Movie Quiz

I thought the movie Girls Rock, rocked! I found that it provided a lot of insight into what young girls go through in adolescence. Hearing some of the girls come right out and say that they don’t like to eat and wish they could stop is heartbreaking, but also enlightening and makes me feel that camps and programs like rock camp are very much needed. Shauna Pomerantz points our in her article, Between a Rock and A Hard Place: Un/Defining the “Girl” that by analyzing girls the problem of categorizing them to fit into certain discourses has been the ultimate outcome, and new expectations and counter-discourses are created. However, after watching this video, I can’t support not having programs that more-or-less follow the Riot Grrl discourse, or any other discourse that holds the intent of “helping” or “empowering” girls. I thought it was so amazing to hear all these girls making music and communicating with each other.

            This movie was able to capture raw experiences of girls, and show that it’s not just one odd case of low self- esteem or an eating disorder. These are problems that the majority of girls face and that the majority of girls think they face alone. Opening a forum for girls to connect through their experiences, like they did at rock camp, is much needed. I saw rock camp giving the girls opportunities to perform transformational leadership. The process of the girls having to decide a band name, song lyrics, and what instruments everyone would play, created a real life decision making process, which Carole MacNeil suggest needs to exist for real leadership skills to develop. Camps and programs like this really do help girls to find an outlet to discuss their emotions, build self-esteem, resolve problems, and develop leadership.

Word count: 298

Works Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generation: Applying “Adult” Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development”. 2006: 27-43. Print.

Pomerantz, Shauna. “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Un/Defining the ‘Girl’”. 2009: 147-158, Print. 

Activism Log #1

Activism:

              This week I was able to attend one of the Girl Scouts meetings, and meet a few of the girls. In this meeting we discussed what the girls thought about our plans and how they defined community service. Judy thought that the unit event would be more successful if the girls were actually able to lead a small group of Dailies, instead of the focus being on us leading the girl scouts. Candace and I gave them ‘homework’ which was to come up with an ice -breaker and an activity that they would like to host at the unit event.

            This meeting was successful in the sense that I feel like we have finally made some type of progress and have solidified some of our plans. However, I definitely feel really disorganized and would have liked if our entire group had been at the meeting, so what we could have made decisions as a whole, because Candace and I were sort of forced to make group decisions without consulting everyone. Unfortunately, there were only 2 girls at the meeting instead of all 6 of the troop, which didn’t supply us with enough input. What bothered me the most at the meeting was that I felt that the ‘adults’ were dominating the conversation and decision making and that the girls were not engaged enough.

            I feel like to accomplish anything for next week our entire group needs to come together and make decisions and delegate responsibility. I have emailed SafeHouse about our day of service event, and am hoping they get back to me by next week so that we can make definite plans and contact the girl scouts.

Reflection:

            During the meeting with the girls I did not feel as though we were making the atmosphere conducive for them to develop leadership skills or make any real decisions. I most apply this situation to what MacNeil writes about, “…we must frame our programs so that youth have opportunities not only to develop skills and knowledge but also to apply them in meaningful and authentic ways (33)”. I agree with MacNeil, and acknowledge that our interaction with the girls lacked this; now I need to figure out how to actually implement this when we are with the scouts. I doubt that the Girl Scout leaders were intentionally preventing the girls from being a part of the decision making and brainstorming, nonetheless, they were. This week has solidified all the theories we’ve been learning about in Girls and Leadership, because I was actually able to see the process of girls and leadership in action, and see the challenge that is to be overcome when working with girls and leadership. 

            

Reciprocity:

            So far I’m gaining a lot of insight that supports and challenges my feminist views. More than anything else I am gaining personal experience into what we are constantly reading about and seeing why, first hand, youth leadership is unsuccessful. This experience has benefited me in an academic way much more than anything else. 

Works Cited

MacNeil, Carole. “Bridging Generation: Applying “Adult” Leadership Theories to Youth Leadership Development”. 2006: 27-43. Print.

Word Count:501