Tag Archives: girl

Myth? Mystery? Meaningful? What are You Teaching the Girls in Your Life?

A recent tweet invoked my ire.

@ProvedByScience: If a girl wears regular underwear with yoga pants, she’s a virgin. This is science.

 

 

 

 

 

My reply was simple.

@PeriodWise @ProvedByScience define “girl”

144 characters limited what I could say and there was NO WAY I could say all I wanted to in one tweet. So, I began small and hoped to engage in conversation.

This morning when I searched for the original @ProvedByScience tweet I found only my reply and one RT to which was added “Guess I’m a virgin then lol”

LOL?  Seriously?

Are we so accustomed to this type thing that we find it funny? Or, feel we should laugh it off and go along with the joke. If so, then the joke’s on us.

It’s not funny.  It’s demeaning.  It makes girls nothing but an object to be labeled, manipulated, and used (need I say abused?).

And girls who grow up labeled, manipulated and used / abused become woman who accept such treatment and propagate it, often without even realizing it.

Girls are easily impressed by things heard & seen.  And, girls are often eager to be what they think is expected of them.

Take a look at the verbal cues your girls receive on a daily, moment by moment basis (in school, church, at home, from friends, the TV, in songs, from guys). If you’re not alarmed, you should be.

From an early age, girls are told what their place in society is. And, they are told what’s expected of them, how they should think about themselves, how they should dress, act…who they should be.

Myths, lies, misinformation – these and more create a mystery-laden-quagmire for girls that leads them to misunderstand themselves and their place and position in the world.

Confused and misinformed girls become – that’s right – confused and misinformed women.

Women, it’s time to arise, name and claim who we are, what we are, and stand against anything that defames, degrades, or denigrates girls / women.

Girls / women…the term seems interchangeable, doesn’t it?  But, it’s not.  Girls are not yet women.  And, women are no longer girls.  We women need to protect girls from those who would teach them to be other than and less than they are and can be.

Stand up for the girls within your reach and realm of influence.

Be a voice that dispels myths, decodes mysteries, and opens the door to honest/open discussion.

Girl Wise

I watched a brief video of my 3 month old granddaughter this evening.

She’s precious – oh, so precious.

And, she’s girl – all girl.  From the top of her red head, to her hiccupy giggle, to her tiny toes, this baby is girl.

100% girl.

I feel such emotion for this child…this grandchild of mine.

For, I am girl, too.

I hope her dad never tells her she can’t do something because she is girl. And, I hope he never says a negative word about menstruation in her presence, especially about her own.

it’s easier to speak with those I don’t know or can’t see (via tweets, emails, phone calls) about issues dear to the heart than it is to find words and opportunity to speak and address important things that can make or break the way this girl sees her girl experience and herself as girl.

I thought I had adequately prepared my son for things menstrual.  But, in my preparation, I failed to consider that one day he would be instrumental in the attitude and views his daughter would have about herself and her periods.

How do I tell him what’s on my heart?

How do I speak the words that are more emotion than vowels and consonants?

Where do I begin?  How do I begin?

I will craft a letter.  It will begin like this:

Dear Son,

You are the most influential person in girl’s life.  She will see herself through your eyes and your words will be what drafts her identity.

She is girl. Embrace that early and never speak against it. Lift her girlness high and hold it in esteem.  Refrain from making light of her tears, of her emotions, of her inability to be/act/ react as boy (why would she want or need to? She is girl).

She is girl.  One day she will enter puberty and the transformation she was born for will begin. She will grow breasts, and pubic hair, and, yes, she will have periods and all the wonders that go with it.

She will look to you for affirmation and confirmation of her identity as girl and her evolving identity as woman. Don’t let her down. Lift her up. Empower her to embrace all that being girl involves.  Love her and teach her to love herself as girl.  Allow her to experiment and experience life, but never give her cause to hate being girl.

Ah, my heart is too full to continue.

And, my mind is too full of memories from my own girlhood…of my dad…of my own girl experiences and struggles.

I wonder…have you any advice for me?  How can I help my son become girl wise and thereby capable of becoming period wise?

Late Bloomers

Holly and Charisse of Ask Mom direct a delightful YouTube video to girls who feel they are “late bloomers.”

Girls who experience puberty’s changes later than their friends often  .

  • feel they are changing too slowly
  • wish they were more like their friends
  • worry because they don’t have the same interests their friends have
  • feel left out

If you were a late bloomer, or your girl is, take 3 minutes and view the video below.

Be period wise about your individuality. Acknowledge it. Embrace it. Understand it. Delight in it.  Lean fully into it.

If you have or know of a late bloomer, acknowledge their concerns, encourage patience, and reassure them that all is well.

Period Stash

I came across a YouTube video of a girl’s updated (menstrual) product storage.  It’s a little long, but if you will do as I did and just briefly scan through it, it’s easy to get a quick glimpse of the variety of products she has available.  I have to admit, I was drawn to all the colors and the way she has them organized.

After viewing the video, I glanced into my period stash to see how mine compares to hers.  And, I looked at my daughter’s, too.

Mine are organized in similar fashion to the video, but Daughter’s are tossed into a drawer and mingle with deodorant, toothpaste, brushes, hair doo-dads, etc…total disarray.

Watching the video made me want to run out to my local Wal-mart and pick up a few of the newly minted products in the cool colors and sizes.  Though I have much of what she showed, for some reason hers looked flashier, newer, more colorful than my own.

There’s nothing like buying and checking out new products.

And, there’s nothing like trying new/different products to gain insight into our flow, period wise.

I wonder…

  • What does your period stash look like?
  • When was the last time you updated it?
  • When was the last time you really looked at all the neat things your local store offers period wise?
  • When was the last time you stepped out of your menstrual comfort zone and did something really wild for your period?
  • How many of the items in her stash do you recognize by brand/type/size, or have in your own stash?
  • How period wise is your period stash?