hard time for being in the same classes he's in....but as advanced placement. She seemed to think that this was a problem--to be excelling in mathematics, and I repeatedly told her what an awesome job she is doing!"
ReplyDeleteThis girl was totally awesome! She was really concerned that her father would see her movie and she would get in trouble. I don't know why. But I let her know if she didn't want him to see it then we would make sure that he didn't see it. What struck me about her was that she was clearly very smart yet extremely insecure which I suppose I was insecure as well at that age. It was clear she needed to be built up which made me wonder why that was the case? I really wanted to try to boost her confidence level but in the end I settled for just trying to make her laugh. We had a good time talking and laughing.
I regret that I didn't get to spend very much time with the girls. I only spent time with them when they gathered their meals and at their first breakfast. It was not quite 9:00 am and many were hard at work, texting. I did find it interesting that there were girls outside a "circle" who appeared to be accustomed to it. One girl pointed out a neighborhood girl to me, while the other didn't acknowledge that they were neighbors. It was a hard place to go back to, for me. I wanted some of the girls to break away from the girls they already knew to eat with someone else. I also wanted them to put their phones away so they would have time and attention to invest in the girls around them. However, on reflection, I realized that I too texted during breakfast. There was a lot to be learned, as I recognize that in large groups I tend to draw to others who I know. In such a short period of time, I realized that insecurity, exclusion, and apologies run deep from girlhood and unfortunately, into womanhood. These discussions and reflection help to break that cycle, though. I am grateful for the time to look back and at my present.
ReplyDeleteThat is a super interesting detail "in a sea of neutral colors all their websites were Pink." I'm really sorry I missed what sounds like an awesome opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad and so thankful for your help at the camp! And I love these wonderful observations you made about the camp. I was really struck by the real lives of the girls, the many real challenges the girls face. The camp aimed to overcome socioeconomic barriers and I hope that happened for some of the campers.
ReplyDelete