This month clubGEN participated  in Lemonade Day, where girls learn the skills necessary to begin a business venture and put those skills into practice by planning opening their very own lemonade stand. ”Through the implementation of 14 steps ranging from goal setting to budget planning, borrowing money and determining the perfect location, children form mini-business models for their ideal lemonade stand.”

 At clubGEN’s Lemonade Day, girls also:

-learned basic business terms

-learned how to make responsible business choices

-worked with peers in club to plan their own lemonade day

-brought supplies and participated in different roles on the day of the event

At all the participating schools, girls created and ran their own stand and get to keep all of the profits from their business. Girls were able to experience a variety of aspects around entrepreneurship such as budgeting, marketing, investors, goal setting, materials, logistics, roles, advertising, and lemonade recipes/specialization. And they even got to be creative about what they sold!

According to Candace, a clubGEN campus coordinator,

“The girls really seemed to get a sense of responsibility and ownership once they started creating posters and deciding who would bring what for their stand. On the day of the event, I saw shy girls step up and volunteer in different jobs. Overall it was a great way for them to express creativity while also learning skills to help them in life and the business world. Some girls stuck to basic lemonade, while others wanted to make pink lemonade or grape kool-aid- and one school of mine is even selling pickles! A girl at that school drew a poster that was so great: a horse wearing a pickle costume holding a sign advertising pickles.”

In a society where women still make less than men on average, and are significantly less likely to major in business or be the head of a company, and own only a third of all businesses, teaching girls financial literacy and the joys of entrepreneurship early on can make a huge difference. (And, for clubGEN girls, it was also a chance to have fun and eat a lot of pickles, which is definitely a win-win.)

Tell me about yourself

My name is Annemarie and I’m 12 years old. I like to write and read and be outside.

Why did you decide to start helping the environment?

Once when I was in a third grade I read a magazine with a penguin on top of an iceberg and it was a really thin iceberg and it really pulled at my heart. At the moment I’m really interested in trees and helping them grow back and fighting against deforestation.

What have you been able to accomplish?

Two years ago I raised $400 for the rainforest. It went through an organization called Monte Verde Conservation League.  In school i made speeches in different classes and i sent out cards telling people about what was happening to the rainforest and set out jars for people donate money and made signs. Last year I raised 250$ for the polar bears through WWF. For the polar bears we had a bake sale.

This year I started a group called HEAL that is working to inspire people to plant trees in Austin. We look into what kind of trees to plant, where to plant them and cost. We’re still small but we’re going to get bigger. We’re going to do a lemonade stand to raise money.

Why are you so motivated?

I feel like it’s my point. Some people are like, “people are just people, there’s no point or no meaning” but i don’t believe that. I have love for the world. I absolutely think individuals can make a difference.

How can people get involved?

They can go to www.planetheal.org

What do you think is the best thing about being a girl?

I feel like when you’re a girl you can do anything. A bunch of people are like, “yay, girls!” And that makes me feel special. I feel like being a girl is special.

Researchers are finding girls in industrialized countries like the United States are beginning to develop earlier than ever before, and that along with earlier development for some girls come a host of other issues. If a growth spurt starts too early in life, it ends at an early age too, meaning a child will have fewer growing years total. A girl who has her first period at age 10 will stop growing younger and end up shorter than a genetically identical girl who gets her first period at age 13. Starting puberty earlier is also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer & depression later in life. There are emotional impacts as well. Girls who start puberty early are more likely to have lower self-esteem, more depression and more eating disorders than their peers. They, on average, start drinking and having sex sooner as well.

There are lots of reasons scientists speculate puberty is happening earlier. For one, girls who are under a great deal of stress because they come from homes that are not supportive are more likely to get their period earlier. Girls who are overweight are more likely to enter puberty early, and the average weight of pre-teens has gone up steadily over time. And then there are environmental factors. Studies have shown that the exposure to some environmental chemicals can cause bodies to mature early. Of particular concern are endocrine-disrupters, like “xeno-estrogens” or estrogen mimics like the compound BPA, which is found in everything from deodorant to dental sealants. In fact, ninety-three percent of Americans have traces of BPA in their bodies, and more than a million pounds of the substance are released into the environment each year.

But why the negative emotional consequences? It makes sense that girls from troubled homes might have other issues to deal with as they got older- but negative consequences are correlated with starting puberty early for all girls, regardless of family background. It’s likely that some of it comes from the fact that being different than your peers, and looking in a way that suggests you are more mature than you in fact are, can have a serious impact on your self-esteem and ability to navigate a world you only look like you’re ready for.

There is only so much we know for sure about why puberty’s happening early- once it’s begun happening, how can parents help their daughters cope? Puberty is hard enough at 12. Puberty at 7, when a girl might be the only one of her peers to be going through it, is much more difficult.

It’s important for parent’s to remember: early puberty is no reason to panic. It means nothing other than your daughter might need your support towards healthy development earlier than you anticipated. Helping your daughter be physically and mentally healthy is all any parent can do, and there are steps you can take:

• Help your daughter realize puberty is nothing to be ashamed of
• Teach her the facts so she understands how her body works
• Encourage regular physical activity
• Think about avoiding meat known to come from animals that have been fed growth hormones, as well as products containing BPA
• Talk to your doctor about how to make sure your daughter is getting the necessary level of nutrition

One of the lessons we teach at ClubGEN is called “Healthy Bodies”, and it helps girls understand what happens when their bodies start developing. Even for girls who reach puberty in what is considered the “normal” range, periods and pubic hair can be terrifying- and sometimes the misconceptions girls have about their bodies make their lives much more difficult.  Not understanding why periods happen, or when, or how to deal with them are all things girls are still struggling with. If you’re over a certain age, you might remember rumors that spread about how to use tampons, or why people bled and when- but these misconceptions still exist today. “Does my period have a deadline?”, “Do tampons hurt?” and “Is it normal to be scared about puberty?” are just examples of real questions girls bring to clubGEN. ClubGEN offers lessons about puberty that help girls sort out what is myth and what is fact, helps answer their questions via anonymous question box, and teaches girls that everyone’s body is different, and that’s okay.

Education & encouraging unashamed discussion about what puberty means are necessary for girls to understand and accept their bodies as beautiful & normal- and now, that discussion is becoming crucial earlier than ever.

They learn  that it’s not just photoshop- the images they see are also altered by the teams of makeup and hairstylists and lighting directors the models at photoshoots have at their disposal. For some girls, this workshop is the first time they’ve heard of photoshop,  and to see their faces when they realize how different celebrities look without photoshop and makeup is a profound experience. The girls almost always declare that they like the unretouched photo’s better, “because they look like a real person” or “because she is beautiful just the way she is.”

At every workshop the girls get the chance to use their GirlConnect workbooks to reflect on what they’ve learned about photoshop, and how it makes them feel.

Then the girls get the chance to make their own online blog about real beauty, with pictures and graphics to help them express themselves.

The workshop is such a fun opportunity to see girls explore their creativity as they celebrate themselves and the real qualities that make them beautiful, like their strength, and intelligence, and kindness.

 The GirlConnect Workshops are a fun & empowering opportunity for girls to create media that really reflects who they are, as opposed to who advertisers and magazines tell them they should be. If you’d like to bring a workshop to your daughter’s school, go here and find out more.

This past Sunday, GENaustin was the happy beneficiary of an event put on by the makers of the film Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. This event included clips of the film, superheroine art created by GENaustin girls, and a discussion with Wonder Women! Director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Producer Kelcey Edwards, moderated by Mary Celeste Kearney, Associate Professor of Radio-Television-Film and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

The film made its world premiere at SXSW this past weekend. As according to the film’s site, Wonder Women “traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation.”

This girl-power driven event Sunday was a huge success and GENaustin thanks everyone who came out and donated to support our organization!

The panel generated a fantastic discussion about the representation of women in comic books, actions movies, and other media. For example, did you know that 97% of media decision-making power rests in the hands of men? No wonder often times female-centric stories are absent or undervalued in our society.

That’s why GENaustin is proud to support female filmmakers like Guevara-Flanagan and Edwards. Through our self-esteem building focused activities, we hope to inspire girls to use the media as an outlet for exercising their own unique voices, just like these awesome filmmaking wonder women!

If you are interested in checking out the film, there are still opportunities to do so at SXSW screenings this week. If you don’t have a SXSW pass or badge, tickets are available at the door:

• Tuesday, March 13 at 2:00 PM, at Alamo Ritz 1
• Friday, March 16 at 4:30 PM, at Alamo Ritz 2

Thanks again to Erin Prather Stafford, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, and Kelcey Edwards for allowing GENaustin to be a part of this very special event.

And thank you to all the girls who submitted their artwork!

Petra Stumpf, a 26-year-old Peace Corp Volunteer working in the Philippines, and hailing from Jonesboro, Georgia, came across GENaustin while searching for youth empowerment materials to inform her work. Her primary project is teaching English, but she also conducts interactive empowerment seminars for youth about everything from sexual health and relationships to gender roles and discrimination. When she heard that GENaustin was looking to tell the stories of extraordinary girls, she knew just the girl: Vallerie Joyia Demavibas, a 15 years old chess player who, according to Petra, “pours her heart and soul into the game”:

Hello, my name is Vallerie Joyia Demavibas, I am 15 years old and I live in Barangay Tagpait, Aborlan, Palawan, Philppines. When I was 12 years old in grade 5, I tried playing chess for the first time because for me, this game is fun and interesting! In The Philippines, chess is a sport, it’s also very popular in Japan and Korea- many Chess Masters are from there. Some day I want to be a Chess Master. I’m thankful because my brother taught me how to play this game. Actually, I have three brothers named Rainyel, Rodel, and Renzen. They are all chess players and I’m proud to be in their family. I also have one sister, Kate Andrea, who plays Taekwondo in college. I prefer chess to taekwondo because chess is not violent and I won’t get hurt!

When I play chess, my whole mind is focused on the game and my opponent so everything else, all my problems, disappear for a little while. Chess allows me to show my feelings in a game environment because usually I’m a shy person. For me, chess is my life! Everyday I play about 5-7 games! None of my friends enjoy chess like I do, it’s not such a popular game here, but I’m not discouraged, I just play with my brothers. Recently, I competed in a Provincial Meet here on my island and won second place. I encourage all the readers to be good students, positive thinkers, and to try chess!

Vallerie’s love of and success at chess is even more impressive considering that, of the 1000 most successful chess players in the world, only 22 are women.  Way to break down barriers for girls! Go Vallerie (and Petra)!

Do you know a girl who’s doing something amazing (in Austin, or anywhere in the world?) Email maria@genaustin.org and tell me about it!

Girls: We need your help!

The team behind WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES, a 2012 SXSW Film Festival premiere, will host a community event benefitting GENaustin on Sunday, March 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Gallery Black Lagoon, 4301 Guadalupe Street, Austin, 78751.

And we’re having an art contest! Want to display your art?

The GENaustin Art Contest

-If you were a superhero, what would your costume look like?

-What special powers would you have?

Make a piece of original art that shows yourself as a superhero, and it will be displayed in the Gallery Black Lagoon! It can be digital art or you can scan and email it to us!

Be sure submit your artwork to Brittany@genaustin.org by Friday, March 9^th.

 Attendees of the event will have the opportunity to:

·         See snippets from the documentary WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES.

·         Listen to a Q&A with WONDER WOMEN! Director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Producer Kelcey Edwards, moderated by Mary Celeste Kearney, Associate Professor of Radio-Television-Film and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

·         Enter a superheroine/superhero costume contest.

·         Enjoy food and refreshments.

The event is free and open to the Austin community, a SXSW badge or film pass is not required to attend. Staff from GENaustin will be on hand to collect $5.00 donations for the organization.

WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman. From the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! looks at how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society’s anxieties about women’s liberation. WONDER WOMEN! goes behind the scenes with Lynda Carter, Lindsay Wagner, comic writers and artists, and real life superheroines such as Gloria Steinem, Shelby Knox and others who offer an enlightening and entertaining counterpoint to the male dominated superhero genre.

SXSW Official Screenings:

Saturday, March 10, 7 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, 1120 S Lamar Blvd. 78704

Monday, March 12, 11 a.m., Violet Crown Cinema, 434 West 2nd St. 78701

Tuesday, March 13, 2 p.m., Alamo Ritz, 320 E. 6th St. 78701

Friday, March 16, 4:30 p.m., Alamo Ritz, 320 E. 6th St. 78701

The Women’s Media Center released their annual report about the representation of women in the media, which revealed that in every aspect of the media, women are not being represented.

Some key findings:

• Women represented just 21.7% of guests on Sunday morning news talk shows airing on the major networks.
• Women comprised only 18.1% of all radio news directors.
• In sports news, women represented 11.4% of all editors, 10% of all columnists, and 7% of all reporters.
• Only 30% of the literature reviewed by NPR last year was written by women.
• Of the top 250 domestic grossing films, women were 5% of the directors, 14% of the writers, 18% of the executive producers, 25% of the producers, 20% of the editors, and 4% of the cinematographers.
• In the key behind-the-scenes role in entertainment television, women were 18% of the creators, 22% of the executive producers, 37% of the producers, 15% of the writers, 11% of the directors, 20% of the editors, and 4% of the directors of photography.
• And worldwide, women were the subjects of only 24% of news stories

All this is despite the fact that women make up 73% of Journalism and Communication Grads. These findings raise a variety of questions: how are we to expect the gender makeup of the media to change, if boys will hire boys? And how can the news, television, radio and movies we watch to accurately reflect the lives of girls and women when girls and women are not being given the opportunity to tell those stories? Knowing how to critically evaluate media is one part of the equation- but making sure that women play a role in creating that media in the first place is another. Good Magazine is suggesting people take the time to promote women through their social networks- and then tweet about it, using the hashtag #promotewomen. Will you participate? What else can we be doing?

It is a well known, (if often unacknowledged) fact that in our society there still exists a significant gap in the number of women compared to men in the fields of science and math, and that women still lag in leadership positions, holding only 5% of top corporate positions and a minority of positions in elected legislatures (just 16% in the USA).

 What is to account for this difference? Not ability. A recent study that analyzed math scores from more than half a million fourth- and eighth-graders from 86 countries found  essentially no gender differences between girls and boys in math performance, and that that the more equal the societies were regarding  gender, the better everyone did in math. And a new study in the journal Science concluded, “Gender differences in choosing to enter competitions are one source of unequal labor market outcomes concerning wages and promotions.” Other studies have supported this conclusion, finding that when women and men see a job posting where they do not have every qualification, women are much less likely to apply for those positions than men are. And in the field of politics, studies have shown that women are more likely than men to perceive the electoral environment as highly competitive and women are much less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office.

The researchers of the Science study conducted an experiment which involved three methods that provided an initial advantage to women in a math competition. The study that was conducted indicated that if a system of gender-based affirmative action was put into place initially, women felt more confident about their abilities and were not only more likely to enter the contest, but more likely to succeed as well.

So what is happening here, and what do we do about it? According to Anita Gurian, a clinical assistant professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, for girls, “Starting in the pre-teen years, there is a shift in focus; the body becomes an all consuming passion and barometer of worth.” Girls get the message that being smart is unattractive, and they start to hide their accomplishments & their ideas. Girls are also exposed early on to the message that certain fields are difficult for them, and these expectations of failure eventually become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This “confidence gap” doesn’t just impact girls in their careers. It has an impact on every aspect of their lives. A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of teens who had unintended pregnancies found that 25% did not use contraception because their partners did not want them to. It is for this reason that it is so important girls learn early on to be assertive, to stand up for themselves, and to feel comfortable saying “no.”

In order to succeed in fields where women are traditionally underrepresented, encouraging STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and participation in entrepreneurship & civic engagement is incredibly important. But on a more basic level, it is clear we need to encourage girls to be confident, assertive, and proactive in all aspects of their lives.  That is why GENaustin, through our array of programming, seeks to empower all girls to recognize and celebrate their abilities, and to never feel intimidated to pursue their goals. Ultimately it is today’s empowered girls that will become the first women to jump the gender gap.

Georgia’s controversial ad campaign against childhood obesity raises the question: what kind of advertising is actually helpful in encouraging not only healthy self-esteem, but healthy kids, both physically and mentally? Do we really think that in a society that covets thinness, promotes thinness, and defines beauty in very specific (thin) terms, that overweight kids don’t already realize they are overweight? Children as young as four have been diagnosed with disordered eating because they think they’re not thin enough.  Kids have already received the (wrong) message. And now, in addition to only seeing bodies that look nothing like their own in TV and movies, overweight kids must also see those that look like them shamed on billboards and in commercials. How does this help? Does it make healthier food options available to low-income families, who often find the cheapest and most widely available food is that which is least healthy? Does it create and encourage the use of safe outdoor spaces for kids to play? Does it acknowledge the reality that health is possible at many different sizes? Or does it simply add another voice to the cacophony of fat-shaming that already exists, without actually proposing any solutions to the problem of childhood obesity?

 It makes no sense to sustain a culture that makes people of all body types feel inadequate while doing nothing to change the structures that promote unhealthy choices for kids. For this reason, Georgia’s ads are not only misguided but counter productive to the goal of making sure all children are happy, healthy, and feel good about their bodies.

What do you think is the right way to address the issue of childhood obesity?