I remember being a young girl in a small town and having the opportunity to challenge sexist ideas and practices before I even knew the word sexist. I remember working with amazing young children not even in full day school yet and having two boys challenge me about letting the girls use computers because girls don’t need to know how to use computers – they will just be mothers. I remember my daughter’s first day of high school being marred by terrible verbal abuse from an ex-boyfriend and his mob of friends and the courage she found to tell her vice principal. I remember hearing about that vice principal chasing after those boys, high heels and all, to put an immediate stop to this.

But I also remember the joy of watching women moving their hips under the guidance of a creative voice and movement artist. She told fifty women to pretend that they were holding a paintbrush between their butt checks and painting circles without embarassment – just the pure joy of being in their bodies with other women. I remember making quilts with women as a means to not only create something concrete together but as a way to allow our mouths to share hard truths about domestic violence while our hands were busy. I remember my daughter going with some friends to address the staff at her high school on what the staff’s role was in interrupting harassment based on gender or sexual preference. I remember last week when I saw one of those young girls that I ensured had access to computers because she was a girl that she had warmth in her eyes when she saw me.

So I can imagine we can change the world by investing in girls. Can you?

The Girl Effect