girls

University of Iowa journalism professor M. Gigi Durham has a debut book out called The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It. And it’s about time. If I see one more ad for Beyonce’s clothing line featuring tarted up toddlers working it, I’m going to scream.

Here’s word on the book from Publisher’s Weekly:

We’ve all seen it–the tiny T-shirts with sexually suggestive slogans, the four-year-old gyrating to a Britney Spears song, the young boy shooting prostitutes in his video game–and…Durham has had enough. In her debut book, she argues that the media–from advertisements to Seventeen magazine–are circulating damaging myths that distort, undermine and restrict girls’ sexual progress. Durham, who describes herself as “pro-girl” and “pro-media,” does more than criticize profit-driven media, recognizing as part of the problem Americans’ contradictory willingness to view sexualized ad images but not to talk about sex. Chapters expose five media myths: that by flaunting her “hotness” a little girl is acting powerfully; that Barbie has the ideal body; that children–especially little girls–are sexy; that violence against women is sexy; and that girls must learn what boys want, but not vice versa. After debunking each myth, Durham offers practical suggestions for overcoming these falsehoods, including sample questions for parents and children. In a well-written and well-researched book, she exposes a troubling phenomenon and calls readers to action.

May this book–and its message–travel far and wide. For Salon’s review, click here.

Girls Write Now, my #1 favorite organization to get girls writing, is holding its Spring Reading at the Tribeca Barnes and Noble on June 8. Join me there? For more on what this amazing org is up to, check out their spring newsletter. (And if you share my love for this org and are feeling generous, donate here!)

In case you missed the article by Tamar Lewin in this weekend’s NYTimes, here’s the newsflash: Girls’ Gains Have Not Cost Boys. It’s amazing to me that we need a report to prove this. But kudos to the researchers over at the American Association of University Women who pulled it together. Maybe now the boy-crisis warriors can finally cool down.

In 1992, you may recall, the AAUW released a landmark report on how girls are shortchanged in the classroom, causing a national debate over gender equity. Then came the Christina Hoff Sommers of the world, arguing that efforts to help girls have come at boys’ expense. Echoing research released two years ago by the American Council on Education and other groups, the new report says that while girls have for years graduated from high school and college at a higher rate than boys, the largest disparities in educational achievement are not between boys and girls, but between those of different races, ethnicities and income levels.

The AAUW report looks at many indicators of educational achievement, including dropout and disciplinary rates. It analyzes data from SAT and ACT college entrance exams and the National Assessment of Education Progress, known as the nation’s report card, as well as federal statistics about college attendance, earned degrees and other measures of achievement. Researchers concluded that:

— A literacy gap in favor of girls is not new, nor is it increasing. Over the past three decades, the reading gap favoring girls on NAEP has narrowed or stayed the same. Nine-year-old boys scored higher than ever on the reading assessment in 2004; scores for 13- and 17-year-old boys were higher or not much different from scores in the 1970s. A gender gap still exists favoring boys in math, especially among 17-year-olds on the NAEP.
— The percentages of students scoring at higher levels of proficiency on the NAEP are rising for both boys and girls.
— Students from lower-income families — families with incomes of $37,000 or less — are less likely to be proficient in math and reading. Gender differences vary significantly by race and ethnicity.
— There is virtually no gap between boys and girls entering college immediately after high school.

AAUW’s study does show female students outperforming male students in some measures. Women have earned 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees since 1982 and outperformed boys on high school grade-point averages. In 2005, male students had a GPA of 2.86 and girls, 3.09.

From 1978 to 2004, among students age 13 and 17, white males scored higher on average than white females on 10 of 18 tests. For Hispanic students, 13- and 17-year-old males outscored females on three of the 18 tests. There was no gap among African American girls and boys.

Check out coverage in the Washington Post as well (No Crisis For Boys In Schools, Study Says: Academic Success Linked to Income).

Yes, boys are in trouble. But up with girls does not mean down with boys. Copy that? Let’s hope this new study might put that silly argument to rest.

…which I sadly could not make sounded awesome. Basically, GWN mentors came together with teaching artists from Teachers & Writers Collaborative for Ladies Night, an evening of readings. Readers included GWN mentors Grace Bastidas, Mary Roma, and Erica Silberman, plus teaching artists Nicole Callihan and Sheila Maldonado. For upcoming events from these folks, check out the GWN calendar, here.

This just in:

The Castilleja School, the 100-year-old middle and high school for girls in Palo Alto, is bringing globally recognized business, scholars, and national political leaders to its campus for a symposium on “Power,” on Saturday, May 3rd. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice; President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Mark Hurd; Former Clinton Economic Advisor, Laura Tyson; Princeton’s Dean of its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Anne-Marie Slaughter, will be among other distinguished speakers presenting and discussing their views of leadership and power shifts in the 21st Century.

For more info, contact Dana Sundblad, 650-740-7748, Dana_Sundblad@Castilleja.org

(Thanks to Jolie for the heads up!)

It’s amazing to me how little research exists on teenage and young adult sexuality in contrast to all the hot media air the topic seems to inspire. At this weekend’s Council on Contemporary Families Conference in Chicago, I had a chance to listen in as journalists and sex researchers shared their latest thinking on hook ups, the orgasm gap, and girls gone wild.

Hook ups, argued Deb Tolman, founder of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality at San Francisco State and a scholar of adolescent sexuality, follow a rather male model of sexual behavior. Friends-with-benefits do not a “relationship” make, and hookups are supposed to occur without those nasty little things called “feelings” getting the way. How did that model get so broadly accepted as ok?, Tolman wanted to know. She added that the question of what “good sex” means is still up for grabs. Who decides? Is it always about orgasms? Kids need adults to talk openly about sexual pleasure in concrete terms.

But back to hookups. At the same time that hookups are part of kids’ sexual landscape, they are not the landscape in its entirety. Tolman reminded the crowd that the recent emphasis on hooking up overlooks the fact that coupledom still exists. Couples just ain’t sexy news. Pepper Schwartz later noted that relationships during adolescence were NEVER easy. So if we’re saying hookups are bad, what are we comparing them to? Young people today get more intimacy from each other than in days of yore. And perhaps that’s not such a bad thing after all.

Tolman feels strongly that the topic of teen sexuality has been reductively portrayed, fueled by moral panic. Laura Sessions Stepp, author of Unhooked, bypassed this (veiled?) critique of her recent work, concentrating instead on the downsides of hooking up. “Young women say they don’t have time for relationships, so they play at relationships — faux ones, aka hook ups — while they’re busy getting everything else done,” said Stepp.

And then came the larger frame. Stanford researcher Paula England commented that we’ve had a sexual revolution without much of a gender revolution in the bedroom. The focus in sex is still, often, male pleasure (orgasm gap being alive and well) and there’s a double standard about women initiating both dates and sex. Compare this to the gender revolution we’ve made in the realms of jobs and education. With sex, we’re still a bit in the dark ages.

England drew on findings from the College Social Life Study, which gathered quantitative data from students at Stanford and Indiana and qualitative data from an online study. According to the numbers, hookups do NOT threaten relationships. It’s true that most hookups don’t lead to relationships, but it’s also true that most relationships are preceded by hookups. When asked if they want to marry someday, under 2% of young women and men said NO; 98% said YES.

As the panel reached its close, my crew–late 30something/early 40something academic women–whispered conspiratorily amongst ourselves. “And what about hook ups in your 30s?” we asked, directed at nobody in particular. After all, hook ups are how many of us grown ups begin our long-term relationships these days. And I’m here to say hook ups ain’t all bad. Heck, I’m marrying mine!

For more on the CCF conference, see coverage in Saturday’s USA Today and Chicago Tribune.

Rushing off to catch a plane, but some quick news tidbits to share before I go, courtesy of Rebekah S:

Girl racers in USA Today: They thrive in the vast proving ground of the hugely popular sport of auto racing, where girls learn to drive by the age of 5 and go from zero to 80 by the age of 12. The vehicles they are racing are go-karts, not cars, but they are driving nonetheless. For them, the phrase “woman driver” is not another era’s term of derision. It’s simply the job title they covet.

40+ women in NY Times: Interview with some boldface names about their new Internet company, Women on the Web, or wowOwow.com. The site, a dishy, uncensored, freewheeling version of The View is their effort to create an online forum for women over 40 interested in smart discussions. (Oh my gosh – that’s almost me)

FMLA in Washington Post: This year marks the 15th anniversary of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, which made it possible for many workers to take unpaid job-protected time off to care for their newborn children or sick relatives. But instead of celebrating, workers’ rights advocates and the Bush administration are battling over what would be the most sweeping revisions ever to the law.

Variety: GLAAD Media Awards reality TV nominees – Gay Characters Just Another Slice Of Life

This just in, from my friends at New Moon:

25 Girls Nominate Themselves As Most Beautiful…Just They Way They Are.

Eighty percent of 10-year-old American girls diet. The number one magic wish for young girls age 11-17 is to be thinner. (justthink.org) Studies show that reading “teen magazines” and having exposure to thin models creates lower self esteem, body dissatisfaction, decreased confidence and potential eating disorder symptoms in young girls (mediafamily.org)

By age 13, approximately 53% of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies”. This number will increase to 78% once girls reach 17 years of age. (National Institute on Media and the Family)

In the May/June 2008 25 Beautiful Girls issue of New Moon, the magazine puts a new twist on the annual theme by asking girls to nominate themselves as beautiful girls. The magazine entitled Toot Your Own Horn, features twenty-five girls from around the country who wrote essays explaining what makes them beautiful. The issue brings together compelling evidence of the ability for girls to see themselves for who they really are…and find it beautiful. Nominations for the 2009 “25 Beautiful Girls” issue are due by September 15, 2008. For more information visit, www.newmoonmagazine.org.

And BTW, New Moon is sweeping up awards. The mag recently received the 2008 Parents’ Choice Gold Award for best children’s magazine and has garnered nine Parent’s Choice Foundation Awards, five Educational Press Association of America Design and Editorial Awards, a National Association for Multicultural Education award, a Folio Award and the Association of Educational Publishers prestigious Golden Lamp Award in 2006.

The following is a post from GWP’s newest regular, Elizabeth Curtis. I’m forever grateful to E, as we call her, for teaching me the latest tricks of the trade–in blogging, of course. I love E’s voice and I bet you will too! And btw, the new season of GossipGirl premieres April 21. – GWP

The Gossip About Those GossipGirl Ads

I was taking a leisurely jaunt in Manhattan when I first came across the controversial GossipGirl ads that have created so much buzz for this CW show. Promoting this TV series based on the popular teen books about an elite prep school, the advertisements I saw were poster-size and plastered all over a construction site. My response? OMFG, for sure. And WTF, too.

Now my reaction to these ads is not negative because I am prudish or “sex-shaming.” I’m just struck by how “soft-core” these mainstream images are. Like Ariel Levy, I’m concerned about how “pornified” society seems to be these days. But my take on the consequences of this “pop culture gone wild” is more in line with the views of Jessica Valenti. As Jessica smartly states in her book Full Frontal Feminism,

I think that while the fast-growing focus on sexuality [in popular culture] certainly has the potential to be dangerous for young women, it’s not necessarily all bad. What is bad is that young women seem to be confronted with too few choices and too many wagging fingers…We’re all trapped by the limiting version of sexuality that’s put out there – a sexuality that caters almost exclusively to men.

Jessica goes on to make a call for young women to critically engage with mainstream images promoting an impossible and often unattractive version of female sexuality and to then make informed decisions about their own sexual lives.

I think that the GossipGirl ad campaign is a perfect example of the type of analysis Jessica advocates. What is going on in these ads? Is it just a shameless use of sex to sell an already racy series? Is female pleasure exploited or privileged by featuring an actress’s “o-face”? What’s up with the social mores contradiction of this television show being marketed to the very same American teenagers who are being taught abstinence-only sex ed. in school? WTF, you know?

Luckily, feminist thinker/scholars like Levy, Valenti, and Kathleen Sweeney, and our very own Girl With Pen are writing about these issues – and bringing more to the conversation than just WTF.

Some Recommended Reads:
-On “raunch” culture: Ariel Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs
-On feminism and activism today: Jessica Valenti’s Full Frontal Feminism
-Girls, girls, girls: Kathleen Sweeney’s Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age
-Blogging about girlhood: Patti Binder’s What’s Good for Girls
-For some female-friendly, sex-positive inspiration: Rachel Krammer Brussel’s Dirty Girls: Erotica for Women

Share your recs and takes in the comments section, too!

Cross-posted at A Blog Without a Bicycle

Image Cred

On June 8, the new Tribeca Barnes & Noble will become a teen literary hotspot as Girls Write Now – which, I kvell, is featured prominently in yesterday’s New York Times – takes it over. Celebrity host Amanda Diva (Def Poetry Jam, HipHopNation, MTV2, Floetry), will turn the downtown bookstore into a showcase for a collection of powerful new poems, stories and essays that reflect an electrifying community of girl writers spanning often hard-and-fast lines of race, age, economics and geography in NYC. For those not yet familiar with GWN, they (we! I’m on the Advisory Board) are New York City’s premier mentoring and creative writing organization for teen girls.

A just quick note on Amanda Diva: talk about crossover. This accomplished poet, journalist, singer, rapper, and radio & television personality is also a scholar, with a Master’s degree in African-American Studies. For more, check out DivaSpeakTV.blogspot.com and Youtube.com/ImAmandaDiva.

See you there!

June 8
4-6PM
Barnes and Noble
97 Warren Street, NYC